In a recent conversation concerning eyeglasses the subject of “transition lenses” was mentioned. I’m sure you are familiar with both the term and the eyeglasses to which it applies. As the light gets brighter these lenses automatically darken to compensate for the glare. In other words, they make a “transition” from being glasses to being sunglasses.
That idea got me to thinking. Just what is a “transition?” According to Webster’s Dictionary it is “a change or passage from place, action, mood, etc. to another; a development that forms part of an ordered progression” (p. 1048).
Interestingly enough, this is what happens to a person who becomes a Christian, or at least this is what should happen. Sadly, many people only go through the outward process and a true transition from being spiritually dead in sin to being spiritually alive in Christ never happens.
Several Bible passages deal with the various aspects of this transition and it is not my purpose to deal with all of them here. However, there are a few passages that I would like to notice. First, John uses the phrase “passed from death to life” (1 John 3:14) and notes that we have made that transition when we “love the brethren.” He also points out that a lack of love for brethren is an indication of the fact that no transition has taken place. The person who does not love the brethren still “abides in death.” Thus, no transition from death to life has occurred.
Another passage in which a transition is noted is from the pen of the apostle Paul. He notes that Christians have been “delivered from the power of darkness and conveyed into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Col. 3:13). This transition has enabled us to achieve “redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Col 3:14). It also put us in a position to receive so much more. It was Paul’s prayer for these brethren that they also transition from spiritual death and ignorance to being “…filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light” (Col. 3:9-12).
As you can see, there are definable, demonstrable results of the transition that occurs when one becomes a Christian. Have these transitions been made in your life? Are you different? Do you think, act, believe, walk, talk, and most of all LIVE in a way that is different than what you were before? After all, you are now dressed differently than you were when you were spiritually dead in sin (Col. 3:1-17).
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