Your new status as a saved soul means you are different in a number of important ways. Now, you have to come to terms with some radical changes in your relationship with Jesus Christ as your Savior. This is the reality of your new relationship, but it is not automatic; it must be activated by faith. We have just put our finger on the most critical and sensitive spot in transitioning to your new life. You still look the same. You still have the same family, the same job, the same house. Your personality is what it always was. You live in the same world. Yet, you are different at the core of your being. How can you be so different and still be the same person?
The key is that the born-again person lives in a reckoning state. It is a state of mind and heart that exists in the reality of faith. Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1. The carnal mind cannot see the things of faith, but the spiritual mind understands and embraces them. So, what does it mean to reckon? Likewise, you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:11. Reckon means to believe that something is true and act accordingly. The Apostle Paul compared this new relationship to a minor son’s transition into adulthood. In the Roman era, the status of underage children was very similar to slaves owned by the master of the estate. Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Galatians 4:1-7. Regeneration changes us from a slave to a son! Six major challenges of our new state of mind need to be negotiated.
You are no longer a servant to sin. Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Romans 6:6-7. In sin, you operated under the illusion of freedom, but you were actually in bondage to the Prince and power of this world, and to the flesh. You told yourself that you were in control of your life, but, secretly, you knew that your base desires, your carnal instincts and your nasty habits called the shots. The new birth, however, gives you the option of saying no to the tyranny of the devil and the flesh. You can say no to alcohol, illicit drugs, and other addictions. You can resist the old shackles that once defined your life. Those elements that had you bound have been destroyed.
You are set free from guilt and shame. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. Psalm 51:14. One of the confusing things about the remission of sin is that people often still feel the guilt of sin, even though it has been washed away by the blood of Christ. It is as though a tumor has been excised, yet the symptoms and effects of cancer continue unabated. You must recognize this feeling as a ploy of Satan to nullify your new life. He is a deceiver, and he never stops his efforts to frustrate you and disrupt the work of God in the world. Lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. 2 Corinthians 2:11.
This phenomenon is similar to a sensation known as phantom pain. The Mayo Clinic explains phantom pain as “pain that feels like it’s coming from a body part that’s no longer there. Doctors once believed this post-amputation phenomenon was a psychological problem, but experts now recognize that these real sensations originate in the spinal cord and brain.” (www.mayoclinic.org) While the body part was still attached, nerve endings were “hard-wired” into the nervous system of the body. Just because the part was amputated does not destroy the feeling that it is still there. Eventually, the brain recognizes that the part is missing, and it reconfigures the sensory perceptions to account for the change. Likewise, your new condition needs some time for your spiritual brain to adjust. Just remember, your discomfort is only phantom pain. You are operating in a new reality in Christ Jesus!
You are adopted into a new family. Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:5-6. Think of the profound effect on a child who knows that someone has adopted him or her into a new family. Someone now loves them in a way that they have always longed for and dreamed about. The sense of belonging and having real parents cannot be matched by any other arrangement. Adoption boosts a child’s self-esteem and confidence in an incalculable way. Spiritually, the born-again person disposes of the orphan mentality and takes on an identity of belonging to the greatest family that has ever existed—the church of the Lord Jesus Christ! The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Romans 8:16-17.
The metaphor of adoption in no way negates the fact that you have been born again, and are the rightful heir according to the blood line of Abraham. Adoption is simply another way to emphasize the new relationship that you now enjoy. Another metaphor used in the Scriptures is “grafted into Christ” (Romans 11:24), meaning that the Gentiles were not people of promise, but, through faith, God has accepted them into the body.
You have a new name. All identity changes involve a name change. When you were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, His Name was invoked or pronounced over you. And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’ Acts 22:16. The Greek root of the phrase calling on may also mean to invoke or entitle. As a child of God, you have been endowed with a new surname or family name, a new mark of identity that carries supreme authority with it into the spirit world. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13. A quick study of the Name of Jesus turns up breath-taking evidence of its importance. Disease retreats, demons tremble, sins are absolved, and miracles happen when that Name is invoked.
You have royal blood flowing through your veins. The new birth not only does something for you, it does something to you! You have been christened into the royal family of God! And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:9-10. Although this refers to a future date, we need to understand that today we are kings and priests unto God. Do not live like an under-privileged child or a second-class citizen. You need to be resilient, ebullient, positive and confident. You are a child of the King!
Your name is written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Revelation 21:27. The repercussions of your conversion are not limited, but they echo throughout your life. You have always known that God loves you. Now, you have the assurance that your place in heaven has been secured in writing. Moreover, as a member in particular of the church, you have a special, united bond with the Founder. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:12-13. The church is the most elite, most privileged, most beloved entity in history, and you are in it!
Your relationship with Jesus Christ as your Savior means that you have no need to be afraid of God, no cause for worry about His attitude towards you, and every incentive to worship Him in faith and love. You have a liberty in His Spirit that eliminates all anxiety. You are free. The tenor of this relationship sets the tone for all other aspects of your bond with Christ.