Changes Ii; What We Are

CHANGES II; WHAT WE ARE

TITUS 3:3

One word that is very popular now a days is “change”. We have elected a new president, and with that there will be change. Some say the change will be good, others still say that the change will be bad.

Many people desire change, I would even go so far to say as most people desire change. We tend not to like the same thing time and time again. While many people desire change a lot of people do not know what that change should be. People may seek something better, but not know what that better is. They just know that they want some thing better then they have now.

Now when a person professes Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, God desires that person to change. In fact as I mentioned last week, there must be change in the person’s life in order for the conversion to be genuine.

There must not just be change in some areas of our lives, but it must be an overall change. Our relationship with God must touch all areas of our lives, to some degree. And as I said, if there is no change, then there has been no conversion, to salvation.

Some may ask, “Well how can you say that? You are judging others.”. Now while only God knows the hearts of men, and only God can judge whether one is saved or not, the reason I believe that without change there can be no salvation, is because the Bible, the Word of God, states that when a person accepts Christ as Saviour, there he or she is not merely changed, but the Bible states they are a NEW Creation. When a person come to the Father through Christ he is not changed, but recreated.

With that said let us take a step back. Please turn with me to our passage for today, Titus 3:3. We are continuing along in our study of the book of Titus. Remember that for the most part chapter 3 is dealing with believers being consistent in the world as a witness for Christ. Our lifestyle.

Titus 3:3; “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.”

Last week we made mention that here Paul’s makes mention of seven vices. Has he list these he begins with the words, “For we ourselves were also once”. In others words these were things that were once in our lives, but through the amazing grace of God, they are no more. Things have changed, you have changed, you have recreated by God.

Another verse I want to make mention of that you can turn to is 1 Cor. 6:9-11; Now we will be jumping between these two verse and another verse, so keep your fingers in the pages.

1 Cor. 6:9-11; “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God (in other words these are not saved, those who lifestyles consists of those things just mentioned). And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

Again in the WOG we see that there is a change. We were once like this, now we are like that. We were living under the power of sin, now we are under the power of the grace of God. The power which transforms us, give us a new life, changes us!

Now last week we looked at “What We Were” this week I want us to focus on what we are, or what we should be in Christ. The changes that should have taken place in our lives, changes that I believe testify to the fact that we do indeed have salvation, that we are indeed children of God.

Look at what we are. Now I have given you two verse already. Now most of you have 5 fingers on each hand so you should have three left for marking pages. One more passage that I would like you to turn to 2 Cor. 5:17. This verse plainly tells us what we are in Christ.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

The person who is in Christ, the person who has submitted himself to Christ, who has trusted in the blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sin, is what the Bible calls a “new creation”.