Salvation is God’s gift to us. Through salvation, God gave us victory over sin. A victory that applies not only to our past sins but also to any sin we may commit. When we become Christians, God makes us new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). God wants to continually build new things into our lives as we walk with Him. We receive God’s joy when we are saved, and He wants to fill us with this joy daily. God wants us to repent of our sins and yield our lives to Him and follow His lead. Once we are saved, we are to work diligently on our faith. God will not force the changes on us, but we can join Him in the process of developing our lives so that His salvation will be demonstrated fully in us. — Philippians 2:12-13