Salvation means Change What’s New About You? II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”   God is talking to Christians in this verse. He is not talking to the lost, but to the saved. It says, “In Christ” which means a saved, born again believer. Salvation is not a dream, or a vision. Salvation is not a feeling. Salvation is not crying. Salvation is not an experience. Salvation is not doing good works. Salvation is not joining the church. Salvation is not getting baptized. Salvation is not being a good citizen. Salvation is not taking the Lord’s Supper. Salvation is not saving someone from drowning. Salvation is not tithing. Salvation IS when you realize that you were born a dirty rotten sinner and you’re on your way to hell because the payment for being a sinner is death. Salvation IS knowing that you cannot save yourself in anyway because you need a perfect sacrifice for your sin. Knowing that your righteousness is as filthy rags. Salvation IS when you acknowledge that Jesus the Son of God came into this world for one purpose, to die for your sins. He gave his life, and shed his precious blood for your sins. This is a gift from God to you, His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Salvation IS simply saying in your heart that you except this, you ask Jesus to come into your heart and forgive you of your sins, you repent (turn from your sins in your heart, mind, and body to God which results in a changed life) of your sins never to return permently, and by faith you trust what Jesus has done for you at Calvary. This is what “in Christ” means in a nutshell. Certainly there is a whole lot more to it, but time will not permit me to get into it any deeper at the moment. What we are going to talk about is that after you are saved, the Bible says that there are proofs that show if a person is saved. The Bible gives us many proofs if someone is saved. This is not my opinion or philosophy; this is what the Bible says. The reason why I give some of them is for you to check your own salvation testimony out. If you don’t like it, you have a problem with God’s Perfect Word. Such as when you commit sin you will be convicted of it, you will love to be around other Christians, you will love to be in Church where you hear the Word of God preached and where you can grow, you will have a deep desire to know and to do God’s will in your life, you will want to obey God’s Word in every area of your life, you will want to tell others about Jesus saving you from your sins, you will love God’s Word and desire to know everything in it, you will hate sin and love righteousness, you will strive to be Christ-like, you will be a NEW creature, etc.. This is where we are now in this sermon. If you are truly saved, then there is going to be something new about you. You cannot continue going in the same direction, doing the same thing and tell me you’re saved. Now you may, but the Bible says, your not. A born again believer is not the same person he was, therefore, he cannot enjoy the same old things that he once did. It’s impossible according to the Bible. I am going to list some of the things the Bible says should be new about you. As I list these items out of the Bible check your heart and see if these are new in you. Be honest, because your soul depends on it. 1. New Walk. If the opening text was not enough to prove my point, the word “walk” is used over sixty times in the New Testament alone. Not to mention other forms of the word walk. Most of these are in reference to our Christian walk in Christ. Such as Romans 6:4 “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Also in Ephesians 5:8 Paul said, “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:” This verse is telling us that we were walking in darkness before we were saved, but now we are to walk as children of light. Our walk cannot and will not be the same if you are truly saved. We should be walking in the light, not in the darkness. I ask you, is there some sin that you are hanging onto? If so, you had better check your salvation. David said in Psalms 119:1-3 “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.” We are to be walking and living according to God’s ways now and not our own. 2. New Talk. Not only should we have a new walk, but a new talk. We should no longer laugh at the same dirty jokes. We should not let the same vile coursings come from our lips. You may say, “I can’t help it.” In Matthew 12:34 Jesus said, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” You cannot fool God with your speech, and your words, because they come from the heart. If you are saved you will have a new vocabulary and a new talk. In John 3:34 Jesus said, “For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God...” In Psalms 10:7 David is speaking of the wicked, “His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.” Sad to say this sounds like many “so call Christians.” Paul admonishes us over and over how to speak and what not to say. In Ephesians 4:29 Paul says, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” Also in Ephesians 4:31 Paul says, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:” I now know of two “preachers” that think that it’s okay to curse in order to win the world to Christ. This is ungodly and unscriptural and God says that he hates it, it even makes Him sick. What about Peter when he denied the Lord. He didn’t use any verses to identify with the world. He didn’t share a parable to become like the world. No he cursed just like the world so the world would recognized him as being one of them. When he did so they left him alone, for if he hadn’t they would have crucified him with Jesus. My friend our speech and the words we say, and how we say them is a proof of our salvation. Do we live and dwell in lies? Do we settle in and get comfortable with our mode of speech? How do your words measure up? Is your talk new or is it the same old thing? Does the world know that you’re different? If not, you had better check out your salvation. 3. New Book. No longer will you pick up the newspaper to find out your horoscope. No longer will you pick up Dr. Spock to find out how to discipline your child. No longer will you pick up the TV control to find out if you should watch that show. No longer will you listen to public opinion when it comes to what you should do in life or how you should live. The Word of God will be your road map. The Word of God will be your daily source for your decisions in life. It will control you in every area of your life. It will be your final authority on how you life, and the values you live by. Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” Psalms 119 is my favorite chapter in the Bible because every verse talks and mentions the Word of God. I am now presently trying to memorize ever verse in that chapter. The Word of God should constantly be on your mind, in your heart, and on your lips. David said in Psalms 119:97 “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.” No longer will you follow the book of this world to be a great success and make something of yourself. No longer will you listen to Hollywood when it comes to your goal in life. You will have a new Book. How do you measure up? Do you love God’s Word? Do you believe every word of it? Or do you question it with your life and your words? 4. New Look. You may say as some in this world that God is not concern with our appearance, but that is a lie. They only say that by twisting a verse out of context, so they can do what they want to do anyway. God is very much concern with our appearance, and he tells us so throughout the Word of God. Remember if you study God’s Word within its context, and with all of Scripture it will never contradict itself. God tells man and women how to dress for example. Women are to be modest the Bible says in 1 Timothy 2:9-10 “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.” Also men are to look like men and women are to look like women in 1 Corinthians 11:14-15 “Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.” These are just a couple of examples. What about in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 Paul tells us to “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.” If it doesn’t appear to be right stay away from it. It doesn’t have to be evil, just if it looks like it may be evil, Paul says stay away. God is certainly concern with our appearance in this Christian life. Whether it be our clothes, what we wear, how we wear them, our hair, our attitude, what we drink, how much we eat, our expressions, our demeanor, our association with things, etc. Once we have been saved the very last thing we are going to want to do is to cause others to stumble because of our appearances. We will definitely have a new look 5. New Desires. Your desires are going to change when you become a child of God. Your days of having fun as a sinner are over. Now you may say that’s not true because I still have fun that might be because you’re not saved. II Cor. 5:17 is not lying when it says, “a new creature.” Your old desires of following your fleshly lust is going to be in a battle with the Holy Spirit to do what is right. Your desire to follow this world will change. Your desire to follow your own dreams will change. That doesn’t mean you want have desires or dreams. You certainly will. But you will want to follow the Lord’s dreams and goals for your life, which is the only true way for happiness and peace. As mentioned earlier you will have a new desire to know God’s Word. 1 Peter 2:2 “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:” You will have a desire to go to church it tells us in Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” You will have a desire to be with God’s people and not the worlds. 2 Corinthians 6:14 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” You will no longer love the world or the sins in the world. 1 John 2:15-16 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” These are just a few of the new desires that will be in the new Christian. How to you rate your salvation? Do you have these desires? If not you may be lost. 6. New Fires. This is what really gets you going. What really excites you? When you were in the world it may have been women, or men, or pornography, or money, or greed, or violence, or drugs, or excitement, or danger, or pride, etc. With the new Christian you are going to be set on fire by totally new things. In Proverbs 11:30 Solomon said, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” Telling others about what Jesus has done for you are going to set a fire under you. It will be your main business. As soon as Andrew was saved he ran and told his brother and he got saved. Paul said it best in 2 Corinthians 5:14 “For the love of Christ constraineth us…” We will never get over being under the blood of Jesus. If you have never been set on fire by the love of Christ, you had better check your salvation out. Because that is your whole purpose in God saving you. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6:20 that we are not our own, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” In Romans 12:1-2 it says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Are you ashamed of who you are, or are you proud in the sense of wanting to share Christ with others? 7. New Stand. Your old stand for sin and the pleasures of this world will change. You no longer will stand for alcohol, lust and women. You no longer will stand with the worldly views of this world against God. Instead, you will stand for what is right, God’s Word, and righteousness. In Mark 3:24-26 Jesus said, “And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.” Jesus is telling us that either you are with Him or against him; you can’t have it both ways. Don’t say that you’re saved, and yet you want stand up and be counted when it really matters. Don’t say that you’re a Christian but you’re afraid that your friends want like you. Get in or get out. Get on or get off. Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” I believe that many people get saved thinking that it’s a cake walk, or an easy bed of roses. The Christian life is warfare; it’s a battle every day of our lives. We must take a stand for what is right, we must stand for the Word of God, we must stand for the fundamentals of the faith, we must stand for the “old paths.” There is no room for draft dodgers and cowards in the Lord’s army. We need men and women who can stand for the Truth. How do you stand on this proof? 8. New Band. This is speaking of a new kind or style of music. The Word of God tells us exactly what type of music to listen to. In Ephesians 5:19 Paul tells the Ephesians what kind of music to sing, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;” “Spiritual songs” means that which is Christ like. Christian rock, rap, pop, hop, bump and the rest of that junk is not spiritual. Neither is Contempory Christian music or Comtempory Southern Gospel Christ like. Paul also I believe gives us the style when he says, “singing and making melody…” I believe he is referring to the music is not to be overpowered by the rhythm or the harmony. The melody is to be the main part of the music being sung or played. The fact is your old music will not be your new music when you get saved. The world’s music has the world’s ideas, lust, philosophy, greed, hate, sexual, satanic pull that goes against everything that God says. You cannot keep with the world’s music and be a born again believer. Where is your radio tuned to?