I was recently asked by a friend “Why is it so hard to accept the forgiveness that Jesus Christ offers through salvation?” As time passed, the Holy Spirit reminded me of that not-so-distant conversation. I decided that I wanted to create a blog to unpack my thoughts on this matter to help others who may be feeling this same way.
Here is an example: I was a sinner for 30 years so it should take more than asking for forgiveness and baptism to save me.
At times, people get stuck at salvation or after baptism because they don’t understand how to move forward, which makes it difficult to believe. There are many reasons for not understanding how to take the next step. It could be that the next steps were not provided, leaving the individual hanging onto the moment, or maybe they were too nervous or embarrassed to ask what comes next. I would think it is more common than not, to feel the latter way. When the one saying yes takes the step forward, choosing to commit themselves to Jesus and baptism, they may sabotage their transformation because of lack of knowledge of their new commitment, and often, they begin to doubt what has freely been given to them. The enemy comes in and makes them think that they don’t deserve a second chance. Because of lack of understanding, they can’t remove the negative thoughts therefore, they fester into an imagination that leads to strongholds, bringing them back to where they started. The lies of the enemy will keep us from our life destiny.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26 NKJV
Jesus has always been there since the beginning of time. In Genesis, when God said, “Let us make man in Our image”, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit (the trinity), were all in heaven helping to bring creation into existence. Because the first Adam was unsuccessful, God had a plan for all of humanity. Jesus came to die for the sins of the world so that we could be redeemed. When we say yes to Jesus, He takes our sins from us, making us new again. In Baptism, our old self dies and we rise as new creations, starting the process of transformation. Jesus is the Door to the Father. When we accept Jesus, we also get the Father and the Holy Spirit as a bonus. Part of this transformation that takes place gives us direct access to the Father making it possible to go to Him at any time to ask for forgiveness and much more. Our adoption, this new relationship with the Father, occurs at the time of accepting Jesus Christ along with our inheritance being sons and daughters of the Most High. This birthright is how we can receive God’s grace and mercy when we mess up. When we understand this, we can move forward with the transformation process. There is so much more in store for us. Part of our advancement is to obtain justification through Christ, become righteous, and learn how to walk it all out in life. I recommend reading the book of Romans to better understand this.
Our lack of knowledge can set us back. When we do not understand what saying “Yes” to Jesus means, we essentially are living in a state of apprehension or confusion. In simpler words…lost. The attitude then becomes to look for a way out of what we have done, running from Jesus thinking that “If I do this,” everything will be back to what it was. Wrong answer. Things usually get worse. We may feel good for a bit but then soon realize we don’t feel any different. This is because the transformation did not occur outwardly but took place within. The outward change is something that you work on daily throughout your life. However, the lack of not understanding or not being equipped enough for the decision you made, can keep you from walking out your destiny and reverting to the old you. I want to also make the point that when we choose to say “Yes” to Jesus, things are not always peachy-keen. In fact, at times things may get rough but it is through our hope, faith, and belief in our Father, that we place our trust to get through. These times seem hard when we are experiencing them however, we must remember that He knew us before we were in the womb, and we will go through the fire at times to be made new. There are also many other times where the enemy will not want us to make breakthroughs and our lives may be difficult during those times. For today’s thought, we won’t get into the above-mentioned details.
When you become a new creation in Christ, it is your inner man; your spirit that begins to heal. Your way of thinking is followed by belief and faith that you have been forgiven hence your new life begins to move forward. The outward you still will see life as what it is, because life has not changed; you have changed. You will still have choices each day that you must make. The difference is knowing the choice of salvation that you made. The step that was taken to begin the journey of becoming whole should make us think twice about each decision we make. But if we do not have any understanding past the commitment of salvation that was made, we often fall short of what God has for us. The process of setting ourselves aside, making choices that bring goodness into our lives and joy to the Father, is called sanctification. It is a life process of how we walk out our lives becoming right with our Father. This is how we learn to carry the heart of God. Our hearts become aligned with His. We start doubting ourselves because we can’t “feel” the change. We start thinking that we have done so much wrong and that saying yes to Jesus is “just too easy.” We soon find ourselves back to our old ways. We have just taken Jesus back to the cross because of a lack of an understanding of the whole redemption process. It is easy to do if we lack the knowledge of what Jesus did for us. When we say yes to Jesus and with having the right heart in hopes and belief that He has much to give us and take from us, we too can prosper as His word states. Then all that is left is to believe that Jesus saved us by taking our sins away making us new.
God has so much in store for us. He wants to bless us with more than what we can imagine. We have to be willing to understand the process and believe in what the Lord has for us. We have to also pick up our Bible and start reading it. The Bible is living and has been manifested for us to learn to walk as new creations. We must learn to have a strong prayer life. Prayer surpasses asking for things. It is more about what you can do for the Father, not what He can do for you. When you feel the love of the Father you will want to share what you have received with the world. Wise counsel, friends who you can depend on for accountability is a necessity. These friends will listen to you, correct you and push you forward into your destiny. God will bring the ones you need. Before you know it, you will no longer be conformed but transformed into the image of the likeness of Jesus. For all of this to become a reality, we must understand the Good News of Jesus Christ the Savior of the world. We cannot go into saying yes to Jesus blindly. We often get lost in our ways when we do not have someone to shine the light for us. We need each other. When we make it to the Door, we must walk through with confidence that our life is about to take a 360 turn for the best. Will you hold for the ride?
You were made for more and You are greatly loved!
May God Bless you