To be a new creation means merely that we have accepted Christ.

We have made some terms equivalent to accepting Christ. Once a person has accepted Christ we say he has been born again; he is a new creature.

I suppose there is no harm is saying this as long as we recognize that what we are stating is actually the beginning of the process of being born again; the beginning of the process of becoming a new creation.

When we truly come to the Lord Jesus Christ, not just make some kind of formal profession in church, we pass from spiritual death to spiritual life. We could say that at that instance we have eternal life, Christ has been conceived in us, and we are qualified to begin the change from the adamic nature to the Nature of Jesus Christ.

I think too often today we regard taking "the four steps of salvation" as a ticket to Heaven, rather than what it is in actuality the first step on the path that leads to life. We speak of being "saved" twenty years ago. Such terminology is misleading.

The truth is, we begin the program of salvation at a definite point in time. Then we work out our salvation throughout our lifetime. If we endure patiently the numerous obstacles we encounter, we will be saved when the Lord appears.

We were saved. We are being saved. We shall be saved.

Perhaps the reason for our confusion is that we regard being saved as being made ready to go to Heaven when we die. This is not what it means to be saved. We are not saved from earth to Heaven but from Satan to God.

We are saved from trusting in the world for survival and security, instead of trusting in the Lord.

We are saved from behaving according to the lusts and passions of our sinful nature.

We are saved from the deceptions of Satan.

We are saved from pursuing our own will instead of God's will.

The purpose of such deliverances is not that we might go to Heaven when we die but that we might be pleasing to God.

To be continued.