Are You a “Fresh” Christian?

In light of the text examined last Sunday – Acts 10:34-43 – we would be wise and responsible before the Word of God and God Himself to ask ourselves the following question: Am I a “fresh” Christian?

The point here is that the Apostle Peter arrived at Cornelius’s home precisely at the moment when God was breaking down—within Peter’s own heart—a massive wall of centuries-old Jewish traditions and personal prejudice. Gentiles need not convert to Judaism in order to become recipients of God saving grace in Jesus Christ! This was a profound and powerful lesson in Peter’s life. It truly revolutionized his way of thinking. An experience like this leaves no one unchanged; one is truly transformed. One’s mindset shifts, and subsequently, one’s behavior changes as well. He carries with him a fresh lesson, a fresh and renewed mindset, and a fresh perspective on the world around him. This is precisely what we need to reflect upon.

In what ways has the Lord transformed my thinking recently? Where and how am I now viewing the events unfolding around me with fresh perception and a renewed understanding of the truth? Are there tangible lessons I can share with those around me—not merely things I enjoyed during my personal study of Scripture or while listening to sermons, but insights that have truly altered my approach and refreshed my perspective?

At times, changes in one’s mindset are the least conspicuous and the most difficult to verify; only time will tell whether a genuine transformation has taken place. Yet—and this is a crucial point—those around you will very quickly notice when you begin to lose your freshness. They notice when a group leader merely parrots the thoughts of others; when parents simply copy someone else’s ideas; when a pastor’s sermon becomes entirely predictable; and when your own responses and behavior have become rigidly ossified over the years. In such a state, you are no longer a “fresh” Christan, but rather a stagnant pool—devoid of fresh water—in which various forms of spiritual infection and disease have begun to take root.

Reflect seriously on how and where you are currently changing—in your thinking, perception, reactions, and behavior. Is the truth of the Holy Scripture transforming you? If so, provide specific examples and share them with your home group.

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"So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,
and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life."
Romans 6:11-22