Believer's Life After the Initial Excitement

It doesn't matter whether we were born to Christian parents or accepted Christ as a personal savior from other beliefs; at one particular instance, most of us would have had a personal encounter with God, which would have left us with a more profound conviction of our old nature and a submission to God for a new way of life.

Undoubtedly, we would have enjoyed unspeakable joy, a pleasant mood, and peace of mind in the initial few days, weeks, or months. We would have shown zealousness for God and followed a specific pattern of prayer, Bible reading, and fellowship with fellow believers during then. As the initial excitement started fading away, we would have noticed we were returning gradually to the old way of life, if not entirely, but things pertaining to the inner person.

Be encouraged; we are not alone in struggling with this high and low spiritual tide. We would have had the mount of transfiguration experience at one point and a deep valley experience some other time. We all would have been shocked to see a soft-spoken, loving aunty or an uncle in our fellowship one day burst out when provoked beyond a certain level.

We would have heard stories of a highly spiritual believer or a servant of God falling into a secret sin. (While you read this a few such would have been flashed in your minds by this time; at the same time, our face would have flashed in someone else mind as well.) None of us is exempted from this as long as we live this earthly life.

What happens, or what do we do after the initial excitement?

We understand what God, the Church, and the people around us expect from us, and also, reading the Word of God and listening to the sermons, teach us what we ought to be. The sad part is we are unable to live up to the standards of our self-discipline and self-control after some point. So unintentionally, we start pretending to be someone good outward, whereas we are not so inwardly. Sadly, we have become hypocrites, and over a period, it has become our way of life.

• We greet others with a broad smile, and when we know they have left the place, we speak evil about them.
• In India, most don't watch movies or listen to movie songs when people are around.
• Our private conversations and lifestyles with non-believers differ from how we talk with believers.
• We have an overall different work culture in our workplace.

Are we deceiving ourselves by preaching to others about transformation when we haven't experienced it completely? 

Does God deliver us, indeed? 

If so, how do we enjoy the God-given deliverance?

When we share the gospel with non-believers, we assure them that God will deliver them. When they have accepted Christ and become a believer, we force them to leave their sin and addictions by their hard efforts and we give them a set of instructions to follow to come out of their sins.

Are we saved by our deeds or by God's grace? Are we blemish-free, without sin and stain from the day we accepted Christ? Do we enter the kingdom of heaven by our deeds or by grace? Or, can we continue to sin, claiming God's grace saved us?

Yes, indeed, we can and will experience the deliverance. The Bible says that we shall know the truth, and the truth shall set us free. We have the Spirit of God, and we shall be liberated. The Son, Immanuel, is with us. He will deliver us.

Of course, we are not saved by our deeds but by His grace and our faith; be clear, our transformed deeds will have to reflect in our lives after experiencing salvation.

How do we experience and enjoy this salvation along with deliverance?

We cannot expect an overnight transformation, nor should we settle with the attitude of living with the old nature. The Bible says Christian life is like a journey that has different phases. We should strive and persevere but patiently. We should desire to live a life reflecting Christ Jesus, but still, in reality, we would fail. God, who looks into our heart's desire will keep working in our lives and transform our old nature and change our situation and people around us as we spend time meditating on His Word and having fellowship with God and believers. We would be surprised to see how much we have transformed over a period of time and yet we need to understand we can never become perfect in this earthly life.

If we move on to such maturity in our spiritual life, we will stop condemning others, show genuine concern and love, and encourage them to persevere.

May God help us have more clarity.