Salvation and Transformation

 Q&A

“How Do I Know I Am Saved?” 

“I Mean—Truly Know, Without Any Doubt”

 

A dearly loved sister in Messiah asked me this question one day. She had already been a believer for a few years, but she was still learning and growing. Then she said...

“I want to always do what's right in God's eyes but sometimes I still mess up in spite of my best intentions. Then I feel like a failure. Do you think God still loves me? Have I displeased or disappointed God? Will He turn His back on me? Sometimes I wonder.” 

Three Important Points About Salvation and Transformation

Here's what I shared with her, that I believe every believer needs to understand and remember:

1. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is also called “The Gospel of the Grace of God” (Acts 20:24.) This is because When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior by faith, God's grace (His favor, goodwill, kindness that we did not earn, merit, or deserve) is poured out on us (Romans 5:15; 1 Corinthians 1:14,) and we are then saved by grace, not by our own "good works" or efforts, not by anything we could possibly do—or not do. We are saved Only because God's grace is immediately released over us from the moment we decided to put our trust in Jesus Christ for our salvation (Ephesians 2:1-9.)

2. The “Good Works” (Matthew 5:16, Romans 2:10, Titus 2:6-8, Titus 3:8, aka: “works of righteousness”, “works of God”, “God's works”,) refer to actions that are pleasing in God's eyes. They are given to us to perform, not for us to get saved through them, but (a) so that we can start our lifelong practice/training in the Process of Transformation (2 Corinthians 3:18,)—of being transformed every day, more and more, into the image of Christ, (b) so that we can spend our lives no longer in service of the Power of Darkness, but in service of the Kingdom of the Son of His Love (Colossians 1:13.) (c) so that we can become servants of the Most High God proclaiming the way of salvation (Acts 16:17,) and (d) become servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God (1Cor4:1,) and (e) become fellow workers with God to establish His Kingdom in the earth (1Cor3:9.)

3. God's transforming grace is with people who have a humble and contrite spirit, and a repentant heart (Psa 34:18, 51:3,17, Isa 57:15, Ezk 14:6, 18:30.) A humble spirit before God is one that has been broken. It has no pride or arrogance. It does not embrace, flaunt, hold on to, justify or seeks support for its sin. A contrite spirit is one that has been crushed, or that trembles at God's word (it is sincerely remorseful, conscious of guilt and of falling short, and wanting to make amends or corrections.) A repentant heart acknowledges its sin, and that sin is sin—no matter how much it wants it. And it makes every effort to turn away from what displeases God. It makes the decision and takes the hard, difficult steps towards making different choices--choices that truly honor God. This is the Big difference between the saved and the unsaved. Scripture says that God gives grace to the humble (Jam4:6, 1Pet5:5.) I believe that this is a different aspect of grace than the grace that is extended to every human being on earth today because of Messiah's sacrifice for us. Today, every single person on the planet enjoys the grace of God's patience--a postponement of judgement and execution for their sin (2Pet3:9.) But from the moment our heart and will are desperately hungry and thirsty for transformation in Christ, and we ask God to deliver us from sinning, He will also give us the grace that we need to achieve transformation and to have victory over the sin in our lives. This usually happens over time; but I've also seen transformation in certain instances happen suddenly—in just one moment. Either way, we will experience transformation.

We must realize that Full and Complete Transformation is Gradual—One step at a time. It's a Life-long Process and a Life-long Pursuit. It is Heaven's Pathway for Spiritual Growth.

Salvation is God's Amazing Gift to Us, Not Something We Could Possibly Earn

“8 For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” ~ Eph. 2:8-10.

The Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) by Messianic Jew David H. Stern, puts it this way:

“8 For you have been delivered by grace through trusting, and even this is not your accomplishment but God’s gift. 9 You were not delivered by your own actions; therefore no one should boast. 10 For we are of God’s making, created in union with the Messiah Yeshua for a life of good actions already prepared by God for us to do.”

God is focused on the following attitudes of our hearts: humility, contrition, and repentance. And He will evaluate our actions based on these heart attitudes. 

'But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”' ~1 Sam 16:7 (NKJV) 

This is because God knows that: 

“...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” ~ Rom 3:23 (NKJV)

We will never be complete on our own in this life. We are now only complete in Messiah Jesus. So, when Father God looks at us, all He sees is Christ in us, and whether or not our hearts are humble, contrite, and repentant before Him, thirsting for transformation. So, God is never displeased or disappointed in us. He does not see us as failures and He will never turn His back on us. He will never leave us or forsake us (Heb 13:5,) and He will never forget us (Isa 49:15) because He sees our hearts, and our desire and efforts for transformation.

The Five Steps to Transformation

Our Part:

Step 1 – Believing and Trusting in Messiah. We are doing what pleases God, when we believe (trust) in Messiah as the One sent by God to deliver us from sin. 

'Then they asked him, “What must we do to perform God’s works?”Jesus answered them, “This is God’s work: to believe in the one whom he has sent.”' ~John 6:28-29 (ISV)

Step 2 – To come before God with a humble, remorseful, and repentant heart (Psa 34:18, 51:17, Isa 57:15, Ezk 14:6, 18:30.), whenever we have fallen short of God's standards; and to ask Him for—and be open to—transformation. Then give God time to bring about this transformation in us by His Holy Spirit. It will happen sooner or later; either all at once, or gradually. In His time and in His way, not in ours. We must remember that we are precious in His sight—our humble, contrite, and repentant heart is priceless to Him. We are His special treasure. In Christ, we are loved and holy unto Him. And since we all have our shortcomings, we must also be patient with others who are also looking forward to transformation, praying for them and allowing God to be the judge, because we can only see the external behavior--the flaws and failures. But only God truly knows every person's heart. 

God's Part:

Step 3 – God has woven Christ's spirit into our spirit. Now, we are God's brand new creation, created (transformed by God) into one-being with Christ, who equips and empowers us through the Holy Spirit, to live the life of righteousness God had already planned for us. By God uniting Messiah and us spiritually into one body/being, He gave us access to the full state of obedience of Christ (by grace, not earned ourselves,) and to the full power of the transformation God started in us, that we may continue growing, from glory to glory, into ever greater levels of understanding and obedience, in the righteousness of Christ: “For we are God’s masterpiece, created in the Messiah Jesus to perform good actions that God prepared long ago to be our way of life.” ~ Eph 2:10 (ISV)

Step 4 – God is continually working in us, to make us willing and able to obey Him (Php 2:13)

Step 5 – We who believe can be confident of this: That God will keep us all growing in the transformation process, until the day Jesus Christ returns, when we all will be finally made complete.

“...He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” ~ Php 1:6 (NKJV)

By God's grace, we are only responsible for steps 1 and 2. And God Himself is responsible for steps 3, 4, and 5, We are spiritual beings being transformed by God Himself into the image of Christ, therefore He will complete the good work He started in each of us who are in Christ.

This is Why we can encourage ourselves with this powerful verse from scripture, Philippians 4:13:

“...we can do all things through Christ who strengthens/empowers us.”

The Living Bible puts it this way:

“...for I can do everything God asks me to, with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power.”

This is such a beautiful encouragement to us. We are not helpless or hopeless. We are not gloomed into discouragement or doomed to failure. We are being transformed by Him, and have been strengthened and empowered in Christ!

Prayer for God to Make Us Complete

“20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 make us complete in every good work to do His will, working in us what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” ~ Hebrews 13:20-21.

 

Isa 26:12 “Lord, You will establish peace for us, for You have also done all our works in us.”

 

God's Name of Promise 'I AM'

As I was reading Exodus 3:14, it struck me how strange it was for God to present Himself as "EHYEH ASHER EHYEH" in the Hebrew text. This is a future tense structure, not a present tense.

Those words were calling to me. It was as if the Holy Spirit was highlighting them, for me to look into and ask God about this!

"Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh" is often translated in Christian Bibles either as “I am that I am” or as “I am who I am” and in Jewish Bibles as "I am that I am" (JPS). But the Hebrew text actually reads, “I will be what/that I will be.”

The verb Ehyeh appears 55 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. Only in Exodus 3:14 is it translated as "I AM".  Everywhere else in the Bible, it is translated as either "I will be" or "will I be?" In Hebrew, the present tense looks different.

"I AM" really matches my understanding of God; so, why did God have the future-tense recorded in His Word???

Now, I really wanted to find out what God wanted to speak to my spirit about this name.

Joy:

 “My Lord, my God, what do you want to tell me today about Your name Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh?"

God: 

“The children of Jacob did not know who I was or what I was capable of because I had been silent during their time of slavery in Egypt.  'I will be what I will be' or 'I will be that which I will be,' is a title-name. It is more of a title than a name. By this title-name, I am sending the children of Israel this message: 'Even though you did not know Me in your lifetime, and you still do not know Me now, you will yet come to experience Me through ALL that I WILL BE as I deliver you and lead you into a new land and life, and as I take care of your needs along the way. You will see that I will be all that is needed to set you free from slavery and bring you into a land of freedom and plenty: I will be your mighty deliverer, I will be your champion, I will be your protection, I will be your provider, I will be your shade cloud by day, I will be your camp fire by night, I will be your guide, I will be your defender, I will be your teacher, I will be your healer, I will be your covenant partner, I will be your victory in battle, I will be your King, I will be your blessing, I will be your praise, I will be your God.'

"The reason for 'Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh' (future tense) is because I am presenting Myself to humans that live a dimension of time. 'I AM' always, because in heaven there is no dimension of time; there is no past, present, or future--everything is Now.  By My title-name I am letting mankind know that I will gradually prove Myself to ALL who put their trust in Me as we face together the challenges in their lives and in their future. My benefits are only for those who enter into a covenant relationship with Me. Every person falls into this category. So the focus of this title-name is looking into the future, from your perspective of time. By this title, 'Ehyeh', I am giving My solid assurance that I will be right there with anyone who invites Me into their lives. And in this manner, I will yet make Myself known to them as all that I fully AM: YHVH Yireh (Yahweh Who Provides), YHVH Shammah (Yahweh Who is There with you), YHVH Rophe (Yahweh Who Heals), and so on. 'Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh' covers ALL that I AM and will continue to be throughout your lifetime; it is My core identity.

"Joy, this title-name is important for people in every generation because it is My name of promise and it reveals my will, plan, and my covenant to always be present in your lives and to always make all things work together for the good of those who love Me and have become My people. There is no need for any of you who are Mine to worry about the present or the future because I AM with you--all you need is Me. Study My word daily, ask for what you need, and then just trust Me and walk in My ways.

"Most people on earth are living a life of bondage and I want to deliver them because I have already paid the price for their freedom. But they do not know Me and have not yet experienced Me. 

"To all who are still in bondage in your world, who are slaves to sin and who desire to be free, you must freely and boldly proclaim all that I will be to them, because I will be what I will be to deliver them, establish them in a new life in the Kingdom of Light in Christ Jesus, and bring them into their calling and destiny, just like I did back then for the children of Israel. 

"This is My heart for every human being. And you who know Me, do well to remember that I AM ever present with you and that I AM your Everything as you go through life's storms. Even when things seem to be going wrong, I AM there. Do not worry, do not complain, and do not despair. Live My word and walk by faith. I do miracles, I can even bring new life into a dead situation. Always wait upon Me, be patient, hopeful, and expectant; and I will make a way where there is no way.”

Joy: 

“Thank you, Father. I will. That is beautiful. And thank you for caring so much for mankind.”

Beauty for Ashes

Today, I want to share with you this conversation I had with God. It has always helped me to reset my thinking and focus when I am going through life's struggles and adversities. It has also helped me learn to walk patiently through these hardships with the peace of mind knowing that with Faith and with my eyes set on Jesus--and on the faithfulness of our Father in heaven--God is creating something beautiful with my life, that I will yet see. So I expectantly wait for a better tomorrow. And that time of beauty always comes, sometimes much later than I expected; but it has never failed to show up.

May this conversation with God encourage and bless you today!

Our Conversation Begins

Joy:

"Lord, what do You want to speak to me about today? What do You want to share with me today that is important to Your heart? And where shall we meet today?"

As I am waiting on the Lord, I begin to wonder--Will He want to speak to me about world hunger? Maybe about the suffering people go through in this world?

I started by visualizing myself on a peaceful beach. Lord Jesus and I were sitting next to each other on chairs, looking a calm ocean. It was late afternoon, not yet sunset, and we had the beach all to ourselves. We were enjoying the beautiful colors of the late afternoon clouds in the sky, smelling the ocean breeze, and hearing the ocean sounds and the sounds of the palm trees praising God as the gentle breeze blew. We enjoyed that for a little while.

Holy Spirit Vision:

Then suddenly, we were on a different beach and enjoyed that. Then, suddenly we were sitting on the veranda of a house on a small hill overlooking trees and houses in the valley, and a different ocean in the distance. The view was beautiful. But I was not allowed to look behind me at the ugly side. (I had visited this place in this physical world, in the past, and the house itself was not much--but the view was fabulous!) Then suddenly, we were in the Galilee, in Israel, on a mountain, looking over fields in the valley, and over the Sea of Galilee in the distance. (I had been here as well, in the past.) Again, I was only allowed to look at the most beautiful sides--not at the plain, dull, less attractive sides.

Joy:

"What are you trying to show me, Lord? What does this mean?"

Holy Spirit:

"When you, my child, are facing difficult, ugly situations, I always have places of stunning beauty to alleviate the stress or the pain and to bring moments of hope, joy, and peace to your heart. I want you, who are called by My name, to focus your spiritual eyes on the beauty that is available to you in the Spirit, and not so much on the difficulty of your struggle in the physical world. When you focus only on the ugliness, it becomes difficult to hold on to hope. When there is no beauty around you, I am the beauty in front of you. Set your mind on the beauty of My faithfulness. Since My Spirit lives inside of you, when you focus on Me, I can transport you from beauty to beauty in a second. Suddenly and immediately! When you fix your spirit eyes on Me, you can always be in a place of beauty, inner peace, and joy even in the midst of serious problems."

Joy:

"My Lord, of all the things in the world, is This what is most important for you to tell me right now?" (I was expecting something more important than me focusing on beauty.)

Holy Spirit:

"Yes."

Joy:

"Why? Can you help me see the importance?"

Holy Spirit:

"You are born into an imperfect world of suffering, ugliness, and pain. Most of it is illegal activity in your life coming from the enemy of your soul; meaning, it is not assigned or approved by Me to harm you. This is why Jesus paid the price for your deliverance, healing, and victory over Satan. You have My Word and the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of you to counter any attack of the kingdom of darkness in your life.

But sometimes, I will allow an attack, to succeed only because I have a secret plan that will allow you to experience My miracle power and fill your life with unbelievable joy. No one is exempt. Even Jesus who is the Son of the Living God had to go through this.

Joy, a lifetime of only struggle and hopelessness is Not my plan nor my will for any of my children. Know that any painful situations I allow into your life are but temporary and come with a beautiful side that outweighs every difficulty and challenge you will have to face. So, while weeping may endure for a night, joy will come in the morning. Of this you can be certain.

Hardship and joy are interlaced like two sides of a beautiful area rug. Ugliness is part of this fallen world, but by My grace, I am always releasing beauty into your life. Yet still, you will not see this beauty at once. And you may not see it for a little while because the beauty side is only revealed when the thing that God is developing in you has reached maturity. When I allow something difficult or painful into your life, know that it is only because I have prepared for you a reward of surpassing value and beauty that cannot be acquired any other way. All the sorrows and struggles you have had to endure will pale in comparison. And you will experience victory and great joy in its time when the work in you is complete."

"Consider this, when have you ever gone through a terrible situation that did not eventually end in beauty?"

Joy:

"Never, my Lord, because even in the most hopeless situations, you worked miracles!"

Holy Spirit:

"Exactly. And my miracles only happened after you had determined to stand strong in the midst of the trial and began to look at things from a different perspective. You began to pursue heaven's perspective, be transformed, and then you rose above the situation. And that's when you began to get a glimpse of the beauty that lay ahead. You can only see this when you ascend to look down from a higher place, from Mt. Zion in heaven above. You must be able to rise to the top of this spiritual mountain, to be able to see the pathway to beauty and find peace and joyful hope in the midst of your difficulties. This means that, when going through hardships, you have to station yourself, spiritually, in heaven. Everything you do, do from heaven's perspective, trusting in God's promises that Messiah Jesus secured for you. 

Stationing yourself in heaven means that you are to approach every one of life's hardships always from the position of faith, not fear; and not trusting in your carnal feelings or worldly reasoning but in My word--Trust in My word (Psalm 3:5-6). This way you will always be able to find yourself, spiritually, in a place of beauty, peace, and joy, and you will be able to bring these spiritual blessings into your earthly life by faith. Remember that what is seen is not made out of what is visible (Hebrews 11:3.) Everything is first created in the heavenly realm. Victory is first spiritual and then physical. This understanding is foundational. Make sure you never lose sight of how important this is. I am bringing this up today because I want you to realize how very important this is to you living a victorious life on earth. 

Make sure that stationing yourself in heaven is permanently locked-in as your first course of action, as the way you handle life's challenges and adversities. Do not lose sight of this.

Where ever I have used pain and ugliness to mature my children, there is beauty in the making, on the reverse side, for those who love Me. When you walk in heaven's perspective, you will always walk in victory. 

My plan is to build you up, strengthen you, and establish you for success as you do My will. Fix your eyes on Me, not on the situation, and I will take you to the place of beauty I have prepared for you. I will give you beauty for ashes.

Keeping your eyes focused on Me is the foundation of everything we have done and will do in the future. This is the solution to the world's problems. If human-beings would only fix their eyes on their Creator, who loves them with a Father's love, there would be no hunger, suffering, or wars in the earth. Trauma, pain, fear, worry, selfishness, and greed drives people who harm others. A victim or an observer has to choose what they will become--a perpetrator or a protector. It all depends on what the victim or the observer focuses on--heaven or earth, good or evil, hope or hurt, faith or fear.

I am the only one who can give beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, and a spirit of praise for a spirit of despair. I am the only one who can transform life's situations. I will provide for my grieving children who set their eyes on Me and put their trust in Me. They will first enjoy spiritual beauty, joy, and peace (in spite of their circumstances) and this will open up the portals of heaven for blessing and renewal to be released into their earthly lives. And they will be transformed and become robust oaks of righteousness displaying My splendor (Isaiah 61:1,3)."

End of Conversation

 

 

Powerful Recommended Reading:

1. Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores by Diane Landberg. Equipping the body of Christ to help people who have suffered through deep trauma.
2. Blindsided by God: Disappointment, Suffering, and the Untamable Goodness of God by Peter Chin. Powerful, personal ways we can understand and even redeem the suffering we all experience in our lives.
3. Torn to Heal: God's Good Purpose in Suffering by Mike Leake. God is radically dedicated to our ongoing growth in spiritual maturity and holiness.