Faith is being treated today as though it were magic. One aspect of this is the current faith-prosperity exercise in metaphysics. If I can believe hard enough all I want will be given to me. Wishing will make it so. When you wish upon a star everything you desire will come to you. Cinderella. Peter Pan. Hollywood is great on this kind of faith. Believe you can play a trombone, and presto!

A more serious warping of faith is the current "make a decision for Christ." The idea is if we can get someone to go through the "four steps of salvation" he or she is magically transformed from a sinner to a saint. No more is necessary. The conductor is saying, "Next stop, Heaven."

This is so far from the Christian salvation it has almost no relationship to it.

While it is true that the sinner can come to Jesus and have all of his sins forgiven at once, it must be recognized that this is an introduction to salvation, not the whole ranch. The individual is at the gateway to life. He is at the entrance to what will prove to be a long, treacherous journey before he is ready for the victor's crown.

Let all the experienced saints say, "Amen!"

God has placed evangelists in the Body of Christ. The evangelist is kind of like a salesman. He is stationed at the entrance to the Kingdom and is inviting whoever passes by to join the party.

Sometimes evangelists oversell the Gospel. "Once you accept Jesus you will have no more trouble." I wish they wouldn't do that. It makes the job of the pastor and teacher more difficult.

It is the job of the evangelist to announce the good news of God's gift of forgiveness to those who turn away from the world, not to hand people a package all wrapped up and tied with a bow.

When an individual receives Christ he or she is embarking on the most wonderful of all adventures. But it is a fight to the death, make no mistake.

Once we make a profession of Christ we are to be handed over to the pastor and teacher. It is his or her job to work with us until we stand perfect and complete in all the will of God, until we attain maturity as measured by the fullness of the stature of Christ.

Faith is not a magic that transforms us into saints. Faith is a grace given to us by God so we can relate successfully to Him and come before Christ every day of our life.

As we seek always to abide in Christ we are given a portion of evil for the day and a portion of Divine good by which we can overcome the evil.

The next day we are given a new portion of evil and a new portion of Divine good—a little more advanced than that of the previous day.

We must by faith abide in Christ each day. As we do we grow in the ability to discern between good and evil and in the desire and strength to choose the good and turn away from the evil. This is what Christian growth is. This is what salvation is—the ability to refuse the evil and choose the good.

No, faith is not a magic that transports us in our unchanged state into Paradise. Faith is our daily relationship with God and Christ. As we continually behold the Glory of the Lord we continually are transformed into the same image by the Spirit of the Lord. This is the new covenant.