1112 改變的生命
若有人在基督里，他就是新造的人，舊事已過，都變成新的了。 《哥林多後書 5:17》
你對你靈魂得救的理解是什麼？救恩的工作意味着在你真實生活中，事情有了巨大的變化。你不再以同樣的方式看待事物了。你的慾望是新的，舊的事物已經失去它們吸引你的力量。確定救恩的工作在你生命中是否真實，其中一個測試就是：神是否改變了你真正看重的事物？如果你仍然渴望舊的事物，你又談論從上頭生，那是荒謬的——你是在欺騙自己。如果你重生了，神的靈改變你現實生活和思想，是非常明顯的。當危機來臨時，對你身上有的奇妙不同，你會是世上最感到驚訝的人，根本不可能是你做的。正是這種徹底而驚人的改變，才是你得救的明證。
我的得救和成聖，帶來什麼不同呢？例如，我能經得起哥林多前書 13 章的光照嗎？還是我很不自在並逃避問題？聖靈在我裡面成就的真正救恩，完全釋放了我。只要我「在光明中行，如同神在光明中…」（約翰一書 1:7），神看我就無任何可責之處，因為祂的生命正在做工深入我本體每一個細節處，不只是在意識層面，甚至在比我的意識更深之處。
來自章伯斯的智慧
自然地說，沒有什麼比衰敗更能讓我們迅速喪失信心了——身體美麗的衰退、自然生命的衰退、友誼的衰退、關係的衰退，所有這些都使人心灰意冷；但保羅說，當我們信靠耶穌基督時，這些事情就不會令我們沮喪，光明會透過它們而來。《幫助之地》
1112 The Changed Life
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. —2 Corinthians 5:17
What understanding do you have of the salvation of your soul? The work of salvation means that in your real life things are dramatically changed. You no longer look at things in the same way. Your desires are new and the old things have lost their power to attract you. One of the tests for determining if the work of salvation in your life is genuine is— has God changed the things that really matter to you? If you still yearn for the old things, it is absurd to talk about being born from above— you are deceiving yourself. If you are born again, the Spirit of God makes the change very evident in your real life and thought. And when a crisis comes, you are the most amazed person on earth at the wonderful difference there is in you. There is no possibility of imagining that you did it. It is this complete and amazing change that is the very evidence that you are saved.
What difference has my salvation and sanctification made? For instance, can I stand in the light of 1 Corinthians 13 , or do I squirm and evade the issue? True salvation, worked out in me by the Holy Spirit, frees me completely. And as long as I “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7), God sees nothing to rebuke because His life is working itself into every detailed part of my being, not on the conscious level, but even deeper than my consciousness.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them. —The Place of Help