Taking the Confusion Out of What It Means and Doesn't Mean to Get Saved | #053

f you’ve ever thought, “Why does the Christian life still feel like such a struggle?”—this episode is for you.

A lot of Christians are confused about what actually happened when they got saved. We hear phrases like “brand-new creation” and assume that means the battle with the flesh should disappear completely. But when temptation, fear, insecurity, and struggle remain, many people quietly begin to wonder:
 “Maybe this works for everybody else…just not for me.”

In this episode, Craig helps remove the confusion surrounding salvation by unpacking the difference between the flesh, the soul, and the spirit—and why understanding that difference changes everything.

You’ll learn:
 • What did—and did not—happen when you were born again
 • Why the flesh and Spirit war against each other
 • What it really means to be “made new” in Christ
 • Why spiritual things can feel difficult to trust
 • How your spirit now communes with God’s Spirit
 • Why walking by faith brings life and peace

This conversation brings clarity to Galatians 5, and Romans 8 and the inner battle every believer experiences.

If you’ve been frustrated in your walk with God, this episode may help you finally understand why—and show you how to move forward with greater confidence, peace, and freedom.

Time stamp

01:10 Why so many Christians feel confused after getting saved

01:55 What salvation does not mean

02:22 Understanding the flesh, soul, and spirit

03:38 The night vision illustration

04:49 What it really means to be saved

05:36 Why you must be born again

06:42 Pulling it all together

06:54 The battle between the flesh and the spirit

07:26 Why the battle always comes back to faith 

Connect with Craig @CraigWalkerCaoching

Connect with Craig  @CraigWalkerCaoching
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Sign up for the Truly a Masterpiece Free Workshop: Why Self-doubt Keeps Returning and How to Finally Break Free https://craigwalkercoaching.com/workshop

Join the Masterpiece Brotherhood Men's Group: https://craigwalkercoaching.com/brotherhood

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What did and didn't happen when you got saved? You see, this matters because if you misunderstand this, you'll misunderstand Christianity and you'll be terribly frustrated in your Christian walk. Hey friend, welcome to the Truly a Masterpiece podcast. I'm Craig Walker, founder of Craig Walker Coaching, author of the book Shameless, The Life You Were Born to Love, and the creator of the Truly a Masterpiece course and podcast. Now, if you've ever wrestled with self-doubt or shame, that voice that whispers that you're just not enough, or maybe that fear that people are about to figure you out, you're in the right place. I feel your pain. For most of my life, I lived with fear and insecurity until one night in 2014 when I told God, Enough. Like Jacob, I wrestled with him until he gave me the insights that changed everything. Today, by his grace, I live with more confidence, love, and joy than I ever thought possible. I want to help you do the same. Each week I'll share biblical truths, practical tools, and real stories from people who are just like you, but they won their battle with shame and self-doubt, and they're living that life that God created them to love. So grab a cup of coffee, settle in. This is gonna be fun. Let's get started. Today I want to take the confusion out of what did and didn't happen when you got saved. You see, this matters because if you misunderstand this, you'll misunderstand Christianity and you'll be terribly frustrated in your Christian walk. You'll start thinking, man, this works for everybody else. Why didn't it work for me? And this is what most men do when they don't understand something and they pretend that they do. It's like the guy that laughed at a joke because everyone else laughed. You don't want to be the only one in the room that doesn't get it. My experience has been a lot of men are confused over their Christian walk. They just think everyone else has got it, so they're not asking. So let's talk about it. Let's start with what it doesn't mean. I think this is where most of the confusion means starts. It doesn't mean that God made you brand new. I think brand new creates a false understanding of Christianity. I remember a professor in Bible college that actually said this. He said, When you got saved, there was nothing about you that got left out. Now I wish that were true. That sounded really good. And I know what he was trying to say. It's just not true. This is where it creates this false impression. My flesh, your flesh, it didn't get saved. Your flesh, my flesh, it will never get saved. When I say flesh, I'm talking about that part of you that that senses the physical world. It can see, hear, taste, touch, and smell, but but it can't sense spiritual realities. So what it can do, it can feed your soul only with information that it senses physically. And the soul being that part of you that's thinking, feeling, and choosing based on your dreams, your desires, and your passions that are unique to you that God created within you. Your soul, it's you. It's uh you are a living soul with a body. You're not a living body with a soul. The soul is literally who you are, apart from a body. Because the flesh operates only in the realm of the physical, it can't sense spiritual things because they're spiritual. And this matters. Galatians chapter 5 says Paul tells us that the flesh and the spirit are at odds with each other. They're actually warring against each other. Why? Because the flesh only senses what's physical. It's missing the spiritual dimension of reality. Let me explain it like this. When someone has the spirit, they can sense spiritual things. They get the full picture. But it's like walking through the dark with night vision goggles. That person with the spirit can see what no one else can see. The person without the night vision goggles, they just can't see it. They're walking along, and the person's night vision looks and sees a bridge and said, Oh, there's a bridge over that chasm, let's cross. Well, the person, if they don't trust them, they're going to fight, they're going to resist and say, no, we can't do it. And that's why Paul said the things of the Spirit are foolish to those who don't have the Spirit. Why? Because they just can't see what those with the Spirit are seeing. So when people say brand new, it could just come across like something we never were. We were never saved in the flesh. And when you think you are, and you feel that pull of the flesh, you're going to think, oh, this doesn't work for me. If you think that, here's what happens. You get saved, you're still seeing, hearing, taste, touch, and smell physically. And it just feels like that full, that's that pull of the flesh, that's what's still in control. You'll feel like the only one who doesn't get it, because so many people are just pretending that they really got it, and you're going to miss out on what it really means to be saved. So, what does it mean then? If that's not it, what is it? Well, the Bible does say that you were made new, just not brand new. Okay? Big difference. When you were born into this world, you were born spiritually dead. You still had the flesh. You were still a living soul and that could think, feel, and choose based on your unique dreams, desires, and passions. But that's all from its physical, that's all. Then you were born again. Now you've you've got the spirit living in you that communicates with God's spirit. You're getting new information to your soul. This Jesus talking to Nicodemus says, I tell you the truth, unless you're born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. Why? Well, because the spirit the kingdom of God's a spiritual entity, and you need the spirit to be able to understand that. That's why Jesus said, That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spiritual. When you got saved, you were born again, you were born spiritually, and your spirit now fellowships with God's Spirit. Now your soul it's also, it's now it's getting new information, it's sensing, feeling, choosing through your unique dreams, desires, and passions based on information it's getting from the spirit. That helps explain why a person gets saved for the first time in their life. They just feel love like they've never known before. Paul tells us in Romans chapter 5 that when you got saved, for we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us his Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. That's that's the Spirit at work communicating to you. All right, I want to boil it down. Let's pull it all together now in a way that makes sense, takes the frustration out of what it means to get saved. When you got saved, you were born again, you were made new. You received a living spirit that now communicates God, God's spirit to your soul. Now your spirit senses the spirit of God, communicates that, feeds that information of God or your experience of God to your soul. But you still have a living flesh, that part of you that senses only the physical, and it also is feeding information to your soul. So what happens now? You have a choice. This is every Christian being experiences this. You have a choice. The living soul has to choose between, am I going to live in the flesh or am I going to live by the spirit? So Paul warned in chapter 8 of Romans, for those who are living according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. They choose based on what they sense physically. But those who are walking by the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. They choose based on what they sense spiritually. And then he says this for the mindset on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace. So that it always comes back to us. The choice is and has always been and will always be. It comes down to faith. What will you choose? That's why the psalmist implored, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. How blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Each time you choose by faith over the spirit over the flesh, you'll experience something that changes your soul from the inside out. Well, I hope this helps make sense of what it means and doesn't mean to get saved. I hope this helps remove the frustration that maybe some of you have been feeling. Because you were made new in Christ. And this new identity will give you all the power that you need to do everything God created you to do. Well, before signing off, let me just mention this to you. If you like this and you want more, check out the Trudia Masterpiece workshop, Why Self Doubt Keeps Returning, and How Finally to Break Free. The link is inside the show notes. And again, as always, hey man, thank you for joining me. Until next time, may the Lord help you to live that life that you were born to love.