Reflections on Forty Years of Being Born Again
In the early months of 1984, the Holy Spirit caused me to be born again in Christ through a home Bible study in the Gospel of John. In some ways, it’s hard to believe four decades have passed. In other ways, it seems the time has flown. So many life changes during that time stimulate reflection—from a single young man to a husband to a father to a pastor and now to a grandfather! Most of all, though, I’ve reflected on the new person I have become and am becoming, since I have a long way to go in growing in Christlikeness.
One morning last week, I opened an empty page in my journal and spent a couple of hours writing random one-sentence biblical principles or convictions that have become part of my thinking as a follower of Christ. It was a random, unorganized mind dump about salvation, sanctification, emotions, leadership, and the Christian life.
I grouped them into broad topics to make the list more presentable. As time goes on, for example, I will probably add to the list and create more categories such as marriage and parenting. But, for now, maybe one or more of these sentences will provoke thoughts of your own and encourage your growth in the grace and knowledge of Christ.
Genuine Salvation and Progressive Sanctification
- Conversion to Christ, i.e. salvation, entails a fundamental shift in the posture of our heart toward the authority of Christ and his Word.
- Genuine salvation is not the addition of Jesus to my life, but the progressive replacement of my lordship with his.
- God alone saves by his grace; a dead man can do nothing to contribute.The Holy Spirit will continue to sanctify me in Christ, but I must be willing and obedient.
- No believer will grow to maturity in Christ without habitual Sunday worship alongside other Christians.
- Meditating on the Word daily has been the single most significant, life-transforming spiritual discipline.
- Some sins are killed soon after conversion, but others have more stubborn roots that require a lifetime of mortification.
- If my heart is beating, there remain nooks and crannies of my heart that need to be exposed as being still ruled by Self and, therefore, need to be surrendered to God.
- Hunger and thirst for God will mark genuine salvation and produce personal righteousness and growth in biblical truth.
- Staying on course in the Christian race requires vigilant, Christ-centered focus and self-discipline.
- Every day I die to myself is a day I make progress in becoming like Christ.
- Meditating on the cross of Jesus keeps my heart tender toward him and sensitive to my sin.
- Sin ravages the human soul, but God forgives and progressively restores through his grace.
- Sanctifying grace aims to renovate my whole being—mind, emotions, will, and affections—not merely my external behavior, though that will also become holy as I walk in the Spirit.
- True saving faith in Christ produces a desire and willingness to be reconciled to personal enemies even when they repeatedly refuse, resulting in prayer being our only remaining option.
- I am set apart by God, for God, and to God.
- God is more committed to my sanctification than I am, regardless of how laser-focused I may be, and I must learn to rest in his daily supply of grace.
- To be like Jesus means growing toward the perfect balance of grace and truth.
The Word of God, Prayer, and Worship
- God talks to me through Scripture, while I talk to him in prayer.
- Praying about what is on my heart is more profitable to the health of my soul than saying prayers.
- The Christian life begins with repentance and is maintained by the same.
- Approaching the Bible as bread for my soul is better than treating it like a troubleshooting guide.
- Embracing my complete identity in Christ is a necessary, continual part of personal worship which helps to keep me from being consumed by any of my various roles.
- Counseling myself is a blessed fruit of Bible meditation, but it does not negate my need for counsel from others.
- The Spirit breathes new life into spiritual corpses via the Word of truth in the gospel, never apart from it.
- The ministry of the Holy Spirit is married to the book he inspired, the Bible.
- If a Christian rarely feeds on the Word of God, he will be malnourished, weak, and easy prey for the devil.
- No matter how long I am saved, I must renew my mind with Scripture daily.
- Pride is the root of all sin and rebellion, while humility is the root of all virtue and submissiveness.
- The Bible is the mind of God in written form and, therefore, the more I know Scripture, the more I will know God, provided my heart’s affection for him is greater than my quest for knowledge.
- One reason God has not yet answered some of my prayers may be that my Self require more crucifixion before I am ready to receive his answer with gratitude.
Emotions and Suffering
- Failure to rest my body makes it easier for my spirit to feel depressed.
- Low-grade anger often accompanies and sometimes causes depression.
- My driven personality is a gift and a curse, the habits of which I must evaluate regularly.
- Human grief tethers our hearts to Christ as the Man of Sorrows and our empathetic high priest.
- Nothing heals the human heart like Scripture gently massaged into our inner person through regular exposure.
- The inner and outer struggles of the Christian life are almost always a mixed stew of sin and suffering.
- Anxiety often lies to me about God’s kindheartedness toward me and provokes me to forget his unrelenting faithfulness.
- God employs loss and its accompanying grief to strip me of inferior objects of trust and sources of joy and anchor my soul more securely to Christ.
- Fear is a powerful enemy and an opponent of childlike faith.
- Suffering is the most powerful instrument of the Spirit for exposing my heart’s sin and false trust.
- God’s chastening is always good for me, though I am sometimes a slow learner.
- Brokenness holds more beauty, riches, and blessings than we realize.
Stewardship of Ministry and Leadership
- Gentleness of spirit and faithfulness to biblical doctrine should not be mutually exclusive in a leader.
- If a person craves a leadership position more than service itself, he is not ready to be a leader.
- If a man’s inner sense of calling from God is not affirmed by others and confirmed by his local church leaders, then he is not called, or his desire for position runs ahead of the development of his character or gifts.
- People you invest much ministry into have a greater capacity to cause you the deepest pain.
- False believers will always mingle with genuine believers until the last harvest when the angels perform their sorting ministry.
- Fear of failure cripples the best of leaders.
- A spiritual leader without a servant’s heart is not a leader in God’s eyes but is a slave to self.
- Betrayal by someone close to you may be the most tormenting trial the Lord ordains for a leader.
- Time may bring forth a level of vindication for faithful leaders, but never fully in this life.
- The target on the back of spiritual leaders is larger and more attractive to Satan than that on the back of the average church member.
- Zeal without wisdom and godly character may produce some fruit in ministry, but it is typically short-lived.
- God has given me everything I have; therefore, it all falls under the umbrella of stewardship.
- God owns everything, I own nothing.
- God eternally rewards all who have sacrificed much for the sake of gospel ministry.
- A faithful leader is first a loyal follower of his Master.
Before Jesus found me forty years ago, I was longing for something—someone—to satisfy the inner longings that my sin had failed to meet. In my ignorant state, the Spirit of God moved toward me with an intruding grace to rescue and redeem me in Christ. And the drawing power of the heavenly Father overcame my wayward heart and brought me into his forever family. I am a work in progress, but God has promised to complete me in Christ. If you know Jesus, I am confident God will do the same for you (Phil. 1:6).
