New Year, New You?
By Bobby Baker in Uncategorized on January 6, 2021
A new year, a new you? Isn’t that how we often view January 1st? We make resolutions that we don’t keep, make promises to ourselves that quickly go by the wayside. We want to have a better attitude, a better outlook. But we fail time after time.
Why do we find it so difficult to change or improve ourselves? One of the reasons is because we want to change the wrong things about ourselves. What we are in need of is a new heart. Ezekiel 36:26 says, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” God isn’t interested in making you a better person, He is interested in making a whole new person. 2 Cor. 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone in in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.”
But how does one become new ‘in Christ’? The Bible tells us that we must repent of our sins and believe the gospel. The gospel is the good news of what God has done for us in Christ. God sent His only Son into the world to bear the sin of His people. There is only one God and one Savior. There is no way to God except through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). How can we know if we truly are in Christ and have become a new creation? In the book of 1 John, the apostle gives us some evidences of being truly saved.
1. Our attitude towards sin (1 John 1:8;10) We must acknowledge that we are sinners in need of forgiveness and we must recognize that that forgiveness is found only in Christ (1 John 1:9). If a person has a new heart from God, he will never try to excuse or explain away their sin. They will confess and repent of it.
2. Our obedience to God (1 John 2:4) In John 14:21 and 23 Jesus says that the one who truly loves Him will be the one who obeys Him. We obey not to be accepted by God but because we are accepted by God. What is your attitude towards obedience to God? Do you, because you love Him and long to please Him, willingly obey His commands?
3. Our love for others (1 John 2:9-11) There is no room for hate towards another person in the believer’s heart. There will especially be love towards those who are fellow believers. It must be pointed out here that not all people are our brothers and sisters. John 1:12 says, “But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God…” Only those who place their faith in Christ have the right to call God Father and others brother or sister. Also, we are to love our enemies. This is something that in and of ourselves we cannot do. Only as we are new in Christ does this become possible.
4. Our love for the world (1 John 2:15-17) The world that John is talking about is the world’s system of doing things, the world’s way of thinking. The world we live in hates God. Everything the world believes and says is contrary to the Word of God. We cannot be a friend of the world and a friend of God at the same time.
In Christ’s love,
Pastor Bobby