LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Breaking with the Past
When a believer converts to Christ, he goes from death to life. There is a real revolution in his existence. He begins to see all things in a different way. Knowing that his sins have been forgiven, he experiences a relief in his heart. He now lives in a new world: in the world of eternal things. However, his former life has left a mark, it has heaped upon him a great burden of death.
How can one who is beginning this Path, detach himself from his past in the world? In the Bible no attention is paid to what a person did before believing in the Lord. Everything is focused on what needs to be done after being saved. However, there are some examples about how to proceed with the things of the past.
The first thing that needs to be done is to completely remove everything related to idols. "Ye turned from idols unto the living and true God ... Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 Thess. 1:9; 1 John 5:21). We are not to worship any image, for that is an abomination to the Lord. We are not to get involved with fortune telling or horoscopes. We have nothing to do with games of chance, nor with objects of magic. All these belong to the world and are under the evil one.
In the same way, our way of dressing must undergo a change. All that which gives account of the old life, and which is indecent or unbecoming of a child of God, must be removed.
Likewise, we must pay our debts. Part of the world's system today consists of going into debt. Many times, debts exceed people's real ability to pay. A Christian should put an end to this habit. If, before becoming a believer, we obtained something by dishonest means, we must compensate the damage in an adequate manner. It is true that we have already been forgiven by the Lord, but, because of our testimony, we must solve all these problems before men, so that the name of the Lord may be sanctified.
The Christian has been called out of the world. Now, the world has a very clear idea of what things are unbecoming of a believer. They may be indulgent toward themselves, but they are not indulgent toward Christians. Therefore, the Christian must take care of his testimony in everything that may be reprehensible. There are activities he may not engage in, places he may not frequent, words he may not say.
The world is the first and great enemy of Christians. There is a way to know which things are of the world and from which things we should separate ourselves: Everything that turns off our spiritual life and separates us from God, is of the world. If we do not know who it is that governs it and what danger it holds for us, sooner or later we will fall under its deadly sway. If we are clear about this from the beginning, we will escape from the snare of death, and we will know that our citizenship is in heaven, from where we await the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:20).