Many People think getting saved is repeating a prayer the pastor or evangelist leads you in and boom you are saved forever. Destined for heaven. Dodging hell. There is a deception in this. There are millions of people who at one time sincerely said that prayer but who now face the potential of loss.
The moment they asked Jesus into their heart, on that day, at that moment, they were saved, like the Thief on the cross. Where the problem comes is many so called believers resist the continuing wooing of the Holy Ghost. There is a call that the Spirit of God puts on a person after salvation that is irrevocable but can be resisted. When we resist we actually blaspheme the Holy Spirit. There is no requirement that we be perfect, just responsive when he woos. There is a process to entering into all that God had prepared for you once you say yes. It can take years, but it is required.
Many are living a delusion. They came into a relationship with their creator but without any response or reaction. If you were to ask them 5 years later, "Are you a Christian headed for Heaven" they would answer in the affirmative. They might say they belong to a church, might be a deacon or serve in the church. Some are even "Pastors" or "Apostles". They are marking time hoping there is a place in heaven for them. I am not here to say if they are or not. I am saying that there is a progressive sanctification that must take place or there is a problem which reveals a lost soul.
CONVICTION
Before you were saved you lived in sin and didn't actually know right hand from left. Lost. Only by the conviction of your sin by the power of the Holy Ghost did you recognize your lostness. At one point you recognized it and like the thousands hearing the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost, you asked, "What must I do to be saved". That question required an answer. That was the day you came to Christ.
SALVATION
On the day you were saved salvation came to your house. You were rescued like a person in a boat adrift at sea is saved. Snatched from a certain hell your were drifting toward, you were born again. It's the Sozo experience.
There are some who are happy to be saved and that's that. Unfortunately if things don't progress there is evidence that you are NOT saved, just some religious activity. If you push back or fail to respond to the Spirit's wooing you are saying.. "I am not interested in more". "Just keep my hellfire insurance paid up". I would say to you, you are not truly saved. You can be saved from hell (maybe) but there is a call to more.
RESTORATION
You need restoration after salvation. A recognition that who you were is no more. Your sins are gone. You are totally forgiven. You don't have to keep running to the altar to repent. Your sins for all time are forgiven. Your new life starts now. The past is past. You are now on the road to being restored. This is emotional restoration, this is physical restoration, this is spiritual restoration, this is what it takes to grow in Christ. Your relationship to the Father is now intact. Restoration and reconciliation is a powerful thing. It's the next step on your road to fullness in your Faith. God wants you whole. Shalom. Nothing missing Nothing Broken. Restored.
What comes next is the true work of God by Holy Spirit in your life and is the fruit you will exhibit if you are born again. It's not singular. You can go from Reformation to Transformation and back again.
REFORMATION LEADING TO TRANSFORMATION
What comes next is Reformation. This means that things you used to do before you were a believer now must fall off. If you were out having sex with anyone... that must stop. If you were a thief, you must stop being a thief. If you were of a vile temper, that must be reformed. It is a Holy Ghost reform school. Don't treat this as a legalistic venture, treat it as a new life, old things are gone, the new is here. You can't be double minded. The things that you know are outside the word of God, starting with the ten commandments are now the framework for your life. They help you know what must be reformed. The Holy Spirit will help you, he will convince you of things you need to stop doing or start doing. Many people I know, some who preach powerfully are unreformed. They live a worldly life without repentance for it. Resisting (Blaspheming) the Holy Ghost.
TRANSFORMATION RESULTING FROM REFORMATION IN YOUR LIFE
After you get you act cleaned reforming your life, you will slowly become transformed. You will become a totally new man or woman. Your life will be changed into something unrecognizable by anyone who knew you before. This takes time but transformation is what you are destined for. Everything about you will be conformed to the Will of God and the world will become a very strange place. You are being extracted. You are a full member of the Kingdom of God in transformation. No longer trying to start or stop doing things, you will be a new creation in every way. You were when you were born again, but the transformation process takes time and requires obedience. The Holy Ghost calls you to it and as you answer he will make you over from the inside out. A new person in every way is what you were born again for and why the Blood of Jesus was shed.
MANIFESTATION
One by one the "Not Like God" chips are flaked off till you look like Him, act like Him and are his representation on the earth. Made in HIS IMAGE. There comes a time when you begin to manifest as a son or daughter of the most high God. This manifestation becomes evident to everyone around you. Some will actually see it on you and marvel. You will manifest such that demons will tremble in your presence. You will walk with authority knowing who you are in Christ. It will become apparent that true Holiness, not behavior, is being the manifestation on earth of the Fullness of Christ is in you. Christ in you and you in Christ. It's a mystery, but it is what your destiny is to become. You become set apart, you are unique, completely other, a peculiar person. The world will see you as from another planet almost. You are. In the world not of the world. Not conformed to the world.
REALIZATION AND REJUVENATION
As you walk out your days in the flesh in this you will come to a full realization of the eternal nature of your existence. Not just hoping for heaven, but knowing in your deepest part that you can say with authority that "to be absent in the flesh is presence with the Lord" and that without any doubt. That realization will cause you to look forward to the rejuvenation that comes on the day when you step from time into eternity. You will have fulfilled your purpose on the earth. Even if you die a young person, knowing this will give you peace as you close your eyes for the last time.
I'm not where I want to be on this journey yet, but I know the way. It's clear.
