Get born again

Clear all your sins
Get born again
Just repeat a couple lines

Those are lyrics from an Alice in Chains song that I remember from 1999-2000. Those lyrics came to my mind yesterday as I was listening to someone give their testimony of faith.
Why did it hit me?
As my friend was speaking of his life story he talked about how he “went down the aisle” when he was young because you were supposed to, and he repeated the prayer he was told to say because you were supposed to.
But nothing happened.
Why?
It was just a cultural rite.
I was nothing more.
There was nothing real involved.
The words he said didn’t do a thing for him.
That's the meaning of the lyrics I quoted. I believe Jerry Cantrell, an Oklahoman, knows that ethos. Just repeat after me, that's all you need.

Therein lies the problem with how some view salvation. Many within the Church have been conditioned to think that salvation is found in the sinner’s prayer and it means that your slate is wiped clean and that's it.
That’s great, but there’s a problem. Salvation is holistic. It involves a fundamental change in all parts of life. When one is a Christian they are a new creature. The old has passed and the new has come. There is a new way of looking at the world. There is a new way of looking at Christ.
I was listening to Troy Polamalu the other day and someone asked him about his faith and he said that his faith in Jesus Christ shapes the way he looks at every aspect of life, whether it be football or hanging around the house.
He’s on to something.
Salvation is not:
Clear all your sins
Get born again
Just repeat a couple lines

Salvation is something that changes the way we live – period.
We are in union with Christ.
We have a disposition for love.
We are new creatures.