Born again, made new, saved, sanctified, restored, and justified.

Born again, made new, saved, sanctified, restored, and justified. All concepts which are precious to Christendom. These words mean so much to those of us who believe in Jesus. Some of these concepts are difficult to grasp. However, these concepts are what set us apart from the rest of the world.

As beautiful and hopeful as these concepts are, they are not without price. Being born again requires accepting the payment made for you. Being made new, a new creation requires giving up your past. Being saved means submission to the one true God. Being sanctified requires retooling your moral absolutes. Justification means accepting the righteousness of Christ.

As great and wonderful as these concepts are, there is an underlying reality - we will never fully attain them. They are forever an ongoing process. This does not mean they are not secured in your life, but rather that they will never be fully realized in this life.

'For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. '

Philippians 1:6

Duality

Understanding that we are a work in progress creates a duality for us. Christians live with a double standard. By that, I mean that as Christians, we are moving toward, or should be moving toward, these beautiful concepts. We live with what we are while working to become all that God created us to be.

This double standard or duality of living does not directly affect the world around us. But it is a constant, sometimes painful process of growth and development. It has a very real and practical effect on our visible lives. As you move closer to the fulfillment of these Christian concepts, your everyday life will change. This change will have an impact on the world around us. It may not be an immediate earth-shattering redefining of your life, but through the process, it is what will eventually become your reality. Your life will eventually become an earth-shattering rebirth of your existence.

At its core, Christianity is change. It transforms the world's view of individuality and self-realization to submission and dependency on the one true God. Embracing this change and releasing one's will and desire for control is the key to unlocking all the beautiful things Christianity offers.

Christianity changes you. If it does not, you must ask the question, am I a Christian? The change is not about becoming better. It is about becoming more Christ-like. What does Christ-like mean? It means getting to know Jesus and then emulating him increasingly every day. It does not mean being good or being better. It means we continuously seek to be more submissive to His will. As we grow in our relationship with Him and submit to Him, the better comes, the good happens, and we move closer to who He created us to be. We begin to become the better me.

This process of Christian growth in spiritual maturity never stops. You never get to the goal in this life, but you will in the life that is to come. The completion of our life's growth process will happen when we are with Jesus.

That is when all the concepts of Christianity will coalesce and finally make us whole. As you mature in Christianity, you come to realize you are so far from God's righteousness and holiness. The divide between us and God is an unnavigable chasm that can only be crossed by the means God provided.

Christian Maturity

Christian maturity will lead you to realize that you are unrighteous, unworthy, sinful, and hopelessly lost. As you grow in Christ, the untouchable Holiness of God becomes clear. When I look at myself in my holiness, righteousness, and life alongside God, my definitive sinfulness is all I can see.

When I see God in all His righteousness and holiness in comparison to the better me that I have become after forty years of being a Christian, I see how far I am from who God is. When I first became a Christian, I had no idea or concept of how far I was from being in proximity to God. Now that I have gotten to know the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—I realize there is no way to get to God from where I am.

I cannot achieve Holiness, righteousness, or justice on my own; the abyss is too vast. The only way to get to righteousness, holiness and justice is by the intervention of the Trinity for me. If God does not reach out to me, there is no way I can reach him to connect with Him. Now, as a mature Christian, I understand the simplicity and necessity of God's sacrifice. If God had not reached out to us by sending His son, we would not have the ability, opportunity, or knowledge to be with Him.

If God does not provide the road, or if we reject the path, we cannot get to Him. We are left to our best lives, which will always be a poor semblance of God's magnificence, Holiness, and righteousness. Our best lives without God will always be a tangled and embittered life filled with the fruit of sin. We will die hopelessly defeated and lost.

In My Minds Eye 

I see God's glory in my mind's eye. I will try to articulate this picture and impression.

In this vast expanse without sun or stars is the majestic Glory of God. The Glory of God precedes God. It is an overcoming light of magnificent colors emanating from the presence of God. It is like a wave without an end. It crosses the expanse of my vision from left to right, from the highest high to the lowest depth. It comes toward me.

The Glory of God is not just light or colors. It projects Holiness and righteousness. In my mind’s eye, I do not just understand Holiness; I feel His Holiness, His righteousness. It is not just a concept of perfection. It is not an attribute as much as it is the essence of God himself. His Glory exudes the perfect peace of justice. The Glory of God inhabits all the senses. It is not just visible. The scent of God's Glory satisfies your senses in a way that you never encountered. It is not just an aroma but a reminder or initiator of warmth, peace, and blissful contentment. You can feel the presence of an all-powerful God and understand the security that comes with the Glory of God. His Glory exudes peace, a peace that is as solid as concrete and without change or uncertainty. His Glory introduces you to the sovereignty of God, and for the first time, you understand the permanence of His omnipotence. There’s a sound that permeates from the Glory of God. It encompasses all my auditory capacity but is not a cacophony of noise; instead, it is a symphony of joy. This symphony engages all the attributes of God, and you feel the fullness of the love of God. The most unexpected sensation is taste. The Bible says, 'O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! 'Psalms 34:8 The Glory of God has a taste, and it is the taste of purity. It opens your eyes to see the purity of God's Holiness—the unblemished perfection of God's existence. It is unlike anything you have ever tasted because it is flawless, untarnished, and unspoiled; it is without the imprint of impurity.

From The Perspective of a Fly on The Wall 

As I see this picture of the Glory of God, I stand back like a fly on the wall and look at myself in front of His Glory, and I am a colorless speck of imperfection. This tiny, insignificant, imperfect, sinful spec of life is so offensive to the Glory of God. I, this speck, is so out of place in front of the coming Glory of God that I realize it must be removed. As the magnificent Glory of God gets closer to me, the colorless spec becomes more pronounced, more visible, and more offensive. The closer perfection comes, the more the spec becomes prominent, more hideous, and more focused. As the Glory of God proceeds, the imposition of the colorless spec of injustice becomes clear.

The spec of injustice, unholiness, and unrighteousness cannot stand in the presence of the Glory of God. That is where we stand if we stand alone. That is our predicament. We will stand before the Glory of God as a spec of sinfulness, unholy, unrighteous, and powerless. And this is just the Glory of God. There will not be any sin in the presence of God. Holiness and righteousness will overcome and destroy sinfulness and unholiness.

As I see myself as the insignificant but offensive spec in front of the Glory of God, I see no hope. The Glory of God is too magnificent to glorious too much for the spec, which is I, to become a part of God’s existence. What I see from a fly on the wall's perspective is the utter hopelessness of humanity before a perfect God.

Being Born again, made new, saved, sanctified, restored, and justified can only be accomplished by God on our behalf. Even with Christian maturity, it is impossible to achieve what we were created to be. Maturity shows you the divide, not the proximity. Maturity shows you the need for a savior, not the accomplishment of sanctification.

I am the speck of injustice, the offensive in front of the Glory of God. But because of the blood of Jesus cleansing me of all injustice, I am transformed into His righteousness and God's child.

The one thing Christian maturity teaches you is that without God's redemptive plan, humanity is lost.