Your Spiritual Condition
How to tell your spiritual condition
If you’re on this page, it is more than likely you are interested in what God has to say about you! And that’s a good thing! Lots of people believe in God. Lots of people believe in Jesus. What determines your “spiritual condition,” however, is whether or not you believe in how Jesus laid it out. His teachings are pretty straight up. He says we are one of two spiritual conditions.
What are the different spiritual conditions?
Lost or Not Lost – Luke 19:10
Born Again or Not Born Again – John 3:3,6-7
Condemned or Not Condemned – John 3:18
In other words, Jesus says a person is “one or the other.”. There’s no middle ground. We are either spiritually “alive” or spiritually “dead” (Ephesians 2:1-5). Interestingly enough, though, God takes the initiative and draws people to his Son, Jesus Christ, that they might cross over, if you will, to the “being alive!” (John 6:44). If you’ve read this far, consider the fact that God is working in you, creating an interest.
How DOES one go from being “lost” to “not-lost”?
We are lost because we have sin in our lives. Small word. Large implications. We are selfish, self-centered people – and given the opportunity we will almost always choose what’s best for us. We might have aspirations of thinking greater things of ourselves, that we are generous, helpful, giving… but at the end of the day, we can think back to numerous thoughts we’ve had that, well, aren’t so nice.
God is very clear that he has a purpose for each human being he has created. And that purpose is to bring glory to him, and we simply cannot bring glory to him when we have sin in our lives. That sin, that is present in all our lives, truly separates us from a God who loves us very much.
First, we need to admit we are lost, that we have sin in our lives. Romans 3:23 says, “all have sinned” – and while it might not be much comfort, at least we know that every one of us suffers from the same sinful condition. We were born with it! (Psalm 51:5)
Second, we need to understand that God himself, because of his love for us, provided a solution… in fact he rescued us. He allowed his one and only son, Jesus Christ, to enter into this world and become our “substitute.” He sacrificed himself for us, as a payment for all the punishment we deserved.
Imagine that – Jesus, who had never known sin, was now living in a world surrounded by it. But, unlike us, he lived a perfect life, without sin. It says in the Bible, Philippians chapter 2, that Jesus willingly “laid down his life” so we would not have to suffer the consequences of our sin. And the consequences of our sin are steep. If we die not knowing Jesus Christ and not putting our faith in his substitutionary death for us, we will be separated from God much longer than a lifetime, we will be separated from him forever.
Our “salvation,” our “new birth” if you will, came at a very high cost to Jesus. He was deserted by everyone he knew, beaten, whipped, humiliated, and left to die on a wooden cross. Once placed in a grave, however, he rose from the dead, demonstrating he does, in fact, have power over life and death. And that life, he wishes to share with us!
Finally, once we have confessed to God that we are sinful and admit to him that we believe Jesus Christ died for us and are trusting him alone for our salvation – then, and only then, are we born again. No longer lost, God “seals us” with His Holy Spirit, who will continue to teach us and guide us as we move throughout life. We are finally free to live glorifying to God! It’s as if all the “pieces of the puzzle” come together. The person, in a right relationship with his/her Creator.
See also: Romans 3:23, Isaiah 53:6, Psalm 51:5, Isaiah 59:2, Romans 5:8, Colossians 1:20, 2:14, 1 Corinthians 15:3, Galatians 1:4, 1 Peter 2:24, Romans 10:9-10
Investigating Jesus?
Investigating Jesus is an open-forum time specifically designed for those who have questions about Jesus. Real? Not real? Great teacher? Good man? Together we will look into what Christ had to say about himself and consider the implication that believing His teachings has on our lives. (Sundays at 9:45 AM)