Born Again or Lost?

The person who is born again is ashamed of their sin and eventually confesses and forsakes it. A mature believer catches the sin in their thoughts before they ever become an action.

1John 1:9. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

The liar who is not born again defends their sin and has no shame over it.

Jeremiah 6:15 ""Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down," says the LORD."

The unsaved person who claims to be born again, will argue and fight that they are not sinning when confronted with their sin. They will justify what they do or claim they are not doing it. Often they will throw out Bible verses out of context, such as; "you don't know my heart."

What they don't understand, because they don't know the bible nor do they know the God of the Bible, is that we know their inner heart by the things that they love.

There is no shame or remorse, only bitterness and anger against anyone who will challenge them. The more the unsaved person defends their sin the harder their hearts become. The longer they do this, the less likely it is for God to reach them.

God said in the OT that He hardened Pharaoh's heart and in the same passage He said that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. God merely did to Pharaoh what He knew would cause him to harden his own heart. Exoduce 9

When someone accuses us of hardening another person's heart by speaking truth to them, we might like to show them the passages about Pharaoh.

We cannot harden another person's heart. They harden their own heart in response to truth, correction and rebuke. No one can make another person do anything, they merely do what is already in their heart in resistance to the principles of God.

The born again believer is ashamed of their sin, even before anyone challenges them. They are tormented in their spirit day and night until they confess the sin, forsaking it is a relief to them. It grows their resolve never to participate in that sin again.

When someone continually returns to the same sin over and over again they are not yet broken over it enough to want to run from it.

Psalm 51:17 "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise."