WE CAN START ALL OVER

Galatians 6:15

Morning Meditation 1/29/2013

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.”

Paul the Jew he was, the Pharisee that he was, the Bible scholar that he was, was changed into a new person. There was such a complete change in his life that those who knew him before were baffled at the change.

Paul said, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision.” Paul had gone so far in Judaism taking up the religious strictness and beliefs of the Pharisees, one would not consider him as a candidate for salvation. The fact is Luke 1:37 says, "For with God nothing shall be impossible."

Paul definitely had a new beginning. 1 Peter 1:23 describes those who were saved as, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."

Tremendous changes occur when one is born from above and becomes a new creature in Christ. When the evangelist Dwight L. Moody went to be with the Lord, they found, among other things, a seven-point outline upon the flyleaf of his Bible enumerating the changes which occur when one steps from the darkness of sin into the sunlight of the grace of God. The following is that outline:

1. Justification — a change of standing — before God.

2. Regeneration — a change of nature — from God.

3. Repentance — a change of mind — about God.

4. Conversion — a change of life — for God.

5. Adoption — a change of family — in God.

6. Sanctification — a change of service — unto God.

7. Glorification — a change of place — with God.

Billy Sunday said I was drunk and I staggered into the Pacific Garden Mission and staggered out of sin.

It is amazing what God did in the life of Billy Sunday after he was saved. He was one of the hardest preachers of his day. What I mean by hard is that he pulled no punches. If you were not saved, to Billy Sunday you were hell bound.

Here are some saying that enlighten: “If you would be good, first believe that you are bad.”—EPICTETUS. A good person is not going to repent because he does not see the need for it.

“Some well-meaning Christians tremble for their salvation, because they have never gone through that valley of tears and of sorrow, which they have been taught to consider as an ordeal that must be passed through before they can arrive at regeneration. To satisfy such minds, it may be observed, that the slightest sorrow for sin is sufficient, if it produce amendment, and that the greatest is insufficient, if it do not”.—COLTON.

Don't let any false teacher convince you that you do not need to repent. Repentance is an absolute prerequisite to faith in Jesus as one's personal Saviour.

As a great preacher of the past said, “It's either turn or burn.” These are not words we want to hear but they are necessary. The preacher that trims his message to keep from offending you is not your friend. He is the devils friend. When one is saved there is a changed life. And the word “changed” demands repentance as an explanation. Remember, we can start over with a new birth which makes us citizens of heaven. It is a decision that one has to make. There is no neutrality.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White