Help Me Change Series

If you were to make a list of the things you’d like to change about yourself, what would be at the top of the list? Are you addicted to food? Late-night snacking? Or is it a more serious issue? Do you hate you? Do you have narcissistic tendencies? Do your relationships frazzle quickly, and no one wants to be around you?

The Bible says a Christian is a changed person. The Bible calls on every person who follows Christ to have a distinct life. Keep your Bibles open to Ephesians 4.

Jesus called His followers to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). I want to clear up some of your confusion about how we change and why we change as believers. For the next few moments, I want to speak to you what Jesus referred to as being a light to shine before others (Matthew 5:16). We know a Christian is supposed to be different than everyone else. But there’s a lot of confusion in Christianity at this point.

1. Two Areas of Confusion

Look at verse 17 with me: “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds” (Ephesians 4:17). You can substitute the word non-believers for “the Gentiles” in verse 17. There should be a sharp distinction in their attitudes and behavior when you compare a believer’s life versus a non-believer.

1.1 A Change Happens

God designed the Christian to be someone with a contrasting before and after story. Like HGTV and the fixer-upper homes, a Christian is to have a “before and after” in their story. Our “after” is supposed to be really different than our “before.” After you convert to Christianity, your behavior should change. After you embrace Christ by faith, your attitude should change. Again, there’s a lot of confusion about this. I want to explore two areas of confusion people have regarding how Jesus changes us.

1.2 Confusion #1: I Should Change Before I’m a Believer

Some think you have to change your life before you come to Christ. There are so many who feel you must clean up your behavior in order to come to Christ. So many of the world’s major religions teach you are “made ok” by your behavior. And many people assume the Bible must say the same thing as every other world religion. So the goes like this, “If you to get on God’s good side then go to church, quit your cussing, your pornography, your stealing, cheating, and lying. And if you do this, then you’re successfully religious.” To get inside the entrance of Christianity, many people feel they must change their behavior before they enter. But note the command in verse 17: “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds” (Ephesians 4:17). Circle the word “now” in verse 17. NOW that you have become a believer, you must no longer walk as non-believers do.

1.2.1 Cleaning a Fish

Imagine if I told you to catch a fish before you cleaned it. You catch the fish, and then you clean it. You never clean it before you catch it.

1.2.2 A Spiritual Sin Extinguisher

The Bible teaches that you change AFTER your conversion. When you convert to Christ, you’re equipped with the Holy Spirit inside you (Romans 8:9). The Spirit acts as a sin extinguisher. If you’re going to fight a common household fire, then you need a fire extinguisher. If you’re going to fight sinful tendencies, take advantage of the sin extinguisher God gives you – the Holy Spirit.

God designed the Christian to be someone with a contrasting “before and after” story. Like a radical diet program where you have lost 50 lbs. or more, a Christian is to have a “before and after” in their story. Again, after you convert to Christianity, your behavior should change. Not before you come to faith in Christ but after. Again, after you embrace Christ by faith, your behavior should change.

Confusion #1: I Should Change Before I’m a Believer

Again, there’s so much confusion on this point of behavior change for believers.

1.1.2 Confusion #2: I Don’t Need to Change Because I’m a “Believer”

Some hear the message of grace and think, “It doesn’t matter what I do. I can do anything I want to do. I can steal what I want. I can sleep with who I want. I can say whatever I want. God forgives.” God is seen as a benevolent gentleman with a long, flowing beard whose primary job is to be nice.

D. A. Carson tells about his time as a student in Germany. He was there with an engineering student working on his doctorate from French West Africa. The two men ate together a couple of times each week. Carson says as he got to know him a bit, he discovered that he was married. He was studying in Germany while his wife was studying medicine in London. Carson said that he discovered that he would go to the red-light district in town and pay his money and have his woman a couple of times a week. By this time, he had gotten to know the engineering student pretty well, so one evening when they were out for a meal, he asked him, “I don’t mean to be too intrusive, but what would you say if you discovered that your wife was doing something similar in London?” “Oh,” he said, “I’d kill her.” Carson replied something to the effect of that being a bit of a double standard. The African man said, “You have to understand, from the part of the world I come from - in our tribal structure - she would be dishonoring me. It would be a matter of honor. I would have to kill her.” Carson continued, “But you told me that you were brought up in a mission school. You were taught the Bible. You know that the God of the Bible doesn’t grade on a curve-one set of standards for men and one set of standards for women.” And then the man said in French, “God is good. He’s bound to forgive us. That’s his job.” If you think this guy is a genuine believer, I have some ocean-front property for you. I wouldn’t trust this man’s Christianity any more than I think I could safely land a 777 jet airplane on the tarmac at DFW. Yet, this kind of thinking is really popular. Where God is nice and forgives if you but ask and you can do whatever you want. This is a corrupted way of thinking that makes the cross of Jesus a license to do evil and wrong.