When we put our trust in Jesus as our Savior, we are not only forgiven but also transformed from the inside through the renewing activity of the Holy Spirit (Ti. 3:5).

Author Michael Green tells about a man who said that before God dramatically changed his life he was "an embryo gangster, already with a list of crimes which society could level against me, and sins which accuse me of their own accord." Today that man is a military chaplain.

Here is his testimony: "The living Christ has given me what no court, no psychiatrist, no probation officer could give me—the consciousness of sins forgiven. . . . The joy of a loving wife, two children, and a happy and secure home have shown me that through the living Christ even one who, like myself, was once described by a magistrate as a 'social menace' can be more than just tolerable. That is something of the difference that Jesus Christ has made and continues to make in me."

When we see our need of God's forgiveness and believe in Jesus, our sins are washed away and the Holy Spirit makes us new people (Ti. 3:5). Then, as we walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:25), He continues to work in us to make us more like Christ.

Have you been changed? Are you still changing?  — Herbert Vander Lugt