Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Pretender or Authentically Changed?

When we become born again at the hand of Jesus Christ He changes us into a new creation. We choose that He does this but the work is all His.
Ephesians 2:10
"10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
When we have desired to be cleansed and want the Holy Spirit to dwell in us then He begins the process of making us into something brand new and completely different. We no longer think the way we used to, our thoughts become His thoughts. We do not desire sin anymore but desire to be like Him.
This is confusing to some because there are so many people who claim to be Christian but have no desire to be changed by Christ. They prefer their sin but want to believe they are saved. These people are not born again, they only want to appear so. Matthew 7:21-23""
Matthew 7:21-23 "21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
God will not change anyone who does not want to be changed and He will not dwell in anyone who does not love Him. Those who want to remain sinful without remorse for their sin do not have the Holy Spirit and are not born again.
We are trapped in this sinful body, but we don't have to live according to that body of death. We can walk according to the Holy Spirit Whom God put in us for that purpose, to be holy as He is holy. Anyone who says they are a Christian but loves their sin, does not love the brethren, and fights to defend sin, is not born again.
We live in a world of pretenders now more than ever. These pretenders have a form of religion but deny God in that religion. They do not have a relationship with Christ they only think they are going to escape hell but are moving toward it if they will not repent, confess their sin and be changed by Christ.
Those who cannot confess sin to others and to Christ cannot have a humble spirit that will be changed by Christ. When Christ changes us we become tender and sensitive toward Him while hating any sin in us.
Romans 12:9
"Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good."
Proverbs 8:13
"The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate."
When you encounter someone who fights and argues to defend their sin, even acting in disrespectful ways because you use the Scripture to show them the sin they love, are those who have not confessed to be cleansed.
Some of these people use scriptures and speak eloquently at times, but they have only learned how to sound like a Christian without having been humbled to admit their own sinfulness.
The church gatherings are full of these people as we march toward the last days of apostasy. They still love their sin, they use the scriptures out of context to justify themselves but they remain inwardly ravenous wolves.
Matthew 23:26-28 "…26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well. 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside, you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."
If you are one of these pretenders you must repent becoming authentically born again through the changing power of the Holy Spirit. Your acts of righteousness or fine words are not proof you have confessed your sinfulness or that you have the heart of Christ. Many people can pretend, play-act and sound good without ever being born again.
Matthew 3:2,10-12
"And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand…"

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