The story is told of Augustine, the fourth-century theologian and Bishop of Hippo in North Africa, who, after he’d become a believer and turned from his licentious lifestyle, ran into a former “mistress” on the street. The moment he recognized her, Augustine made an about-face and quickly started walking in the opposite direction!
Too late! The woman, surprised by seeing him — and equally surprised at his reversal of direction, cried out, “Augustine, it is I!”
Continuing to distance himself from her, Augustine replied, “Yes, but it is not I.”
This anecdote reminds us that if we are in Christ, we are new people! The old ways are gone (or at least dying off) and new desires and choices typify our life: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,” writes Paul, “he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” II Corinthians 5:17.
For the genuine believer, there is a decisive break with the old way of life and an embrace of Christ and His will. In other words, the Christian is a changed person, a changing person:
- The Holy Spirit changes us
- God’s Word changes us
- God’s grace and His gospel change us
- This change is the manifestation of receiving new minds and hearts that have been set on fire by God! There are many fruits of this changed life:
- Purpose in living
- Desiring to obey the Lord
- Being led of God
- Families that love each other (!)
BTW: There’s one fruit of a changed life that we don’t often think about: The fact that we have new desires and new direction is a confirmation of our salvation! True Christians act like Christians; true believers evidence a changed life by an obedient walk with Jesus; a life of purity coupled with a life of service — good works as an expression of thanksgiving to God for redeeming us. This change is a neat validation of our salvation!
I submit to you that if we truly know Jesus Christ, we can’t not serve Him; we can’t not seek Him! I’ll go so far as to say if we’re not serving Him in some way — and we have no desire to do it, we’re probably not saved! Let me illustrate what I mean when I say if we truly know Jesus Christ, we can’t not seek and serve Him.
Before I knew anything about consecration, the role and importance of good works in our lives as believers, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, etc., God had given me an insatiable compulsion to know and to serve Him. This came on the heels of recommitting my life to Him in early 1970.
In December 1970, I joined the Air Force, and was eventually deployed to Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand (1973-1974). Thirsting for more of God, one day I went to the base chapel to pray. No one was there but it was open. I went in and started snooping around. Lo and behold, I came across a box full of Christian LPs (records). Three of these LPs were nearly new, what we would now call contemporary Christian music. The bands were “Love Song,” “The Way,” and “Paul Clark.”
I took all three albums to the USO club where they had recording equipment and I copied them onto a reel-to-reel tape — and listened to them constantly! The lyrics nourished my hungering soul.
One of the songs, sung by Chuck Girard, was “And the Wind Was Low.” It’s about how the Holy Spirit works in our life, drawing us to a deeper walk with God. This song tracked exactly with what God was doing in my life! His presence was so strong in my life I was compelled to follow Him.
This was nothing unique to me! He does the same thing in every new believer’s life — and we have the choice to go with the flow or not to.
Some of the words that stood out in “The Wind Was Low” were,
“And the wind grew still and He touched me with the power. Then came the fire, the strong desire, to really serve Him.”
These were the early days, the beginning days, of a lifetime of transformation and a deepening experience with the living God.
What I hope for you to see is this: The fact that we have new desires and new direction is a confirmation of our salvation, a demonstration that we truly know the Lord Jesus! The more we exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, the more we’ll experience the joyful confidence we belong to the Him.