I must establish this first. The word of God is the ABSOLUTE truth. The word of God is true and factual. My opinion amd my feelings mean nothing when placed next to the perfect word of God. So in other words, what I am about to share is not my opinion or my feelings. It is what God Himself has revealed through the Bible and the Holy Spirit. Who cares what I think and feel? Nobody cares what I have to say. But we should all care what God has to say.
I will list off 10 verses from 1 John chapter one. I will describe what a saved person should be like. A person who is really saved is radically changed and it is noticeable. It goes beyond the emotions felt during an alter call on a Sunday morning. Its continuing to walk with God during the week and the rest of your life.
1:7 - You like to fellowship with other believers
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin."
1:8 - You are appalled by your sin and yourself (Total depravity)
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
2:3 - Motivated to be obedient to God's commands
"And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments."
2:15 - You love the Creator more than you love the creation
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
2:23 - If you believe in Jesus and believe that He is God
"Whosoever denies the Son, they do not have the Father: he that acknowledges the Son has the Father also."
3:2 - You long for the return of Jesus
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it do not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as he is."3:9 - You do not practice sin (habitual sin)
"Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for His seed remains in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."
3:14 - Love the brethren more than your unsaved family
"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death."
4:6 - You love good teaching
"We are of God: he that knows God hears us; he that is not of God hears not us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error."
4:15 - You dont fear sharing your faith
""Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God."
So how did you do? If at any point you felt that you missed the mark and dont know what to do, have no fear. There is hope! Repent and believe in the gospel. Repentance is a change of heart, that leads to a change of mind and action towards the ways of God. Believe that Jesus Christ is not only a man, but He was God in the flesh and that God in the flesh went on the cross in our place in order to save us. A sinless man took all of our sins, so that we can be the righteousness of God. Jesus died so that we can be reconciled to Himself. We made the mistakes, Jesus paid for them with His life, to save our lives.
Know that no body, NOT ONE, is righteous and we all need to be saved. Being saved is also being "born again". Its a spiritual occurance when a sinner repents of their sins and they believe in Jesus. Their old life and past sins die. Then the sinner birthed into a new life as a Saint and as a child of God. No longer of the sinful ancestry of Adam, but adopted into the royal bloodline of God through Jesus Christ.
So after the emotions have calmed down, you've left church and went home. The next day, life comes at you. What do you do? It is very important to read your bible daily and pray. Spiritually, we are feeding our inner man the word of God. If you dont feed it daily, it will be weak. When you are saved/born again, your relationship with God has been reestablished and He has become your Father. So, communicate with your Father. He speaks to us in many various ways. Mainly through his word, the Bible. You may experience as you are reading the bible, a particular verse stands out and speaks right into your situation or you will gain some sort of understanding. Its an amazing experience.
The true Christian lifestyle is a life of prayer, repentance, love, and Bible study. If we lack knowledge or see that we are not representing Jesus in a certain area in our life, all we must do is ask the Lord for wisdom and He will give it to us. I always encourage folks to ask the Lord for wisdom, knowledge, understanding and discernment. A real good place to start is by reading the book of Proverbs which is a book of wisdom within the Bible. If you have felt convicted in any way, do not despair. There is still hope to be saved. The fact that you felt convicted proves that you are saved. Repent + Believe = Forgiven.
What do I mean when I say "saved". Saved from what? To be saved means to be saved from the wrath of God. Those who reject Jesus as Lord and Savior, the wrath of God is upon them and one day they will have to pay for their own sins. Since they rejected God and wanted nothing to do with Him but continue to sin, they will be separated from God. So in other words, God is saving you from Himself, from you sins and from hell. This is good news! God made ONE way to be saved and it is through Jesus Christ. God will give those who rejected Jesus what they want, a life without God. And a life without God is hell. All the good in the world is because of Him. If that is taken away, what is left? Hell.
Jesus said that He is the way, the truth and the life. Without Him, no one can come to the God the Father. Narrow is the the path that leads to eternal life and few find it. But broad and wide is the path to destruction and many are on that path.
No comments:
Post a Comment