I remember watching a movie once where a very poor man became rich overnight by inheriting a fortune he never knew about. He had no idea how to eat a three course dinner with other wealthy people. He had no understanding of business concepts, wealth management and investments. He was even stealing china from his own house! He didn’t grasp the concept that the huge mansion he now lived in was his home. Gradually he began to get the picture of what his new-found wealth meant and came to understand the benefits, challenges and responsibilities of being rich. Eventually with training and a whole lot else, he started living his life as the rich man he now was.
As Christians, sometimes we are like the man in the movie, we do not know that our status and standing has changed. And just like the man who was initially stealing his own china, we act like guests (bad ones at that) in our Father’s house. Not understanding who we have become, not making the best of our new heritage and enjoying the benefits of who we are and what is ours in Christ.
Paul put it nicely in Romans 12:2 by saying “be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind”. It takes a mind change to realize what is now yours, who you now are.
Renewing your mind involves realizing old things have passed away and all things have become new. It means asking yourself questions, like ‘am I righteous?’ ‘Am I blessed?’ Am I forgiven? ‘Am I loved?’ ‘Am I God’s Child?’ ‘Am I redeemed?’ These are ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions and the bible says YES! So let your mind come to terms with the YES. If it is Yes, then it can never be No.
Your salvation is much more than a onetime prayer, your story changed. It is the exact life of God deposited in you, it is a change to sonship. The creator of Heaven and Earth is now your Father. You need to keep finding out who you are, keep renewing your mind to come to terms with who God says you are, and most especially live your life enjoying the truth that a change has come to you!
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. (Galatians 4:6-7)
Grace Notes 