What Just Happened?

If you just expressed to God your desire to be forgiven, confessed that you are a sinner, and turned to His Son Jesus for salvation, you may or may not "feel" changed.

Tears may or may not have fallen from your eyes. And you may be wondering how you can know that in fact, you are now reconciled to God. This is your first lesson in living by faith - which means not only believing that what God says is true but demonstrating your faith by living like it is true.

So what does God say truly happened when you put your faith in Jesus?

YOU ARE SAVED

Romans 10:13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

YOU ARE FORGIVEN

Ephesians 1:7-8 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.

YOU ARE SET FREE FROM SIN AND DARKNESS

Colossians 1:13-14 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE

John 5:24 Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD

John 1:12-13 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

YOU HAVE GOD'S SPIRIT WITHIN YOU

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.

Every one of these is your new spiritual reality.

Yet, there will be days when you will not feel "new" or "set free" or "forgiven." Such days should be a reminder that "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works so that no one can boast." (Eph. 2:8-9)

Because we do not work for our forgiveness, but trust in Christ's work, there is no "achievement" to look back on for assurance. Instead, we look again and again to the cross, to what Christ achieved for us, and in faith, thank God. For "He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross." (Colossians 2:14)