Category: Conversion

Conversion Fruit

“But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’” Luke 19:8 (NIV) The fruit of conversion is a life of obedience. When you are genuinely converted from being a slave to sin to being a slave to righteousness, the evidence of that transformation shows up in your daily talk and walk (Rm 6:17-18). Salvation transforms your conversation and your conduct. From the moment of conversion, you embrace a lifestyle of working out what God has worked in (Php. 2:12). Zacchaeus experienced authentic conversion. Upon placing his faith in Jesus alone for salvation, Zacchaeus had an immediate desire to make things right with those he wronged. His saving faith in Jesus was producing in him the appetite for living righteously. Convicted of his personal sin, Zacchaeus chose to give half of his possessions to the poor and to pay back four times the amount to those he cheated. It is possible to profess Christ and not possess Christ. Is Christ in you? Do you have the Spirit of Christ (Rm. 8:9)? In order to claim to live in Christ you must walk as Jesus did (I John 2:6). Possessing Christ is demonstrated through instant and perpetual obedience. To know Christ is to obey Christ. Are you giving clear evidence of your salvation to those in your sphere of influence? Is there anyone you need to forgive? Is there anyone you need to extend an apology to? Are your horizontal relationships right and unbroken? Let others see Jesus in you! Pursuing God, Stephen Trammell Executive Pastor

Conduct Conversion God's Perspective Grace Mercy

God’s Perspective (7)

“Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!” James 2:12-13 (NIV) Grace is getting what we do not deserve. We do not deserve God’s love. We do not deserve God’s gift of eternal life. We do not deserve our new identity in Christ. We do not deserve having our names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Yet, God graced us with these and many other spiritual realities. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. Because of our sin, we deserve separation, punishment, and alienation. Because of our sin, we deserve eternal damnation. Because of our sin, we deserve total isolation from God’s abiding Presence. Yet, God extends His mercy to us and did not give us what we deserved. Instead, God has blessed us, redeemed us, included us, sealed us, and lavished us with His love. Because of God’s mercy, we have a song to sing and a message to declare. As recipients of God’s mercy, we have been given a clean canvas upon which we join God in His redemptive activity. May God’s merciful treatment of us radically transforms our conversation and our conduct! May our words and our walk exhibit mercy to others as God has exhibited to us! “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalms 19:14 (NIV) Viewing others from God’s perspective will produce the fragrance of mercy in our lives. May that aroma bring others closer to the love of God that we have found in Christ! Pursuing God, Stephen Trammell Executive Pastor

Conversion

“You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.” Eph 4:20-21 (NIV) Have you come to know Christ? When did that eternal transaction take place in your life? Where were you when you recognized your sinfulness and your desperate need for Jesus to come to your rescue? Conversion is the redemptive work of God in a person’s life. Your conversion is the event of being delivered from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of light. Your conversion is the event of being adopted into God’s family and being filled with the Holy Spirit. “But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.” 2 Thess 2:13 (NIV) Have you trusted in Jesus alone for salvation? “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 (NIV) Pursuing God, Stephen Trammell, Pastor of Leadership and Pastoral Care