1. It may be the work of a moment to get a person out of the world, but it is the work of a lifetime to get the world out of the person.

Picture yourself standing by a large iron kettle filled with murky, brown water. Picture Jesus standing with you by this kettle, looking into it. Picture Him saying, "I want people to drink of this water, and be refreshed." Picture yourself wincing at the very thought of it.

Now picture Him grabbing a large mallet. He swings this mallet with both hands, striking the side of that kettle with a loud, resounding BONG. Now as He sets the mallet down, you both watch as something black and disgusting slowly floats to the surface of the brown water, bobbing there slightly.

Jesus says, "What are you going to do about that?" As you gather your senses, you grab a nearby ladle, and scoop the disgusting scum off the top of the water, discarding it in the fire.

My life is like that kettle of water. My life is murky with sin. Sin has tainted my life, making it of no lasting benefit to anyone. Yet Jesus wants to make my life crystal clear and available for those around me to benefit from. Every now and then, Jesus hits my life with that mallet of His — BONG! And up to the surface of my life floats something disgusting. Some sinful behavior or attitude that I had no idea was there. It bobs there, awaiting action or inaction.

If, with Jesus, I deal with the "scum" floating there, it is removed, and my "water" is a little less polluted, a little more clear. It is one step closer to being drinkable. If I let the opportunity pass, not wanting to deal with it for whatever reason, the disgusting black scum will disappear from view, slowly sinking back down to the bottom from whence it came, and I will have made no progress whatsoever.

2. If the Christian salvation does not change our behavior, it is worthless to God and to man.

Picture Heaven for a moment; what do you see? Perhaps incredible beauty, fascinating architecture, waterfalls, gardens, places of gathering, etc. Now picture that same Heaven peopled with sinners who have been forgiven, and that is all. Sinners saved by grace. Sinners who still wrestle with sin — or even those who have yet to begin to wrestle, being taught (from pulpits) that they were only supposed to accept the finished work of Christ by faith, and that any attempt to live righteously is just filthy works.

You may not realize it, but when you think of Heaven, you think of transformed people. I don’t think you would enjoy yourself in a paradisiacal environment with people that don’t behave any differently than they do now.

Romans 8:29: For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

There are several good passages in the Bible that sum up what God is after in this world of pain. What is it all about? Well, contrary to popular opinion, His focus is not on bringing unchanged, forgiven sinners into heaven, there to bask forever in undeserved blessing. As you can see from the above-quoted verse in Romans, we are predestined for change — to be transformed into the image of Jesus Himself.

Image does not mean solely the outward appearance.

One understanding of the image of God is that it refers to qualities or attributes present in the person…Others believe the image is something present when the person is in a relationship to God, and in fact, is that relationship. The image is present like a reflection in a mirror, rather than like a photo…still others believe the image is something a person does. (Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, CD ROM version)

We are destined to be recreated in every aspect, inside and out, resulting in an image consistent with that of Jesus Himself. Once this is clearly understood as the goal of Christianity, rather than simply moving from earth to heaven, the Bible and the gospel both begin to make much more sense.

What remains now is to identify how one goes about changing…

3. The salvation that cost God everything to fully achieve costs man everything to fully receive.

An important step in pursuing the goal of change is to hold everything in an open hand before God. He must be able to access everything and everyone that you are and have. There can be no person, no material object, and no aspect of your personality that God does not have your express permission to remove, or alter in any way He sees fit. You must give Him permission to work in your life — He will not transform you against your will.

What do we have that He has not given to us? I know that sounds cliché, but ponder it for a moment. Is there any person in any way associated with your life that would so devastate you to lose, that it would derail your relationship with Jesus? A spouse, a child, a parent, a bosom friend? Whom do you love with your whole heart? Picture that person. If God, in His wisdom, saw that your transformation (the gospel goal, mind you) would be aided greatly by the (temporary) removal of that person from your life, how would you respond? A beloved child, being lowered into the ground in a casket before you…what goes through your head? Is life over? All hope gone? Is God now despised in your eyes? Do you still trust and love Him, even though your world is upside-down?

When my brother Bryan died, my life was a whirlwind. Yes, I hurt, in a way that was unfamiliar to me, having never lost a close loved-one before. A friend said it best at Bryan’s memorial service: it feels like your heart is being ripped out of your chest from the back. Yet underneath it all was something strong, something firm, something priceless. God loved Bryan more than I ever could. God had need of Bryan "on the other side." Did I believe it?

I loved Bryan, and because of that I held him in an open hand before Jesus, who loved him more. I grieved, but not as those that have no hope:

1Thess 4:13, 14: But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

That having been settled beforehand, proper focus could be sought. If a person in my life is taken, I will see him/her again. If a material item is lost/stolen, it can be replaced or done without. If a part of my personality needs to be altered/removed, it must fall to the sword, no matter how painful or how long it takes. A thing or person or part of me that I do not allow Him access to is a place where all progress will stop.

4. When you continue living in sin you are destroying your own resurrection.

Sin is a multifaceted thing. Once I realized that "sin, the noun" was different than "sin, the verb", the Christian salvation made much more sense to me, especially in light of the entire Bible.

"Sin, the verb" can be viewed as the sinful acts that we commit, as defined by the Scriptures, and by the Spirit. In the Scriptures, we are given dozens of examples of what to do and what not to do. Everything from "love your enemy" to "let no filthy communication proceed forth from your mouth." God is intensely interested in our behavior. We are His children; when we exhibit behavior that is not kingly, that is not worthy of His name, we give occasion for the enemies of God to blaspheme.

"Sin, the noun" is the sin that dwells in us. If we are given to outbursts of anger, for example, then there is an aspect of our person/personality that is the source of that behavior. In other words, that anger is resident in our personality, and will cause us to act out in anger under certain circumstances. It dwells in us, as an object, and even if we are not doing anything (as far as an action), that sin is there, tangible, visible to God. It is the sin (noun) that causes us to sin (verb).

Romans 7:15-17 NIV: I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.

Under the old covenant, provision was made to forgive "sin, the verb." A sacrifice was made, and the sin forgiven. But the source of that sin was not dealt with. (Hebrews 10:4: For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.) The act of anger forgiven, the anger itself remained. Obtaining forgiveness was basically a full-time occupation, since the source of the behavior could not be dealt with.

Under the new covenant, the offering of Jesus Christ has been made, once for all, a persistent sacrifice, forever ready to cleanse the sinner of his/her sinful act, thus eliminating the need for animal sacrifices. With that taken care of, the job of eliminating "sin, the noun" can begin. That is the primary difference between the covenants: both covenants had forgiveness of "sin, the verb", but only the new covenant also addresses "sin, the noun".

The goal is to change the sinner into Christ’s image, at a personality level. This cannot be accomplished through forgiveness alone. There must be a process of removal for a lasting change to take place.

5. Christ came to change what we reap by changing what we sow.

I belong to an online philosophy forum, which has a "philosophy of religion" section, frequented by many atheists and Christians. Most Christians that I have interacted with there have never given the Kingdom law of "reaping and sowing" any thought whatsoever. They know that somewhere the Bible talks about it, but not exactly where. All they seem to know for sure is that it sounds nice, but doesn’t really mean anything.

Galatians 6:7: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.

Pointing this verse out to them will get a universal "hear, hear!" as a response (as any quoted verse will). Press them a bit, and you will rapidly see that they don’t know what to do with it; it does not mesh with their theology. The sum of their position is as follows: You will reap what you sow...unless you are a Christian. To them, it’s just a nicer way of saying sinners will go to hell. Christians, on the other hand, can live however they want, and will go to heaven when they die, since we are "saved by grace." When pressed to provide more thorough scriptural support for their position, they will simply quote the "filthy rags" verse from Isaiah, and end the conversation. Any whiff of "works" causes them to curl up into the conversational equivalent of the fetal position.

The idea that all men, Christian and non-Christian alike, will reap what we sow is an offense to many Christians. The concept is simple, and as righteous and just as could be. What is more just than being rewarded according to your behavior, good or evil? It is simple cause and effect. No one gets away with anything, and no one is overlooked. The idea that you could sow weeds and reap roses is ridiculous, yet that is basically what these Christians at the forum advocate. "Try to live right, but ultimately we (Christians) all get the same reward (i.e. access to heaven)."

Sin is understood to be impossible to deal with, so Christ covers us with His blood until our life is over, and then we can join Him in Happyland. As long as we’re in this world , we have to sin...it isn’t optional. Sin is magically removed when we are "glorified" (though they don’t have a clue what that will entail).

The scriptures present a vastly different interpretation. The law of "reaping and sowing" is unchanged…if we sow weeds, we will reap weeds, period. The focus is on changing us so that we sow roses, and reap roses (so to speak):

Galatians 6:8: For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.