Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
Over the past 20 years, numerous people have taken a drive down our little back road to go fishing on our Lake. It’s not a very big lake, but we have caught our fair share of fish from it. For a long time, there has been an old dock at the boat landing, which has gotten quite a bit of use during the summer months. We have watched many people walk out onto the end of it, casting their lines into the lake. Some of them have pulled in some pretty good size fish in the process. But something changed last week, when to our surprise, we found that the old dock which has been used for so many years, had been replaced by a brand new one.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Just like pulling out an old dock and putting a new one in its place, each of us needs to go through a personal transformation, by getting rid of the old person that we used to be, and putting on the new man, formed through faith in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 4:22-24 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
All of us are sinners who have come short of the glory of God, but through faith and the grace of God, we can someday enter eternal life. We must cast off the sinful deeds of the past, and begin to undergo a change, transforming ourselves from the will of men to the will of God. To be renewed means to make like new, or to restore something to a place of perfection. In order to become a new person, we will need to become born again through the power of the Holy Spirit.
John 3:1-7 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
When we become submerged in water into the name of Jesus Christ, all of our past sins can be expunged, beginning a new life of faithful obedience to Him. The old person from the past needs to be put to death, and the new person must emerge.
Romans 6:4-6 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. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
The Apostles are examples of men who lived in the world at one time, but turned away from sinful behavior to serve Christ Jesus.
1 Peter 4:3-4 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
Our mind needs to be renewed, thinking differently than the way we used to in the past. Our actions are guided by the teachings of scripture, as we turn away from the world and its ways, to follow the calling of Christ. In order to prove our love for God, we need to show it by our actions, humbly submitting ourselves each day to His will.
Romans 12:2 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.
We need to become new creatures in Christ. A transformation is to change in your character or your condition. It is to alter your lifestyle and behavior from the old person that you were in your past, being regenerated and recreated into an obedient and faithful child of God. We must turn away from the sinful desires of things in this world, and refocus our complete love and attention on service and devotion to God’s purpose.
1 John 2:15-17 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. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
To overcome this world, one must always remember that obedience is the path that leads to righteousness.
Romans 6:16-18 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
If somebody truly is born again, then they have put to death their old sinful deeds, and the desires of the carnal nature.
Galatians 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
2 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.
It doesn’t matter if somebody is circumcised or not, what matters is undergoing a transformation from a sinner into a saint.
Galatians 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
Our minds are renewed through the teachings of Holy Scripture as we apply them to our lives and daily routines.
Colossians 3:9-10 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
So, as a Christian we must get rid of the old dock, pulling it out of the lake in order to replace it. To eventually become what God wants us to be, the old sinner within each of us, is going to have to vanish away into the darkness, being replaced by…..
……A Brand New Dock
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
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