PHIFF

I got PHIFF. Do you have it?

Recently, at a retreat, I got to witness 4 students make first time decisions for Jesus Christ. It was an amazing thing! Just the other day, I met with one of the girls who made the decision. Her parents wanted me to talk with her more about what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ (which is really great!). I told her that knowing Christ is a guarunteed ticket to heaven with him forever and there is no changing that (Rom 8:38-39). But I also wanted her to know that it is so much more than that. After talking to her, I came up with a little acronym to show what happens to someone after they are saved. I call it PHIFF.

PURPOSE: Knowing Christ gives the believer a purpose to life. What was our purpose before Christ? Well, the truth is that whatever our purpose was, it is nothing compared to the new purpose and meaning to life. A believer knows that they are living to glorify God in all they do, to obey him, and to keep eternity in mind. (2 Timothy 2:21)

HOPE: A believer has the hope of eternity. The believer no longer just puts their hope in the next best thing that is going to happen in their life, but instead puts their hope in the only thing that lasts forever, eternal life. This means that no matter how many bad things happen throughout the course of the believers life, they will still have hope...a complete hope. (John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

IDENTITY: The believer also has a brand new identity. Once someone is saved, he is a new creation. That person belongs to Christ. The believer no longer is identified by the way they look, the friends they have, or how good they are at a certain sport or instrument. Those things all come in a very distand second to the fact that they were purchased by the blood of Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

FREEDOM: Freedom is given to those who know Christ. Many people think that following Jesus means that you have less freedom because you have to follow a lot of rules. Not true. True freedom comes from being free from the power of sin. No longer is the believer a slave to sin. Sin is not freedom but only slavery to that sin. Christ's death liberated us from the sin that owned us. (Galatians 5:1)

FAMILY: The believer also gets a brand new family. That person still has their immediate family, but now the believer just made their family a lot bigger. There is now a special bond among other believers. You are on the same page, you have support, love, and accountability. We were made to have community with other believers...we cannot do this life alone. (Acts 2:42-47)

While this is not an exhaustive list of everything that happens to a believer, it is really important to share these things. Knowing Christ is so much more than just a free ticket to heaven...you get purpose, hope, a new identity, freedom from sin, and a new huge family in Christ. You get PHIFF!