To Be in Christ’s Kingdom, You Must Be Changed

To Be in Christ’s Kingdom, You Must Be Changed

Based on 2 Corinthians 5:17

Khen Lim

Image source: suzannegiesmannblog2.blogspot.com

Introduction

Throughout our lives, we talk a lot about change. Nobody I know has never vowed to change for the better. Everyone does at some point in his life to improve in one way or another. 

Athletes promise change so that they can perform more consistently at an even higher level. Manufacturers talk about change where they can offer products that are more efficient or reliable. Or more profitably. People in general immerse themselves in change that makes them less fallible or vulnerable.

Christians, too, talk about change. Because we are, like everyone else, integral to change being an ongoing part of our life and faith. We are not unlike others in the sense things are in an ever-constant flux, persistently reinventing in order that we meet our life’s changing demands. 

Schedules change. Plans change. And sometimes, even the people in our lives change. And so essentially, the more things stay the same, the more they actually change. Change is the only thing that is constant. It’s our new norm.

As Christians, change is a far more important aspect. It’s not just making room for new events on the calendar. For us, our spiritual lives require us to ring in changes to reflect a need for transformation from deep within us. It’s the kind of change that is beyond what society understands, let alone expects. 

Where people expect change to mean a new wardrobe, a kitchen makeover, a new shiny in the driveway or even a different but exciting career, Christian transformation isn’t about doing better by trying harder. Neither is it about pursuing a better lifestyle.

Being a better person, however, is also relative. To the one making the ‘change’ and to the person seeing the ‘change,’ the meaning might not necessarily be the same. The one trying to be a better person might find the struggle hard going as he tries to cope with changes in the many areas in his life. 

On the other hand, his wife might think that he’s hardly changed at all. All she sees are the changes that have yet to show up – no change in other words – which means she sees no significance in those that have (changed). The person who is at the receiving end of witnessing or experiencing the change isn’t always going to share the same opinion as the one who tries to communicate it (the change).

The Gospel tells us it’s more than just the simple moralism of being a better person but even so, the church can, on occasions, miscommunicate the need for change. Christians might think that it’s some basic change to reflect religiosity but Jesus’ encounters with the Pharisees tell us that mightn’t be what change is about. Some others might then assume it’s the pursuit of a better life to make us better people. But, again, that’s neither true nor is it deep enough.

In short, God wants us to change not on the outer but in our innermost self. He wants a spiritual overhaul that can and often will transform the way we behave on the outside. He wants our change to reflect Christ at the centre of our lives and not some banal New Year’s resolution. 

In other words, He is not after a simple superficial makeover where a person simply “tries harder” but a re-creation that is manifested in a brand new life centred on and entrusted to Christ.

So, when we Christians want to talk about “change,” we must then talk about it from the perspective of God’s Kingdom. We must therefore take this to mean “Gospel change” in which trying harder is not what it’s about. Instead, it is a change that focuses on not what we can or cannot “do” but on what Christ has “done” to bring Salvation to all of us.




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Dying to self

So what does it mean that we, being Christians, must be changed? To better understand the question, let us visit Paul’s choice passage:

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Cor 5:17, NLT, my emphasis)

The fact that the passage begins with the words, “This means that” suggests the importance of the three preceding verses:

“Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time, we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know Him now!” (2 Cor 5:14-16, NLT, my emphasis)

In the verses 14 to 16, Paul tells us that all believers have died with Christ and hence, no longer live for themselves. Being believers, our lives are no longer worldly but instead are spiritual:

“So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time, we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know Him now!” (2 Cor 5:16, NLT, my emphasis)

Our “death” in this regard refers to the old sin nature that was nailed to the cross together with Christ. It was buried with Him:

“Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time, we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know Him now!” (2 Cor 5:14-16, NLT, my emphasis)

And just as the Son was raised up by the Father, so are we raised up to walk in newness of life:

“For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.” (Rom 6:4, NLT, my emphasis)

By “living new lives,” it means we become new persons raised up in what Paul refers to in 2 Corinthians 5:17. Other translations will refer to this as “new creation”:

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Cor 5:17, ESV, my emphasis)

The point about us being “new” is an important one to understand. In relation to being a “new person,” it means we were created out of nothing through the will of God:

“They are reborn – not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan but a birth that comes from God.” (Jn 1:13, NLT, my emphasis)

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New creation ex nihilo

This “new creation” (or “new person”) that Paul speaks of isn’t something we inherit from elsewhere or out of nothing. Neither do we have a personal hand in creating (or re-creating) it. 

At the same time, God didn’t just revamp our old nature, give it a bit of spit and polish and then roll us out of the factory in some new packaging. As a “new person,” we are created wholly fresh and unique, meaning God made us completely anew ex nihilo.

The concept of ex nihilo is significant in explaining how we are a “new creation.” Ex nihilo underscores our inability to do what God does even though we have the gift of creativity. 

In other words, we may be super-imaginative and conjure up amazing things but we simply cannot create in the way He can. Only God can do what only He can do. The best we can muster is to synthesise, meaning we need physical materials to work on from which we can then build something. On the other hand, God is not constrained whatsoever.

Although the Bible doesn’t state per se that God created everything from nothing, it is obvious from the implication:

“By faith, we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.” (Heb 11:3, NLT, my emphasis)

This is ex nihilo in gist. The universe came into being only because of God. It is He who made it so and it is only He who can do something this remarkable. It was not contrived from some pre-existing matter or energy but instead, they became visible, owing nothing of its presence to anything we were able to lay our eyes on.

None of this is easy to understand; so if it’s a challenge to agree, that’s not surprising but then we’d expect science to be able to explain almost literally everything tangible in life. And because of that, the fundamental principles of physics makes it difficult to make any sense out of ex nihilo. 

Just the “first law of science” already challenges it, telling us that matter cannot be created out of thin air. Similarly, it also cannot be destroyed into oblivion. The idea is that matter, the stuff that the university is made from, simply gets converted into a different medium. In other words, something can’t turn into nothing.

Based on the 1785 ‘Law of Conservation of Mass,’ Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) said that in its most compact form, matter is neither created nor destroyed. Today, this is still true and top experts back that up with their own claims. Einstein of course proved that all the energy of the universe is a constant; that, once again, it can neither be destroyed nor created.

Against that backdrop is God defying scientific reasoning by literally creating everything and He did so from absolutely nothing. No doubt, you don’t need a scientist to tell you that this is not natural and indeed, it surely isn’t because God’s power is supernatural, implying that no science can and will ever be able to explain it.

The term ‘creatio ex nihilo’ is an undeniable reference to God’s supernatural capability to create the whole universe from the beginning, using nothing that our naked eyes can see. It was the very moment in which the Triune God literally created the world we know from nothing.

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Out with the old, in with the new

In his message, Paul talks about the old passing away:

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Cor 5:17, NLT, my emphasis)

The word “old” here refers to all that was who we were prior to us choosing to belong to Christ. The old self means our old nature and that means prideful arrogance, flirting with sin, preoccupation with self-importance, self-opinionated bigotry, bad habits, immorality, carnality and so on. The list is literally endless. 

The gist of it is that self-indulgent love has now passed us by. In its place, the new creation in us abides by looking outwardly to Christ rather than inwardly to self. The old has departed and the new has come:

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Cor 5:17, NLT, my emphasis)

And with that, newness of life is anticipated. Once the old is gone, the new is vibrant in life renewed for the glory of God. Like the shedding of our old skin, we are now new all over. New cells. New growth. New presence. As newborn, we delight in the things of God as we look beyond our old nature that was accustomed to clinging on to the things of the world.

This means that our entire outlook is fresh and unlike ever before. Reinvigorated with a new injection of life, our sense of purpose, feelings, desires and the way we understand things are wholly different. Our eyes also see an expanse that we were once blind to. 

Even the Bible will feel like a new book even if we’ve read it from cover to cover. In being a new creation, we experience a new beauty where words from Scripture will jump out at us, bringing a whole new meaning to the term “living Word.” It will make us wonder how we could have missed it all in the past.

Around us is the face of nature unlike what we once knew. We see them from a new perspective filled with new wonders that inspire us to speak in gushing praise of God. We revisit the same people in our lives and yet we feel differently about them. We become shocked at friends whose idea of God now separates them from us but then there is a brand new kind of love we desire to share with our loved ones. 

There is a whole new sense of compassion that is ready to burst out, wanting to touch even those whom we might in the past hated. Now, there is nothing but love for everyone.

On the other hand, what we used to love or crave, we now abhor. The sin which our lives once hinged on now brings stress and gives us grief today. We detest it and now want nothing of it. We only want to see it eliminated from our lives forever:

“Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.” (Col 3:9, NLT, my emphasis)

Out with the old self and all the accompanying misdeeds that were part of our nature. In its place, we wear our new self, created in Christ, in true righteousness and holiness:

“Put on your new nature, created to be like God – truly righteous and holy.” (Eph 4:24, NLT, my emphasis)

Beyond mere new clothes or even new skin, the new self is a brand new heart made right for God and devoted to be more of Christ and less of us:

“He must become greater and greater and I must become less and less.” (Jn 3:30, NLT)

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Perfected sinlessness?

So then, what happens to sin? Having been an integral feature in our lives since Adam, has it been vanquished? Has it fully disappeared for the rest of our lives? Does that mean that, as a new creation, we are perfected in sinlessness? In other words, can we really put our old self away and no longer sin for the rest of our lives?

To answer these questions, we must first know the difference between ‘continuing to sin’ and ‘continuing to live in sin.’ Know that the difference is palpable. If you know the distinction between the two, you’d probably understand that no one attains perfect sinlessness in this life of ours. Let’s not kid ourselves – that’s not going to happen so long as we’re still in this world.

If you’re wondering, Jesus’ story on Earth is different because He was already perfectly sinless right from the beginning. With Him, there is no attaining sinlessness because He is perfection in every sense of the word. 

On the other hand, the redeemed Christian in each of us is in the process of being sanctified (made holy) daily in which he puts on a new conduct of sinning less and less. In that sense, if or when he stumbles in sin, he hates himself. He no longer takes sin in his stride. In other words, he no longer accepts sin as part of his lifestyle.

This is consistent with what Paul wrote. In his letter to the Ephesians, he says the spiritual gifts are given in order that we may build up the body of Christ:

“…until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ” (Eph 4:13, NLT, my emphasis).

The word “until” means ‘up to a point in time.’ In this case, it is up to the point in which “we all come to such unity…” and when we do, we may be ‘comparable to’ (“measuring up”) attaining “the full and complete standard of Christ.” This is a gradual time-driven process where we work to progress to a favourable end-point in our sanctification.

This favourable end-point, however, does seem controversial among some people. This is because there is a miscommunication that requires clarification. The phrase “full and complete standard of Christ” offers up potential misconception because some people think it refers to “perfect” – rather than “mature.” If we get this wrong, it can lead people to wrongly think that we can actually reach perfect sinlessness in our lives.

The word “perfect” suggests something altogether different to “mature.” The former means flawless, referring to a human nature that is completely free of sin; perhaps even sans the capability of committing sin. The latter simply alludes to being good enough for comparison. 

But here’s the point – “good enough” doesn’t literally mean “perfect.” It merely means we may be able to “measure up,” which is what Paul is specifically saying.

The word “mature” used in Ephesians 4:13 (NLT) comes from the Greek word teleios (Gk. τέλειος), which according to Strong’s #5046, means “having reached its end, that is, complete, by external perfect.” 

In other words, it is ‘complete in its part,’ fully grown or have come of age in particular, in reference to the completeness of Christian character. 

Maturity in this sense refers to a consummated goal as a result of undergoing the necessary stages until one reaches the end objective and that is, to have developed into a consummating completion by fulfilling the necessary process in what we know as, our spiritual journey… or walk.

As for the word “perfect,” it is possible that some people confuse it in the manner in which Paul uses it in his other letter to the Colossians:

“So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.” (Col 1:28, NLT, my emphasis)

He also used it in a later chapter of the same letter:

“Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God.” (Col 4:12, NLT, my emphasis)

In Colossians 1:28, the impression is that Paul wants to present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. In 4:12, he prays that we would be able to be made strong and perfect (“perfect and complete” in some other translations) in the will of God.

In the NIV translation, the verse reads, “He is the One we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ” (Col 1:28, NIV, my emphasis). Other translations that are in line with the NIV include ESV, CSB, CEV, GNT, HCSB, ISV, NET and GWT.* 

There are some translations that use the word “complete” instead. The same seems to be the case with Colossians 4:12. Again, the NIV uses the phrase “mature and fully assured” and so do the same list of other translations mentioned earlier. 

In both these verses, the Greek work for “perfect” also comes from the same Greek word teleios (Gk. τέλειος) to mean “mature” or “full-grown.” In other words, it is the very same word as he used in his letter to the Ephesians (4:13) and therefore cannot be taken to mean “possessing no sin.”

Note:

The abbreviations used in the text are used as follows: ESV, CSB, CEV, GNT, HCSB, ISV, NET and GWT stands for ESV (English Standard Version), CSB (Christian Standard Bible), CEV (Contemporary English Version), GNT (1599 Geneva Bible), HCSB (Holman Christian Standard Bible), ISV (International Standard Version), NET (New English Translation), GWT (God’s Word Translation), NIV (New International Version)

Scripture tells us quite clearly that so long as we are in the flesh, we will always struggle with a sinful nature and we will have to persist with this until we reach heaven:

“So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.” (Rom 7:14-17, NLT, my emphasis)

Paul says in the above passage, “for I am all too human, a slave to sin.” He equates humanness to being sinful. “All too human” is a way of saying that being a human, we are bound by sin. As long as we remain a human living in a world that creaks under the burden of sin, we are and will continue to be subject to sin also. 

But there is a way out of this. If we grow more to be like Christ, we will become stronger and more unified as a church. And yet, in rereading Paul’s words, there is really nothing there that tells us we will ever stop sinning:

“This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.” (Eph 4:13, NLT, my emphasis)

The point is no matter how hard we try not to sin, we will still sin against God. It is in our nature though it may not be our desire.

I’ve always prayed to God and in my surrender to Him, I’ve persistently asked Him to turn me inside out, purify me, cleanse me and made me anew. It’s my desire that He help me become a changed person, one who is able to come to terms with my sins and renounce them and one who, with Christ, can deal with them once and for all. 

I myself know how sinful and wretched I am and though I might not be brave enough to reveal what they are on the Internet, I have put myself forward and before God, realising that only He can help me to walk upright for Him.

I know all that sounds impressive but make no bones about it, I still falter. Great words and all but I still find myself some way short of the person I want to be. Somehow I still come up wanting what I need but not getting there fast enough. It’s only then that I am reminded that this is a process, meaning nothing gets done overnight. It means we’re all in the same boat of acquiring maturity one painful bit at a time. 

Therefore, to measure up to the fullness of Christ requires us to stay on course and not give up, to remain determined and alert at all times and to keep plodding along.

The Book of Isaiah reminds us of how the pain of our faltering is all part of the refiner’s fire:

“I have refined you but not as silver is refined. Rather I have refined you in the furnace of suffering.” (Isa 48:10, NLT, my emphasis)

Because we are human beings bound under Adam’s fallen nature in this world, we have this seed of imperfection within us that defines our bondage. It identifies us as sinners who need God to redeem us. This flaw isn’t just confined to normal people like you and I. 

So long as you’re human, you will have that same seed, even if you’re an apostle. In fact, as disciples who lived and learned directly from Jesus, they are similarly ripe for transgressions.

In the New Testament, we have examples of all this. Witness Paul’s rebuke of Peter:

“But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face for what he did was very wrong … As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.” (Gal 2:11,13, NLT, my emphasis)

And then witness how Paul ends up condemning himself:

“This is a trustworthy saying and everyone should accept it: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’ – and I am the worst of them all.” (1 Tim 1:15, NLT, my emphasis)

What Paul is saying is that like Peter or anyone else for that matter, he too falls short. In fact, he considers himself “the worse of them all.” But then, reading his letters and his exhortations might not give us that impression. 

That’s because Paul’s contribution to the Bible is epic, inspiring and highly esteemed not to mention, very precise and instructional. Despite what he says about himself, here is a person who is so dramatically changed from the day he met Christ that the Christian Paul and the persecuting Saul are clearly two different personalities.

Yet, no matter how highly we regard him, the fundamental fact is he was no less a sinner than any of us. Like us too, he had to wait to attain perfection in heaven. But of course, it wasn’t only him. There were also Peter, James and John who confessed to their imperfection and since they did so, surely none of us can claim to be any better or different.

In fact, truly perfected sinlessness will not be possible until the church is raptured. Paul describes this event quite clearly:

“For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the Earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.” (1 Thess 4:17, NLT, my emphasis)

As Paul says, the dead “will rise from their graves” while we “will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” We, who have bodies of the living, will be changed as well:

“But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Saviour. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same power with which He will bring everything under His control.” (Php 3:20-21, NLT, my emphasis)

Paul said the same thing in his letter to the Corinthians:

“And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.” (1 Cor 15:52b-53, NLT, my emphasis)

To that passage, he adds the next to affirm the attainment of perfected sinlessness:

“Then when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ For sin is the sting that results in death and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 15:54-57, NLT, my emphasis)

Then we will all head to the Seat of Judgement where before Christ (2 Cor 5:10), we will give an account of ourselves in terms of what we have done – and not done – whereupon then, we will be judged and the rewards measured (1 Cor 3:9-15). And finally, our redemption will then be completed.

That’s when we can say with complete conviction that our life of sin will, once and for all, be over. This means that we will have perfected sinlessness so that we are able to live and reign with Christ but until that happens, we’re not anywhere near yet.

The point of this is that despite the change we desire, we still sin. The difference is that we don’t commit ourselves willingly to sin. We have no premeditation to carve out an evil life anymore. That’s all well and past because we have left behind our nature of old. As Christians, we now make it a central part of our lives not to consciously sin anymore.

Here is where we talk about “maturing” in that it is an on-going process by which the sins will frequent our lives less and less so. This “maturity,” as Peter puts it, will incorporate periods of our lives where our faith and spiritual integrity will be tested just as “fire tests and purifies gold.” On completion of our maturity process, our faith will lay victorious, bringing great adulation to Christ:

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold – though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honour on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” (1 Pt 1:6-7, NLT, my emphasis)

The one thing that our maturation process will highlight is our shortcomings. Not that these weren’t there before. But in our quest to change, these same shortcomings are now less tolerated. As the new self emerges more and more, what remains of our sinfulness becomes even more glaring. 

And as we stare at it, hatred will fill us as to how we still fail to prevent sin from rearing its ugly head. No doubt that sin will show up less in our maturing process but it’s the stubborn ones that will force us to look at ourselves even more critically.

That is why Peter says it will take “a little while” (1 Pt 1:6, NLT). The good news, however, is that we have become more sensitive to sin. This is because we have become more renewed in our zeal for Christ unlike ever before. We must remember that as we leave our old self behind, we are now freed from sin’s tenacious grip. It means it no longer has a permanent hold on our lives anymore:

“We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ, so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ, we were set free from the power of sin.” (Rom 6:6-7, NLT, my emphasis)

Freed from the stranglehold of sin, we are fully and properly empowered for righteous living but the choice still remains whether we “let sin continue and reign” or we properly establish that we are ready to glorify Christ now that we are liberated from bondage:

“So you also should consider yourself to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.” (Rom 6:11-12, NLT, my emphasis)

Being left with choices to make sounds risky of course. It means we can still make the wrong move and take the wrong turn. But it also means that for the first time, we have the golden opportunity – and the new-found power – to do the right thing and be the new creation that God desires in each and every one of us. Making the right choice simply means we can then be fully formed in the mind of God, created by His power and destined for His glory.




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A change that is real

Right from the beginning (of this article), we’ve said it fairly clearly that God’s not looking for a makeover. What this means is that turning over a new leaf isn’t the Gospel change we’re referring to. Instead, it’s the type of brand new life Paul talks about here:

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Cor 5:17, NLT, my emphasis)

The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) translation uses the phrase “new creation”:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.” (ibid, HCSB, my emphasis)

The very heart of being a Christian has always centred on this change. The term “born again,” in some translations (NET, NRSV), literally means “born from above” because in John’s Gospel, the original text was written in Greek and the word “again” is ánōtʰen (Gk. ἄνωθεν), meaning “from above.” Other than NET and NRSV,* the KJV also offers this original meaning in its margins.

Note:

The abbreviations used in the text are used as follows: NET (New English Translation), NRSV (New Revised Standard Version), KJV (King James Version)

British theologian Sir Edwyn C Hoskyns (1851-1925) proposed that “born again” fundamentally meant “born from above” by drawing attention to phrases like “born of God” as translated in the KJV in the multiple passages that the apostle John wrote:

“But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (Jn 1:12-13, KJV, my emphasis)

You can also find the same use of “born of God” in John’s other entries in 1 John 2:29, 3:9, 4:7 and 5:18 in the KJV translation. With these passages, Hoskyns argues that it is hence necessary to allude to the meaning as an emphasis placed on the newness of life as given by God himself. Now, let’s turn to Peter.

In his first letter (as per KJV again), here’s how Peter used the phrase “born again”:

“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” (1 Pt 1:22-23, KJV, my emphasis)

Compare that with the NLT version:

“You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart. For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living Word of God.” (1 Pt 1:22-23, NLT, my emphasis)

In the case of Peter using the term “born again,” the original Greek word is anagegennēménoi (Gk. ἀναγεγεννημένοι), which means “being born again” or “having been born again.” It is derived from the root word anagennaó (Gk. ἀναγεννάω), which means “to beget again” or contextually, based on Strong’s #313, “born from on high.”

Therefore, the emphasis on “from above” (or “from on high”) implies “from Heaven” and is meant to draw our attention to the very source of the “newness of life.” 

The much-admired Southern Baptist theologian Frank Stagg (1911-2001) stressed that the word “again” used within the context of “born again” should be taken to mean that there is a lot more to life’s improvement than just personal involvement in that, “a new destiny requires a new origin and the new origin must be from God.”

And so we visit the night encounter where, under the cover of darkness, Nicodemus met Jesus (Jn 3:1-21). There, the Jewish religious leader sought Jesus’ wisdom but even before he could ask his question, the Son of God responded, which was where we come across, quite possibly, the most famous use of the term “born again.”

When Jesus spoke about being “born again,” Nicodemus was stumped. He didn’t understand how a person could “go back into his mother’s womb and be born again.” It was abundantly clear that the notion of being “born from above” was beyond the depth of his understanding. Jesus then replied:

“I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8, NLT)

The fact that Nicodemus met Jesus in the late of night was sufficient evidence that he wanted to know more. Indeed, he wanted to learn from Jesus whom he clearly acknowledged as the one “God has sent… to teach us.” 

From what he heard, it became increasingly evident that his curiosity had turned into a desire for a major change of heart. The rebirth – of being born again – is an act of God whereby eternal life is granted to he who believes (2 Cor 5:17, Tit 3:5, 1 Pt 1:3, 1 Jn 2:29, 3:9, 4:7, 5:1-4,18).

To be “born again” represents the first step of change when a person becomes a Christian and accepts Christ in his life. In answering why we need to be born again, Paul says it simply in the following two passages in Scripture:

“Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.” (Eph 2:1, NLT, my emphasis)

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” (Rom 3:23, NLT, my emphasis)

Steeped in disobedience, we were buried in sin. Under no uncertain terms, we were also spiritually “dead.” So once we receive a renewal of spiritual life through faith in Christ, Scripture refers to it as a rebirth. 

In this renewal, our sins are forgiven and we now have a relationship with the Father through Christ. This rebirth then paves the way for the process of making ourselves anew, a journey in which the old gradually passes away and the new takes its place.

But this change isn’t just for the few ‘lucky’ ones. The fact of the matter is a lot of people do crave spiritual change although admittedly, not everyone understands what that means or what it entails. The poor and the rich, those who are successful and those who consider themselves failures – it’s not difficult to find many in need of the same change but whether or not they understand what this change means is a different matter.

The most common assumption about change is if we do it, God will like us more and by that, we can then expect a larger share of His blessings. In other words, we like to make a direct commutative connection between change and reward – with change, we have an expectation that God will recognise and do something great about it. We think that it’s an automatic passport to God’s good side.

This, of course, is not what we’re talking about here. Neither is it necessarily true too. The problem here is that such a view has long been perpetuated by misguided religious idealism, the type that wrongly teaches about the Gospel. In Christendom, Christians want change through obedience. 

On first impression, that may sound fine but recall American pastor and theologian, Tim Keller’s (b.1950) famous words: “Religion says, ‘I obey; therefore I am accepted.’ Christianity says, ‘I’m accepted, therefore I obey.’”

On accepting Christ as our Saviour, the change that is to come is something out of an expectation. Christians change so that their lives may reflect Christ but this change is only possible through the work of the Son of God through His death at the cross and then His resurrection. 

Without either of this, there is no Christianity to speak of and then no good reason to seek such a change. Christians desire change because Jesus’ life and work inspire us, which is why we embrace His promise of salvation.

If it weren’t for Him, the Christ-centred change we aspire can only lead to interminable frustration. At best, it will only be a makeshift makeover, one that falls short of helping deliver an eternal challenge for all of us. Perhaps the one common phrase we always hear of best epitomises such a makeover – “turning over a new leaf.” As innocuous as it is, it is but an interim stopgap measure.

Here’s what some dictionaries define the term: ‘to start over, to act in a different manner or change your attitude about something.’ Another one says, ‘to change your behaviour in a positive way.’ Sounds great but it falls awfully short. It is inadequate for true Gospel change because invariably, we will find ourselves wanting to keep turning over from one new leaf to the next (new leaf). It’s a never-ending cycle of flux that simply adds on to our personal strife.

Solomon wanted to turn over a new leaf too. And in so doing, he resorted to a search to change not by divine intervention but by way of human ingenuity. He valued his own wisdom and felt that, that was enough to bring change to his life. Predictably, Solomon’s quest for change ended up in a heap of frustration even though he was supposedly the world’s smartest guy:

“I, the Teacher, was king of Israel, and I lived in Jerusalem. I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race. I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless – like chasing the wind. What is wrong cannot be made right. What is missing cannot be recovered. I said to myself, ‘Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.’ So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind. The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.” (Ecc 1:12-18, NLT, my emphasis)

That’s some serious baring the heart. It’s not difficult to imagine how hard and crunching Solomon’s words are had he said it in our face. Truth is hard to take, as they say but Solomon’s admission reflects the kind of “folly” that many of us would have experienced when we, too, are determined to change our lives under our own steam. Solomon’s lesson may be 3,000 years old but it resonates resoundingly today.

Well-heeled Christians would do well taking note here particularly those who seek change in their lives for they may understand him better than some of us. Like Solomon, these are Christians filled with worldly wisdom, material wealth, power and influence. They have everything anyone could possibly hope for in life and if they’re not quite there yet, they’re on their way. They certainly look the part and some even behave the part also.

Yet, Solomon’s mortal vulnerability was profoundly exposed. He revealed a life of “chasing the wind.” Instead of finding happiness, he found meaninglessness. There was a void of purpose or virtue. It was like running in circles, leading to no particular destination. As Solomon ran in circles, we might actually feel the wind as it passes us by but we can’t catch hold of it either.

And in the end, he conceded that he got nowhere. He thought he could find self-worth and true security but he failed. He realised the need for God to grant him his new pursuits. Otherwise, change would, at best, be superficial or pretentious because it would’ve lacked real meaning.

Like Solomon, we can also end up wasting a lot of time and effort, trying to institute change on our own terms and under our own strength. Like Solomon, we can spend a lifetime doing futile things without even realising it and then being humbled by God when we finally come to terms with reality. 

In other words, we must wake up to the fact that spiritual productivity can only be attainable by simply handing over to the Lord whose work grants us something we can never achieve on our own and that is, a new and purposeful life.

What God can do within us is we can never do on our own. We can be the wealthiest people on earth but no amount of money can get this done without God. We can be the smartest on the planet but without God, no brainpower is going to be enough. What God can do is not just beyond our imagination but it’s well and truly past our craft. Many Christians still can’t get it into their heads that this is not something we can ever learn to do on our own and the Bible is very clear on this:

“Now all glory to God, who is able through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” (Eph 3:20, NLT, my emphasis)

“‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord. ‘And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (Isa 55:8-9, NLT, my emphasis)

Recall, once again, the meeting between Jesus and Nicodemus (Jn 3). As a Pharisee and a member of the powerful Sanhedrin, Nicodemus was exemplary of a very highly trained and supposedly knowledgeable religious teacher. He had years of tutelage in Jewish laws, customs and culture that accorded him prestige and pedigree.

As a member of the Sanhedrin, he also had vaunted position in society that put him in a moral stature beyond reproach. And yet, he was nowhere near transformed. Summarily, Nicodemus had a tongue-lashing from Jesus:

“Jesus replied, ‘You are a respected Jewish teacher and yet you don’t understand these things? I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? (Jn 3:10-12, NLT, my emphasis)

Jesus didn’t just cut Nicodemus down to size but He introduced him to something – “born again” – he’d never heard before, something he realised that no rules and laws he knew could ever help him to understand. But in being born again, Nicodemus realised that Jesus was talking about a change of life unlike anything he’d heard of, one that was spiritually centred in Christ.

Nicodemus’ experience hands down an invaluable lesson for all of us that, laws, rituals, rules and regulations do nothing to help us ring in lasting spiritual change. Any change wrought through human endeavour has no lasting power and therefore lacks meaning and before we all know it, we’re back where we started. The same old self will eventually return to haunt us and all we end up doing is waste precious time “chasing the wind.”

No doubt rules and laws can modify behaviour but that’s not the kind of motivating reason that is born of a personal desire to change. We always say that Singapore may have enough rules to rope its own people into staying on the right side of the law but we also know how some of its people become incessant litter bugs once they cross the Causeway into Malaysia. We can say the same of those from mainland China who, free from their own country’s laws, are notoriously infamous for being some of the rudest tourists.

Rules and laws matter not one bit when true Gospel change is desired. That’s because the former says more about enforcement than desire. We comply with rules and laws not because we are passionate about them but because we prefer to stay out of trouble. 

This is where we ‘desire’ change only because it is expected of us to do so. Therefore, if any church tells us that God’s blessings can only come when we’re changed, that is not what we’re talking about here.

Instead, a Gospel-inspired change brings about a truly new life. Because it’s not just a simple makeover, it will be totally different. Beyond just turning over a new leaf, a Gospel change is a wholesome inside-out transformation that transcends a revamped lifestyle.




Image source: seamo-official.org

A change akin to a journey

The original narrative God had for us was that our place in life was always to be by His side in His kingdom. Unfortunately, we have lost that right a long time ago. Through the entry of sin, the befallen man is so far separated that the Father needed to send His Son to die on the cross so that His blood could wash us clean and redeem us. 

The long and short of this is that if sin continues to separate us, we will never get to be in a place where God has called us to be and that is, to be with Him in eternity.

At the same time, we can never be the person God has called us to become unless we seek His intervention. You don’t even have to be a Christian to pine for eternal life. People chasing a worldly lifestyle filled with material wealth are likely to want to live forever but obviously, for reasons that have nothing to do with Christian living. Think of ‘age-defying’ creams. Think why so many desperately use Botox. Think of the purpose of cryogenics.

All of these and more reflect a sense of priority that isn’t just worrying but so off-course for humanity. It all points to a level of concern that underscores the importance of the kind of change that really matters in life. 

Again, not makeshift makeovers. Not just turning over a new leaf. Not just a lifestyle review. Neither is it simply a case of being a better or an improved person. What we need is the kind of change that makes us look at life’s big picture.

Humans have been looking to live forever just like how Adam and Eve were supposed to be. It reflects a life of transformative growth, a life of Gospel living in which God uses to shape our lives to mirror His Son. But man wants to take shortcuts, which is why Gospel change is certainly not for everyone. Unless you’re serious about being someone who truly matters to Christ, someone who is willing to emulate Him all the way, then such a change becomes insignificant.

When you decide that a Gospel change is the right thing for you, you’ll then want to think of it as not only a process but like a trip you take on a train fare. Whereas people in general think almost exclusively about the destination, real Gospel change is more about the journey itself. 

It’s the journey – and what you experience along the way – that shapes us, offering opportunities from which we can learn much. It’s the journey that packs the contents that holds much in store for our lives.

The journey resembles the process in which we take in change. It is that time in which God proceeds to work in us and sometime along the way, that transformation will have begun. By the end of the journey, all of that will have been completed as well. It is the journey that God “begins the good work” within each of us and He “will continue” doing so “until it is finally finished”:

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” (Php 1:6, NLT, my emphasis)

It’s a very telling passage here. Three phrases define this as a process or a journey if you like:

“Who began” marks the starting point, demonstrating that God will be there to launch it. It suggests very clearly that it is punctilious for it relates to a specific and well-defined point in time.

“Will continue” underscores the fact that change is but a gradual process in which He will persist with while we endure “until it is finally finished.” It confirms that we are being changed on a daily basis to be more like Christ and less like ourselves in how we live our lives. Day by day, God desires that we grow in our knowledge and connection with Him through His Son.

So, there we have it – began, continue and then finally finished. All of these describe the journey itself and between the starting (“began”) and the ending (“finished”) point is the part that means the most to us. What this means is that the change that matters most critically to us begins at the moment after we accept and received the promise of salvation from Christ.

When you understand the true gist of what this change is about, you will also realise that when a new Christian recounts his experiences of being prayed the ‘Sinner’s Prayer,’ it is a definable moment, yes, but there is so much more to the change than just that. With this change, you don’t just get chucked back into the world and resume life on your own terms as if that one moment in your life is all that matters.

Don’t go around thinking that the moment of conversion is all the ‘real’ experience you get from being a Christian. The real ‘wow’ factor comes when you begin to truly experience the process of change from the inside out. Only God can do that for and in us and that is such an important thing to keep remembering.

It is during this journey of change that God offers us the greatest opportunity to be set straight and headed in a rewarding and purposeful direction in our lives. Once we get on this change-wagon, our human desires will begin to recede in importance. Gradually, we feel the futility of putting ourselves first and instead, we look to God’s divine nature that is striking for the sacrifice it represents.

It is this sacrifice that helps to elevate Christ first in our lives. It is this sacrifice that becomes the all-important centrepiece that results from this process of change:

“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord – who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.” (2 Cor 3:18, NLT, my emphasis)

By entrusting Christ, our faith is that He will bring wholesale change into our lives. And in doing so, God puts us squarely in His kingdom; something which we can only be forever humbled and grateful because we know that only He can do that. Only He can specifically elect us, which means that He doesn’t necessarily do this for everyone else. 

But because we choose to place our faith in Him, He will reciprocate by inviting us to join Him on this journey of change. The end result of all this is we can spend the rest of our lives experiencing God’s love and wisdom not to mention His power and sense of security.

Safe in His hands, we can bask in His presence but we must also be certain that we don’t allow the world even a toehold in rewriting our story. As we are in His presence, let us not deny Him His glory. Let us be sure that His light will shine from within our lives and not be blocked anymore. 

In other words, we should be wise enough to be careful at all times because the world will never give up rearing its head and forcing its way back into our lives. 

Knowing that this can happen if we’re careless, we must persist in seeing through the most important change in our lives. Once we do this, worldly matters will begin to appear less and less important as we persist in carrying out our journey. This is when we can start believing that, for the first time in our lives, we can reflect God’s glory in its fullest perfection.




Image source: Plan Canada

A change to hang on to

The fact that the world can still squeeze itself back into our lives even as we journey along the process of change lays proof to God’s promise of free will. It is God’s assurance that He doesn’t and never forces us to change. He does not believe in dictating our lives. It is therefore always our choice to decide and the decision we make will always be our responsibility be it right or wrong.

Although God does call to us to make the right choice, it is ultimately something that must come from our deepest desire. Even as we say that His will be done, the choice to change or not to change rests entirely on how much we see ourselves as part of His plan (or not). 

If we wish to be in His will, we must then resolve to change and surrender our lives to Him. If we prefer to hang on to our own choices and take charge of our lives in our own way, then we can never be part of God’s will.

God wants this to be something very personal. When we make the decision to change, He likes it to define how meaningful we view our relationship with Him. Therefore, our desire to change must then reflect how much our heart – not our mind – wants it. It is an emotional decision, one filled with passion for Christ that is important to Him.

It is not in His plan to meddle with our choices. However, in His desire to redeem us, He has great and ambitious plans that hinge on our personal decision to surrender our will to Him. That is the clarion call He makes to appeal to us to revert our narrative back to Him. That’s the call He exhorts us to rebuke sin and join Him on a journey to make amends and change.

As simple as it may sound, some of us remain apprehensive, doubtful that they can make such a decision. There could be any number of reasons why this is so. Some are clearly worried that they may fail. Knowing God’s impeccable standards, there is a fear of failure. 

Recall that God says, “You must be holy because I am holy” (1 Pt 1:16, NLT) and we may be able to understand how such a task can sound too impossible to undertake.

But this is where we presume incorrectly. This fear of failure is based on the assumption that we alone must make the change work. This cannot possibly be true because we all know how improbable it is for any of us to see this change through to completion. We may start it but we can never finish it to God’s satisfaction. Our innate sinful nature puts paid to any such guarantee! 

Furthermore God knows better than to leave things to us to bring this change into fruition. The truth is when He exhorts us to change, He knows it is His work to see us through the journey. All we have to do is to keep hanging on to His coattails.

Hanging on means we are dependent on God to make everything possible. When we slip and fall, God will pick us up and offer us courage to continue. When we hurt and feel the pain, He is there to comfort us all the way. When we face doubts in ourselves, God reminds us of the big plan He has for us that is His to roll out and not ours to craft.

It is God’s assurance that helps us to move away from shallow and meaningless religiosity and embrace the indomitable spiritual empowerment. It is through this shift of understanding that we can ready ourselves to accept God’s work to change us:

“But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from Him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrected by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God – truly righteous and holy.” (Eph 4:20-24, NLT)

In embracing a Christ-centred change, the main thrust is to put away the “old man” for good and then take on the “new man.” Although this is our goal, the “old man’s” grip is very tenacious, certainly far more so than we give it credit. 

For many, this is discouraging enough to want to change. While the desire is there, facing up to it in practice seems a very different story. In fact, there is no shortage of real stories that concern how tough it is to change.

For me, it was my almost-30-year smoking habit. I had a free run of the habit throughout my years living and working in Australia. It was when I returned to Malaysia that my father ventured to ‘advise’ me on to kick the habit. Being a former smoker himself, he was particularly empathetic with how difficult it was to stop smoking. And so he resorted to various ‘softly-softly’ approaches.

From newspaper clippings to nicotine patches to fake electronic cigarettes, he tried everything to help me give up. I appreciated the effort but they did nothing for me. Even the gory pictures of cancerous lungs on the outside of the cigarette packets proved ineffective.

By now, smoking wasn’t just an addiction but it was also part of an irresistible lifestyle. It was a powerful force in itself, entirely impervious to any challenges. Smoking was cool. There was an undeniable swagger to it that made it attractive. But it was also getting gradually more expensive. Still, smoking was integral to my personal landscape and I had no plans whatsoever to abandon it. It essentially defined who I was. 

Through all my years as a Christian, I turned to smoking discretely in the presence of fellow church members. It was only when I was on my own that I would smoke openly. It was, of course, completely foolish because anyone with a keen enough nose would have smelled the smoke stench from my clothes alone.

In the last decade prior to ultimate success, I began to think about seriously giving up. Admittedly I didn’t have any particular reason to except that maybe, I should try. That was when I realised how determined the “old man” hung on and grabbed hold. While I did have the desire to change, the resistance was far greater than I thought. It looked quite clear that it wasn’t giving up without a serious fight.

I remember my first real attempt at giving up. It was humiliating. Foolishly, I told friends I had ‘given up’ but within a space of a week or less, I had recapitulated. My happiness was short-lived but worse, I had to explain to my friends how I gave up but the habit came back. 

Being kicked back into reality was one thing but facing up to the embarrassment of being prematurely bold was another thing. Fearing that failure would haunt me again and again, my subsequent attempts were never made ‘public.’

Actively returning to church life marked the beginning of something better for me. Although my smoking persisted – even if it meant going under the radar – I was more aware of the spiritual destructiveness of condoning such a bad habit. But the challenge was getting steeper. Having sunken its claws into me, the “old man” was so ‘comfortable’ and he wasn’t going anywhere soon.

By now, I was having a torrid time, stuck in a balance between knowing what I had to do and realising how difficult it was to kick the habit. Caught in a terrible position, my conscience would bug me but I had this real fear of failing all over again. What made it even harder for me was that I felt alone with the problem. I hadn’t shared it with anyone else including the pastor in my church.

At this point, no one was telling me to give up except for my father’s loving efforts. It was obvious what smoking was about. There was no need to attempt workshops or read any more than I already knew. It was apparent by now that the problem was within myself. I was making it tougher for myself to get rid of the “old man.” I was, indeed, making it a larger problem than it should’ve been.

But something ‘strange’ happened almost exactly ten years ago. Somehow, I found the ability to go cold turkey and it didn’t have anything to do with my own health. No one threatened me and it surely wasn’t because someone who smoked died of lung cancer. The only thing that was different now was that I told my girlfriend (now my wife) that my last planned cigarette would be the moment our first child was born. Of course, it was presumptuous because we weren’t married yet and there was no telling if we would even have children.

Yet, one week after stopping, I was still not smoking. A week became one month and still, I didn’t pick up a cigarette. I was tempted, yes, but I didn’t give in, which was odd. And then one month became half a year and before I knew it, it was twelve months of being clean. No temptations anymore. In fact, my clothes didn’t smell and my fingers were no longer discoloured. I found myself even gaining a bit of weight!

That was in 2008. Today, the “old man” is well and truly gone even though it wasn’t too long ago that I was resigned to facing “him” in defeat forever. Looking back now, I came to terms with five main things and I learned why change can be so difficult for all of us:

1. Obstinance for no reason

With the “old man” appearing left, right and centre stage, it’s all too easy a target to point at. It’s convenient to blame it but in the end, the truth of the matter is that we are our worst enemy. We become so confused with our resolve to address the elephant in the room and we hang on for no clear or justifiable reason.

We know the “old man” represents all that is not good in our life and yet we can’t let go of it. Some of you may have trouble giving up your daily morning espresso. Or indulging in fast foods. Or needing to check your Facebook or tweets. Some may have problems surviving a day without touching their smartphones.

The “old man” can take on a lot of different forms but all the same, they’re a serious challenge to how you live out a life of faith where your attention is to be centred on Christ. Quite often, because we underestimate the subtle threats that the “old man” poses, they set the tone for our faith to be gradually undermined. That’s what happens all the time and unfortunately, we do see the fruits of such destruction in church.

We may snigger at how some people suffer at the hands of their own obstinance but in varying degrees, we are all in the same boat. However, some of us might be a little better off than others. I, for one, came to realise that there’s a time to learn to unclench our first and let the “old man” go. It’s time to let Christ in and for His love to embrace us. Scripture reminds us very emphatically:

“Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do.” (Prov 6:4, NLT)

2. The sense of being trapped

Just because we are Christians doesn’t mean we’re indifferent to addictions. We are still as human as anyone else and we have our fair share of everything that ensnares us. Perhaps, those among us who are more vulnerable may think that many of these addictions are impossible to escape from.

Drug addiction is easily the most public of the deadly habits. Recently, I read of the story of 19-year-old Giancarlo who died of heroin overdose. Her mother wrote a heart-wrenching story that was published in lovewhatmatters.com. This is part of what she wrote:

“This ugly drug can hide behind a beautiful sweet face. Giancarlo showed no signs of heroin use. No nodding out, no disappearing for days, he was never mean or raised his voice at me, he never stole from us… he did seem a bit isolated but don’t all teenagers hole up in there [sic] room at some point?”

Reading the whole article* would make better sense than just those few sentences. Here was a late teenager who relapsed after 45 days of rehabilitation followed by an intensive outpatient programme for another three months and then “sober living house” for a year. For someone with so much future ahead of him, that’s a tragedy. For someone whom a mother adored and found nothing amiss, Giancarlo must have felt something else – trapped, in other words – that she couldn’t work out.

* Go to https://faithit.com/last-thing-said-its-ok-mom-love-you-too-mom-warns-parents-sons-tragic-heroin-overdose/

Other than drugs, smoking and drinking, there are other kinds of addictions that can be lethal enough to get us all trapped in. There are people who are so caught up with womanising, pornography, sex and overeating, shopping and material indulgence. There are also hobbies that may be harmless at first glance but they also side-track us away from our priorities. 

In short, anything that takes us away from Christ is an addiction that has serious overtones.

Most addictions attack us when we’re at our most vulnerable. That’s when we hit the bottom, believing there is no hope that we’ll come out of it. We lead ourselves into thinking that we’re truly doomed with nowhere out. And it all begins with the initial feeling of euphoria or that sense of excitement or wild abandon. Before we know it, the addiction has set a trap that we gladly walked into.

In most cases, we will ourselves into such a predicament because we believe so much in the pleasure of the moment. People call it, ‘living in the moment’ or focusing only on the present with little to no concern for the future, which is how so many of our youths are today.

And in doing so, they hold on to the things of the world but not realise or understand what they’re actually doing or what they’re losing out. But being trapped and held back by our addictions, we keep ourselves away from the new life that Christ desires to form in us.

3. Taking false comfort

Some of us find comfort in hanging on to the “old man” but in truth, that’s just false security. This might sound odd but it’s only because we find reassurance – and familiarity – with an addiction that we have lived with for many years.

We may all have different types of “old man” to deal with but they all share a common trait and that is, they all tempt us into believing the kind of lies that separate us from Christ. For example, if we feel very ‘at home’ with the “old man,” why change the status quo? If it’s so difficult to prise it away, why bother if it’s ‘harmless’? When it’s been with us for this long, what difference does it make to have it removed or not?

The problem with the “old man” is that we’re generally clueless about its power and influence. Addictions work fairly unnoticeably and therefore they usually do not attract much outwardly attention. Because of that, they operate to envelope our senses without us realising it, ending up inhibiting us from wanting to know more about the Lord.

As a formidable source of distraction, the “old man” is peerless, which is why it is often so difficult to live a fuller life as a Christian. We need to live a life that is of service to God and to envision a life where we have a stronger spiritual purpose but the “old man” gets in the way. With “him” constantly hindering, it’s not a surprise that we cannot ever get anything done that is pleasing to Him.

And that is all because we have this false sense of security with the “old man.” Thinking “he” is harmless, “he” gets free rein to potentially ruin us from within. If you can identify the false comfort that it offers, then it is time to walk away from “him.” 

It’s time to embrace something far superior and embark on a journey of Christ-centred change. In other words, it’s time to call out the “old man’s” lies and dump “him.”

4. A vise-grip of fear

Well-intended people always say, “Be the change agent.” What they mean is change begins with ourselves. Before we expect or encourage others to change, we have to make that change first. There’s nothing wrong with all that. In fact, that is precisely what Gospel change is essentially about.

However, as exciting as it sounds, people fear change because change brings with it, a deep and murky sense of uncertainty. And with that, all the doubts about what the future may or may not bring. When that happens, change becomes a very unpopular and unsettling thing to get into.

For many, being Christian comprises a simple and short roadmap. After being introduced to the Good News and buying your first Bible, you fall into step and attend a few church activities and services before finally ending in a ceremonious baptism with some handshakes and congratulatory pats on the back.

Beyond that, life is sitting in the pews and watching everything from the back. All the initial excitement is now taken over by a mainstream church culture of being part of the congregation. Only the exceptional will want to get up and do things beyond what the mundane are prone not to.

For most Christians therefore, a call to change is likely to raise considerable discomfort because they assume they’ve already come this far and done enough. They aren’t convinced there is anymore that they’re willing to do even if it’s an invitation to follow Jesus in discipleship. 

Perhaps the greater concern they have might be how others – especially friends outside their church circle – end up viewing their ‘zealotry’ or ‘fanaticism.’ They worry that they won’t be able to cope outside their comfort zone.

I once knew of someone who freaked out when I asked if she was interested in attending a Bible study class if I organised one at her home. Flailing her hands in the air, she wanted out, not letting me finish talking. All she was comfortable with was being a nominal Christian, believing only in simple things. She wasn’t willing to go any deeper. Her commitment was arm’s length. Anything closer frightened the living daylights out of her.

5. Change brings hurt

Whether we’re talking about being a Christian or not, change can have a debilitating price. Even if the change brings positive benefits, that doesn’t mean the person will willingly or happily leave his comfort zone. The fear or anticipation of pain may be psychological but people are still likely to have second thoughts before committing themselves to whatever promises that change is said to bring.

For some, the idea of making a change that takes them away from the way they’ve been doing things brings not just uncertainties but discomfort. What they lose or have to sacrificed can be ‘too much’ to take. It may be cultural or traditional or it can be leaving behind the worldly influence of good friends. 

Perhaps it’s leaving a job or needing to relocate from where one lives. More extreme examples might include literally losing a limb just to survive. In all of these, there is emotional hurt that can take a long time to overcome.

The fact is that people generally don’t like change because change disrupts lives. And when change disrupts lives, there is bound to be a tangible level of hurt involved. It’s a given that invariably, time heals but even so, not everyone is ready for it or is ever fully prepared to cope.

That is often the reason why people don’t seek out change willingly. Change is the resort only when nothing else works. Or if staying unchanged brings more pain than changing. Or, as it is the case with Gospel change, when the choice is between (spiritual) life and death.

For example, businesses are forced to change course (or strategy) if staying put means great loss of profits especially if it leads them down the road to inevitable retrenchments and/or plunging stock value. 

In the course of making the change, certain actions will have to be taken that may be traumatising to the business including discontinuation of products, a forced review of plans or a realignment of priorities that forces the shutting down of certain services. None of these can be said to be painless.

On a personal scale, the pain of change is not much different though it is probably more embarrassing or even humiliating. Even when told discreetly, being made aware of a body odour problem or a weight issue can make someone crawl painfully into a corner and cringe. 

What more than if it’s a deeply-hidden sin that we were once so confident nobody would know were to be exposed? It might be hard to imagine but if we’re suddenly made to confront issues that are personally very sensitive, the hurt is unimaginable.

At the end of the day, the question we all must face is whether it hurts more to not change. In other words, we have to ultimately answer whether the pain is worse if we stay where we are or change in order to be where we know we ought to be. 

The change that God calls us out to be may mean that there is the initial pain but we’ll forget it in time. Even more so, the pain is simply a reminder of our own stubbornness to change or the fear we have to overcome.

Image source: mindblowings.com

Change you must

Try as we might, change is unavoidable. Whether we like it or not, change is an ever-constant part of life and it is something we can't do much to remove or avoid. So many times, we try to resist change but change eventually gets to us. And no matter how we drag our feet, the force of change will instead drag us out of our caves.

That is the case over the many centuries. Across the many different industries, change has forced consumers and manufacturers alike to adjust or face extinction. In the computer software industry, many great names have become history because they refuse to move with the times. 

Products like WordPerfect, WordStar, AmiPro, rBase and so many more were once indispensable products but today, they’re mere distant memories. The same will happen when even the most famous nameplates in the car industry resist the shift to all-electric technology.

In short, we cannot choose whether change will or won’t come. Change is as inevitable as the sun will rise and set each day. However, the fact remains that we can choose whether or not to embrace the chance we’re given. In other words, we can also elect to resist it.

For the sake of God’s kingdom, we need to make the right choice. Only the right choice will open the way for God to advance His work in each and every one of us. Only the right choice will ensure we avoid picking a rut and making it deeper. Remember, God’s desire is to ring in the critical changes that transform His children’s life and His church.

Unless you’re new to this, Christians only have the right choice to make. In other words, for us, only the right choice counts. And all things then become possible once we make that decision to change. If that is not true, then there is no point in placing our faith on Christ. In other words, the whole point of our faith is useless. It will have no basis and neither does it mean anything.

The primacy of change is integral in being a Christian. When we became Christians, change takes centre stage. It’s a process that should have begun on our first day as a Christian. What this means is that a Christian life only finds its basis in being a changed life. 

If you say you believe in Christ but you live the very same life prior to your belief, then you’ve been living a lie because there’s every doubt that you truly believe in Him in the first place. Hence, your faith is fake.

Becoming a Christian means living a Christ-centred life. It means we are to turn away from sin and move ourselves into a path of repentance. We now know that repentance – that journey we’ve been talking about – is not a one-time showpiece. In fact, it defines the true lifestyle of a true believer in Christ.

At the very moment we are saved, God has already begun that process of change in us. He does this by imparting to us a new life but of course, it’s much more than that. What follows for the rest of our lives is a lifetime of changing into the image of Christ:

“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord – who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.” (2 Cor 3:8, NLT, my emphasis)

If we do not believe or accept this change in our lives, Paul does offer a very grim portrait of what it’ll be like:

“With the Lord’s authority, I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against Him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practise every kind of impurity.” (Eph 4:17-19, NLT, my emphasis)

In this portraiture, Paul’s words are hard-hitting. He doesn’t only talk describe how Gentiles live but in effect, his words tell us what it’s like to continue to live like one. To not accept this change into our Christian lives basically matches this description. 

And although not all unbelievers are as bad as Paul makes it out in this passage, there is no denying that they live with “their minds…full of darkness” as “they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against Him.” Just as this bleakness paints an unbeliever, we can also say that it describes Christians who do not accept change for the sake of Christ.

In 4:20, Paul caps it all with a rebuke for Christians. He says:

“But that isn’t what you learned about Christ.” (Eph 4:20, NLT)

What he’s done here is he’s given us a fairly good outlook of what changed life means that everyone who calls himself a Christian should experience. So what he’s saying is that the Christ-centred changed life is derived from the transformation work that God does in us through the Gospel so that we can put away our old life for good, have our minds renewed and then put in place, a new life in and for Christ.




Image source: thevahandbook.com

Overcoming the naysayers

But of course, none of this can happen in an instant. Because it takes time and effort to undergo the process of change, many things can occur along the way and this is where the challenges really lie. Like we said earlier, it’s the journey – and not the destination – that offers us life’s myriad experiences and lessons.

However, even fellow Christians do not appreciate what the journey entails, pouring scorn and throwing scathing criticisms instead of singing praises or at least showing respect. Very often therefore, such a journey can be a lonely project for those who seek a Gospel change in their lives. The objective is what drives real Christians onward no matter the judgement call but the journey is riven with people who judge them by what they see as ‘lacking results.’

Naturally then, ‘lacking results’ mean there is no ‘success’ to speak of. Those who believe in the purpose of change often become victims of scornful disdain but that’s only because those who mock hardly ever understand what it’s all about. 

These are the sort of people who tell their fellow Christians what they can’t do mainly because they themselves aren’t willing to go through it themselves. In fact, there are more people than we like who not only tell us what we cannot do but worse still, what we’ll never be able to achieve.

“You’ll never be able to do that. It’s just not possible.”

“You can’t go through it. It’s not just done.”

“It’s just too difficult and really, you’re not the type.”  

If these remarks are cutting, they get worse as you dig deeper. The more you want to do it, it seems the more critics that will spring out from the woodwork and deconstruct your spiritual ambitions. Much of it is discouraging. Some are downright insulting. 

But most of them are not spoken out but the opinions are often held close to their chest. However, you do sense the negativity.

“You haven’t been able to do it in the past. What makes you think you can do it now?”

“You’ll never change. Don’t even believe it.”

“There’s no way you’ll ever cut it as a Sunday School teacher. You don’t have what it takes.”

“You must be kidding! You want to be part of the pulpit ministry? Don’t make me laugh!”

The problem with hearing all these criticisms is that for some people, they take it to heart when that happens. It is for that reason that many of us hope someone would tell us it’s okay to embark on our God-given purpose. 

Some go further, though that’s very rare, and encourage us. It’s because there is usually a dearth of support and an abundance of acerbic comments that many of us hold back from wanting to make a difference.  

Making the decision to transform our lives is difficult enough. A church member said to me not too long ago that to surrender to Christ is a very serious undertaking. I don’t doubt her at all but I do not believe that Christ will condemn me if I try with all my heart and find it difficult.

California-based American pastor and writer, John F. Macarthur (b.1939) wrote in his book, ‘The Believer’s Armour’ that, “You have all the resources, power and principles to live the Christian life… Even though power is available to follow godly principles, the enemy wants to withstand any good thing that God sets out to do. He will attempt to thwart God’s divine purpose for your life.”

It’s not difficult to read Macarthur’s words and understand them to mean that Satan has the guile to foil our purpose to lead a Christ-centred life because he is not interested in anything good that God sets out to do to change us from within. And so he goes about it by utilising fear of derision to force us to back off.

But then God wants to encourage us to reject whatever criticisms hurled our way and abide by His wish to go through with the change. It’s a serious battle out there and often, the knives are out even in church for some Christians to demean the efforts of those who really want to do something positive in their lives to be Christ-like. 

Recall that Jesus Himself was despised, rejected and discredited:

“He was despised and rejected – a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way. He was despised and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins!” (Isa 53:3-4, NLT, my emphasis)

Jesus knew full well the battle that rages against us with criticisms that can emerge within the four walls of our own churches. We really don’t have to go to the world and find people who would despise and reject our efforts to change. Yet the question is whether or not we are willing to look fear of criticism in the eye and step out in faith to live our God-given purpose for the sake of others and for Christ.

More than a decade ago, I made the decision of wanting to be a pastor. I was at that time serving at a local EFC (Evangelical Free Church) but I was apprehensive about making it public though admittedly, I was hoping someone would be excited for me and offer encouragement. 

I’d never done anything like this and I realised that sharing God’s message demands a level of seriousness, factualness and passion that other careers cannot match. In fact, nothing that I had done in my life up till that point could truly prepare me for the pulpit.

So while I hoped to move closer to that wish that God had seeded in my heart, deep down, I was worried of looking foolish. I was even more concerned about whatever backchat that was bound to happen if I took to the pulpit. Even for a church as small as this one, there were enough people who would have ‘something’ to say about nothing.

But then, no matter who we are, or what we seek to accomplish in servitude to God, the only One we need to move toward our purpose is the Holy Spirit. There is no one else we need to be concerned over. Similarly, we don’t really have to be worked up over any criticisms, mockery or judgements. None of them matters when God is behind whatever it is we endeavour to do for Him. 

As it is said in Scripture:

“What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His Own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? No one – for God Himself has given us right standing with Himself. Who then will condemn us? No one – for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us and He is sitting in the place of honour at God’s right hand, pleading for us.” (Rom 8:31-34, NLT, my emphasis)

And of course, this raises the question we should ask ourselves, “Why do we even fear criticism?” In other words, why do we care about what others may or may not say about what we want to do for God?

Taking a leaf from the Bible, we should be inspired by the fact that even Jesus knew to ignore the naysayers who went to great lengths to prevent Him from accomplishing His purpose. The passage in Luke 4:14-30 recalls those in His hometown of Nazareth who were so angered by what He said about being sent by God:

“When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. Jumping up, they mobbed Him and forced Him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push Him over the cliff but He passed right through the crowd and went on His way.” (Lk 4:28-30, NLT, my emphasis)

They wanted to actually throw Jesus over the cliff. It’s highly doubtful that our naysayers would want to go to such extreme on any of us who wish to take up the Gospel change. But, yes, they might still want to discredit us by driving us away from our intentions. But we can be inspired by Jesus and do what He did – instead of giving in to His naysayers, He walked through the crowd and went His way.

Like Jesus, we must know who we are and who our Father is. If we know, then the decision to embark on our God-given purpose is not difficult to understand and carry out… even if no one else agreed. All we have to remind ourselves is that God is in agreement with our decision. Sometimes, the most obvious thing to do in a situation like this is to ignore all the negativism and backchats and, like Jesus, get on with it.




Image source: Global Christian Forum

The change of a lifetime

The late Nelson Mandela once said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” How very true. When we set out to accomplish something ambitious for God, it always appear as if we have to climb the hardest mountain just to meet our worst nemesis and then abandon everything. It’s not until we complete it only to realise that it is not impossible, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, the worst criticisms can be deflected.

So if we don’t get any encouragement and support even from our own church members, we can still march to the beat of Christ. But where we can, as a church, offer a single collective voice of courage and hope and pray ardently for those who seek a Christ-centred change to attain completion.

Remember, this is the change that Christ and only Christ offers. The world doesn’t, can’t and won’t. It is the change of a lifetime. So here’s the choice – either we take it and be grateful for the opportunity or we spurn it and wear the cost in the long term.

The choice will always be ours to make. So, if we can find the strength in us to ignore the backchat and run with Christ’s offer, then we open ourselves to the single greatest privilege to serve Him rewardingly for the rest of our lives. If, on the other hand, we choose to do nothing but sit on our hands, we should then question whether or not we are Christians.

Further reading materials

Bridges, Jerry (Feb 2012) Who Am I? Identity in Christ (Adelphi, MD: Cruciform Press) available at https://www.amazon.com/Who-Am-I-Identity-Christ/dp/1936760479

Cole, Steven J. (May 2013) Lesson 31: The Changed Life (Ephesians 4:20-24) (Bible.org) accessible at https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-31-changed-life-ephesians-420-24

Davidson, Phil (Apr 2011) Are you chasing after the wind while trying to find meaning in life? Security and self-worth are not found in these accomplishments but in the love of God (‘Fear Not, Just Believe’ Blog) accessible at https://from2005toeternity.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/are-you-chasing-after-the-wind-while-trying-to-find-meaning-in-life-security-and-self-worth-are-not-found-in-these-accomplishments-but-in-the-love-of-god/

Hoskyns, Sir Edwyn Clement and Davey, Francis Noel (ed) (1947) The Fourth Gospel (London, UK: Faber & Faber 2nd ed.) available at https://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Gospel-Edited-Francis-Davey/dp/0571096697

Krueger, Amanda Poole (2018) He was my best friend. The last thing he said to me was: ‘I’m ok mom, I love you too.’ That was at 10:20 on Saturday night.’ (Love What Matters) accessible at https://www.lovewhatmatters.com/he-was-my-best-friend-the-last-thing-he-said-to-me-was-im-ok-mom-i-love-you-too-that-was-at-1020-on-saturday-night/?fbclid=IwAR21OrZvh-p7Q0d7t0GA0jcbhWRNPy3Fp9mTi8q1STJUslxTEg3qCs41QrQ

Macarthur, John Fullerton (Feb 1986) The Believer’s Armour: Ephesians 6:10-24 (John Macarthur’s Bible Studies) (Moody Publishers) available at https://www.amazon.com/Believers-Armor-Ephesians-MacArthurs-Studies/dp/080245092X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Mullen, M.S., in Kurian, George Thomas (ed.) (Jan 2012) The Encyclopaedia of Christian Civilisation (4 Volume Set) (Chicester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell) available at https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Christian-Civilization-Set/dp/1405157623

Oaklander, Mandy (Feb 2017) Why Do People Want to Live So Long, Anyway? (TIME online) accessible at http://time.com/4672969/why-do-people-want-to-live-so-long/

Ryrie, Charles C. (Oct 1994) Balancing the Christian Life (Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, 25th Anniversary Edition) available at https://www.amazon.com/Balancing-Christian-Life-Charles-Ryrie/dp/0802408877

Schutte, Shana (2008) Overcoming Fear of Criticism to Fulfil Your Purpose (Focus on the Family) accessible at https://www.focusonthefamily.com/faith/faith-in-life/discovering-your-god-given-purpose/overcoming-fear-of-criticism-to-fulfill-your-purpose

Sproul, R.C. (Sept 2010) What Does It Mean to Be Born Again? (Crucial Questions Series (Reformation Trust)) (Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing #6, a division of Ligonier Ministries) available at https://www.amazon.com/Again-Crucial-Questions-Reformation-Trust/dp/1567692060  

Stagg, Evelyn and Stagg, Frank (May 1978) Woman in the World of Jesus (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press) available at https://www.amazon.com/Woman-World-Jesus-Evelyn-Stagg/dp/0664241956

Strobel, Lee (Feb 2005) The Case for a Creator: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence that Points Toward God (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1st Edition) available at https://www.amazon.com/Case-Creator-Lee-Strobel/dp/0310242096