Growing up, I never cared for soccer. At all. I thought it was boring. And there was no way I was going to play that boring game because it shared a season with the best game around—baseball.

But something made all of that change. I still enjoy baseball, although not as much as I used to. Now, however, I might actually prefer soccer—or football as it is more properly known. Why? What brought about this change?

My oldest son Joshua plays soccer.

Joshua began playing soccer several years ago and we both learned the game together. I had no idea what offsides meant back then. Didn’t know when a corner kick was in order. Had no idea of how to help Joshua (which was probably for the better).

Slowly, my understanding of the game turned into an appreciation which further turned into a love.

Had you told me ten years ago that I would rather attend a soccer match over a baseball game in the future, I would never have believed it. But it’s true.

A Greater Change

This change of heart might not be impressive—and I get that it is pretty unimportant in the grand scheme of things—but I hope that it illustrates the potential within each of us. When we trust in Christ, we are changed immediately in critical ways. From enemies to adopted children. From condemned to forgiven. These are immediate, lasting changes.

An Ongoing Change

But we also change gradually—ever so painfully slowly—in other ways. This is the process of sanctification, how the Spirit grows us to be more like Jesus. But we cannot miss the fact that this change is based on an immediate lasting one: our changed hearts.

While we don’t love God fully for good at the moment of salvation, our hearts have been changed in an essential way—we have been given the capacity to love Him. Before Christ, our rebellious hearts refused to love God. They were unable to love God because of the sin hardening our hearts.

But then in Christ, we were given a new heart—one that is capable of loving God. That love grows and strengthens in times. It ebbs and flows at times. But it continues. And as our love grows, our faithful living follows.

A Proper Order

We cannot miss this order. It is essential. Love should drive conduct. This safeguards us from moralism—believing that our actions secure God’s approval. When our conduct is based on our love, we are able to rest more surely that our motivation of obedience is pure.

A Rule Exception

But we have to acknowledge that there is an exception to this rule—as important as it is. There are times when love cannot drive our conduct because our hearts can fail us in seasons of life. There may be time when we cannot act on love because the love is not there as it needs to be. So what do we do? We cannot wait. Rather, we obey. And as we obey, we pray that our affections are stirred once more. In essence, our conduct can jump start our hearts.

If Christ is the basis of our salvation, and faith is the only means for receiving salvation, then how do our works fit into the equation? Instead of seeing our works as earning salvation, as other world religions teach, the Bible teaches that good works are the evidence of salvation. Biblical faith necessarily leads to good works. In other words, faith works.” — David Platt

David Platt, “Is Your Definition of Faith Biblical?” Radical, July 27, 2018, radical.net/is-your-definition-of-faith-biblical.

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