Salvation Means Knowing God

Scripture: John 17:3 (KJV)

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

Personal Reflection

Salvation is far greater than escaping hell. Jesus defined eternal life as knowing God. Through the Holy Spirit, the sinner who was once alienated from God is brought into living fellowship with the Father through the Son.

Before salvation, God is our Judge and we stand beneath His righteous condemnation. But through Christ, wrath is satisfied, guilt is removed, and the Holy Spirit gives us the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry, “Abba, Father.” We are no longer strangers standing at a distance; we are children welcomed into the household of God. The Spirit not only reconciles believers to God but also joins them to one another in the body of Christ.

This changes the entire character of the Christian life. Prayer is no longer merely a religious exercise; it is communion with our Father. Scripture is no longer merely an ancient book; it is the Word through which we learn more of the God who has loved us. Worship is no longer empty ritual; it is the grateful response of redeemed children.

The Spirit also creates fellowship among believers. Christians may come from different backgrounds, cultures, and social positions, yet the same Spirit joins them to one Lord and one body.

Do not settle for a Christianity consisting merely of doctrines you affirm or services you attend. Sound doctrine is essential, but its great purpose is to bring us into deeper communion with the living God.

Contemplation

Do I merely know truths about God, or am I growing in personal communion with the Father through Christ?

Puritan Quote

John Owen wrote:

“Our communion with God consisteth in his communication of himself unto us, with our returnal unto him.”

Prayer

Father, thank You for bringing me near through Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit, deepen my fellowship with the Father and Son and teach me to delight in communion with You. Amen.

Application

Set aside uninterrupted time today to pray, not merely asking for things, but enjoying and praising God for who He is.

 

Repentance and Faith Are Gifts of Grace

Scripture: Acts 11:18 (KJV)

“Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.”

Personal Reflection

When the Holy Spirit gives spiritual life to a dead sinner, that new life immediately expresses itself in repentance and faith. Regeneration and conversion are distinct, yet they cannot be separated. God makes the sinner alive; the newly awakened sinner then turns from sin and embraces Jesus Christ. Scripture therefore speaks of repentance not as something fallen man produces independently, but as something God grants.

This truth destroys human boasting. We cannot say that we were wiser than others, more spiritually perceptive, or more willing by nature. Left to ourselves, we would have continued loving darkness. The Spirit opened our eyes, changed our hearts, and brought us willingly to Christ. He granted repentance and supplied the faith by which we received the Savior.

True repentance is more than regret. Judas regretted consequences, but saving repentance turns the entire person toward God. It acknowledges guilt without excuse and abandons every hope except Christ. Likewise, saving faith is not merely believing facts about Jesus. It entrusts the soul to Him as Lord and Savior.

This should keep us humble throughout the Christian life. The God who first turned our hearts toward Christ must continually sustain us. Repentance does not disappear after conversion; it becomes a way of life. Faith does not end when we are justified; we continue living by faith every day.

Every time you turn from sin and cling afresh to Christ, you are experiencing the gracious ministry of the Spirit who first brought you to the Savior.

Contemplation

Do I view repentance and faith as accomplishments of my will, or as gracious gifts that leave me with nothing in which to boast?

Puritan Quote

Thomas Watson wrote:

“Repentance is a grace of God’s Spirit whereby a sinner is inwardly humbled.”

Prayer

Holy Spirit, deepen my repentance and strengthen my faith. Keep me turning away from sin and continually looking unto Jesus Christ as my only righteousness, hope, and salvation. Amen.

Application

Confess one specific sin today without excuse or blame, and deliberately turn from it while resting again in Christ’s mercy.

 

Born from Above

Scripture: John 3:3 (KJV)

“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Personal Reflection

Conviction alone cannot save. A sinner may become frightened about judgment, troubled over sin, or emotionally affected by preaching and still remain spiritually dead. Something supernatural must happen: he must be born again.

We are to distinguish conviction from regeneration. Regeneration is the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit by which a spiritually dead sinner receives spiritual life. Just as an infant does not cause his own physical conception, a sinner does not produce his own new birth. God causes us to be born again.

This new birth produces real change. The Spirit gives new desires. Sin's reigning power is broken, though its presence remains. The person who once loved darkness begins loving light. He desires Christ, repentance, obedience, holiness, and the things of God.

This does not mean the Christian immediately becomes perfect. Sanctification continues throughout life. But regeneration creates something that was not there before: spiritual life.

This truth protects us from reducing salvation to merely “making a decision.” Decisions do not resurrect dead souls. Only God can do that.

It also gives us assurance concerning God's power. If God could raise us from spiritual death, He can continue transforming us throughout our Christian pilgrimage.

Our testimony therefore is not ultimately, “I found Christ.” Scripture teaches something far more glorious: when we were dead and unable to come, God came to us, opened our hearts, gave us life, and brought us to Christ.

Contemplation

Does my life demonstrate the new desires and changed direction that accompany the new birth?

Puritan Quote

Stephen Charnock wrote:

“Regeneration is a universal change of the whole man.”

Prayer

Father, I praise You for the sovereign work of Your Spirit in giving spiritual life to dead sinners. Continue transforming my desires, thoughts, and conduct so that the reality of the new birth may increasingly be seen in me. Amen.

Application

Read Ezekiel 36:25–27 and identify several evidences that God promises will accompany the new heart and new spirit.

 

Convicted of Sin, Righteousness, and Judgment

Scripture: John 16:8 (KJV)

“And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”

Personal Reflection

Before the sinner embraces Christ, the Holy Spirit exposes why he needs Christ. Jesus described this work as conviction concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment.

The Holy Spirit exposes unbelief as rebellion against Christ. He reveals that sinners possess no righteousness sufficient to stand before God and points them toward Christ's perfect righteousness. Finally, He warns of certain judgment, reminding sinners that Satan is already condemned and that those who remain in unbelief face God's righteous judgment.

This is why genuine gospel preaching cannot avoid uncomfortable subjects. Man's depravity must be preached. God's holiness must be proclaimed. Judgment must be declared. Christ's blood redemption must be exalted.

We cannot convict anyone. That is the Spirit's work. Our responsibility is to proclaim faithfully the Word He has given.

This should free us from attempting to manipulate people emotionally. We do not need theatrical methods to produce conversions. Give sinners the truth and pray that the Spirit will carry that truth from the ear to the conscience.

Conviction itself is an act of mercy. It is far better for a sinner to discover his guilt now, while Christ is freely offered in the gospel, than to discover it before the judgment seat when mercy is no longer offered.

When God wounds the conscience, He does so that the sinner might flee to the One whose wounds provide salvation.

Contemplation

Do I welcome biblical conviction, or do I resist the Spirit when God's Word exposes my sin?

Puritan Quote

Thomas Watson wrote:

“Before Christ's balm can be applied, the heart must be wounded.”

Prayer

Holy Spirit, search me through Your Word. Expose every sin I excuse and every place where I depend upon my own righteousness. Keep my conscience tender and continually point me to Christ. Amen.

Application

Read Psalm 139:23–24 and sincerely invite God to expose any sin requiring confession and repentance.

 

The Greatest Miracle

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:6 (KJV)

“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts...”

Personal Reflection

People are naturally fascinated by the spectacular. Religious movements may draw crowds by promising miracles, healings, signs, and supernatural manifestations. We are to direct our attention toward something infinitely greater: the supernatural transformation of a spiritually dead sinner into a living saint.

At creation the Spirit moved upon a world that was without form, empty, and dark. God spoke, and light appeared. The same divine power is displayed spiritually whenever God saves a sinner. The Spirit shines gospel light into a darkened heart, regenerates the spiritually dead, sanctifies the believer, preserves him, and prepares him for eternal glory.

Think about what happened when God saved you. A heart that naturally resisted God began loving Him. Eyes once blind to Christ began seeing His beauty. A person who once loved sin began desiring holiness.

That is supernatural!

We sometimes forget the miracle of conversion because it does not always produce something visible to the physical eye. Yet raising a spiritually dead sinner is an act of divine creative power.

This should change the way we pray for unbelievers. No person is beyond God's ability to save. The hardest heart is no match for the Spirit who commanded light out of darkness.

Therefore, preach Christ, pray earnestly, and trust the Holy Spirit. He still turns darkness into light and sinners into saints.

Contemplation

Have I lost my wonder at the supernatural miracle God performed when He gave me spiritual life?

Puritan Quote

John Flavel wrote:

“Regeneration is the implanting of a new principle of spiritual life.”

Prayer

Holy Spirit, thank You for the miracle of regeneration. Never allow me to become more fascinated with outward signs than with Your glorious work of transforming sinners into the likeness of Christ. Amen.

Application

Pray specifically for someone who seems hardened toward the gospel, remembering that the Spirit who created light can illuminate the darkest heart.

 

The Spirit Glorifies Christ

Scripture: John 16:14 (KJV)

“He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”

Personal Reflection

How can we distinguish the genuine work of the Holy Spirit from religious counterfeits? Jesus gives us one indispensable test: the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ.

I want to emphasize that the Spirit brings sinners to a true knowledge of Christ, conforms believers to Christ through the Word, and fixes their attention upon Christ crucified, risen, reigning, and returning. Therefore, any supposed spiritual movement that continually magnifies experiences, personalities, signs, feelings, or manifestations while Christ remains in the background has departed from the biblical pattern.

The Holy Spirit does not come to make us fascinated with ourselves. He turns our eyes away from ourselves and toward Jesus.

When He convicts us of sin, Christ becomes precious as our righteousness. When He illuminates Scripture, we increasingly behold Christ's glory. When He sanctifies us, He makes us increasingly like Christ.

This provides a valuable test for our own spiritual lives. Am I becoming more impressed with my experiences, or more captivated by Christ? Do I speak primarily about what I have experienced, or about what Christ has accomplished?

The Spirit-filled Christian should increasingly be able to say with John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

True spirituality does not make much of man. It makes much of Jesus.

Contemplation

Is my spiritual life increasingly causing Christ to become greater in my thoughts, affections, worship, and conversation?

Puritan Quote

Thomas Goodwin wrote concerning the Spirit's work:

“The Holy Ghost takes all the pains...to glorify Christ.”

Prayer

Holy Spirit, turn my eyes continually toward Jesus Christ. Deliver me from fascination with myself, experiences, or religious excitement. Reveal Christ through the Word and make Him increasingly precious to my soul. Amen.

Application

Throughout today, deliberately turn conversations about spiritual matters toward the person and finished work of Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Warfare Part 5: Fallen Not Finished

 https://pathwaytopurityandpower.podbean.com/e/fallen-but-not-forsaken-why-christians-fail-and-how-to-rise/