There is a dangerous idea that has settled into parts of American Christianity: that a person can genuinely come to Jesus Christ, receive salvation, and then spend the rest of life essentially unchanged.
The language may vary. Sometimes we call someone a “carnal Christian.” Sometimes we simply say, “Well, they prayed the prayer,” even though there has been little or no evidence of spiritual life since.
But we need to ask a serious biblical question:
Can you truly encounter Jesus Christ and remain forever unchanged?
Paul writes:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV
Notice what Scripture calls the Christian: a new creation.
Christianity is not Jesus being added to the life we already wanted to live. Salvation is not simply getting our sins forgiven so we can continue in the same direction with heaven guaranteed at the end.
Jesus saves us—and then He begins changing us.
That does not mean Christians become perfect.
I certainly haven’t.
Every genuine believer still struggles with temptation. We stumble. We make poor decisions. Sometimes we say things we immediately wish we could take back. Sometimes God has to deal with us repeatedly about the same area of our lives.
The issue is not perfection.
The issue is direction.
Imagine someone walking into church and telling me, “Pastor, you won't believe what happened. On the way here, I was hit head-on by an eighteen-wheeler traveling 65 miles per hour.”
But as I look at him, there isn't a scratch on him.
No bruises.
No broken bones.
His clothes aren't even dirty.
I would have some questions.
Why?
Because you cannot have an encounter with something that powerful and show absolutely no evidence that the encounter ever occurred.
Now think about that spiritually.
Jesus Christ is infinitely more powerful than an eighteen-wheeler.
He is the Creator.
He conquered sin.
He defeated death.
He rose from the grave.
And when He saves us, He places His Holy Spirit within us.
Yet somehow we have developed a version of Christianity that says a person can encounter the living Christ and remain completely untouched.
The Bible presents something different.
God told His people through Ezekiel:
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.”
— Ezekiel 36:26, ESV
A new heart.
A new Spirit.
A new direction.
Maybe your transformation has not been dramatic. Not everybody has a testimony involving addiction, prison, or some spectacular turnaround.
Some people meet Christ as children.
Praise God for that.
You don't have to wreck the car to have a testimony about the One who kept you on the road.
The miracle isn't how terrible you were before Jesus.
The miracle is that you were spiritually dead and Jesus made you alive.
So perhaps the better question isn't simply:
“Did I make a decision for Jesus sometime in my past?”
Ask instead:
“Is Jesus Christ at work in my life today?”
Do I experience conviction over sin?
Is there a growing desire to know Him?
Am I learning to forgive?
Are my priorities changing?
Do I want His Word?
When I wander, is there something within me calling me home?
Not perfection.
But direction.
Because when Jesus saves us, He loves us far too much to leave us exactly where He found us.
