Change is not only good, it’s necessary!

Change is not only good, it’s necessary!

Ephesians 4:22–24 22 …put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 

The teaching of Scripture is that we are granted new lives, new hearts, new beliefs, new righteousness and new hope through salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. This means we don’t work to earn our salvation, but we believe our salvation is secured by the gospel work Jesus Christ accomplishes on our behalf. 

Does this mean that those who profess faith in Jesus as Savior can have the assurance of salvation and eternal life with God, whether or not they are characterized by sin and selfishness? Every child of God battles sin and selfishness, so the operative word in the previous sentence is “characterized.” This word indicates sin and selfishness in behavior is consistently evident, regardless what one thinks or believes about Jesus. Those who live marked by sin and selfishness cannot have the assurance of salvation. It is not that they lost it; it is that they never had it. 

The teaching of the New Testament is in line with what Paul teaches in Ephesians 4. What we learn about life with Jesus is that Jesus and His teaching makes a clear difference in the way we live our lives. It is a change as characteristically different as one changing clothes. God’s saving grace, granted to those who trust in the work of Jesus for salvation, brings about a heart change and a lifestyle change. Those who come to faith in Jesus, put God’s transforming grace on display by putting off the old self of sin and selfishness, and putting on the new self of righteousness and God-centeredness. 

The work of salvation is accomplished by the power and grace of God, not by the determination and power of the flesh. Followers of Jesus are no longer corrupted by the deceitful desires of the flesh. They are guided and shaped by gospel truth made clear and attainable by God’s grace renewing the spirit of their minds. 

Followers of Jesus are saved by grace and changed by grace. Just as Paul wrote earlier in his letter to the church in Ephesus, “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8–10) For every follower of Jesus, change is not only good, it’s necessary!