Before God Corrects You, He’ll Send You These Warning Signs

True Believers and Sorrow Over Sin

True believers are sorrowful when they sin even in the slightest way whether by attitude or actions. They hate their sin and want to be cleansed of it.

Those who say they are Christians but justify their sin have not been born-again.

Hebrews 12:5-8

5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,

Nor faint when you are punished by Him;

6 For whom the Lord loves He disciplines,

And He punishes every son whom He accepts.”

7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

A true believer is miserable in their sin and eventually will confess it to be cleansed and turn from it.

1 John 3:8-10

"… 8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.

9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.

10 By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.…"

Because God loves His children He will correct us.

God said it not me! Denying Christ in the Walk

1 John 2:20-24

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

22 Who is the liar except the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.

23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

24 As for you, see that what you heard from the beginning remains in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father."

There are many ways to deny Christ by proclaiming to be a Christian but hate the principles of Christ. When someone says they go to church or they are a Christian but fight against the Word of God they are denying Christ. Christ is the Word, He is the essence of His own Word.

John 1:14-15 "14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John *testified about Him and called out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who is coming after me has proved to be my superior because He existed before me.’”"

It is our dedication to His Word and the fruit of the Spirit that defines us, our walk defines us, not our words.

Lies of the Apostate Church

Many lies have entered the last days apostate church, the following is one:

Divorce and remarriage are acceptable for adultery, they call it the exception clause. The passage in Matthew used to justify divorce and remarriage is not a passage about marriage but about the agreement during the engagement. It was written to the Jews who had the custom of divorcing from a "betrothal" or as we say engagement.

Luke 16:18

“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery."

Luke 16:18. “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.”

Physical abuse is a crime against the state, if there is this going on then the abused spouse is free to call the authorities and have the abuser removed. This is not permission to remarry.

1 Corinthians 7:10-17

"10 But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife is not to leave her husband 11 (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband is not to [a]divorce his wife."

Those who say if a man is unsaved the woman should let him go she is no longer "bound" to allow for divorce are patently wrong.

The word "bound" has nothing to do with marriage, it has to do with no longer being under his authority. If a spouse leaves then we are no longer required to consider them in our daily decisions. We are to remain peaceful with them while being detached from them.

Those who have interpreted the word "bound" as marriage have looked for an excuse to dissolve the marriage and find someone else.

The problem with this thinking of dissolution of the marriage is sealed by God, not by man. When two people make their vows to one another God then does His work and glues them together with a spiritual glue that no man or government can undo. Only death severs the marriage bond.

Isaiah 43:13

"13 Even [a]from eternity I am He,

And there is no one who can rescue from My hand;

I act, and who can reverse it?”

Marriage is a picture of the salvation of the believer. When God changes us into a new creation when we confess our sinfulness and desire to be changed by Him, it is a Spiritual bond between our Lord and us that no one can undo.

Isaiah 43:12-13 "…12 I alone decreed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you. So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God. 13Even from eternity I am He, and none can deliver out of My hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”"

Ephesians 2:8-10 "…8 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,

9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.…"

When we choose to follow Christ He does all the work in us until we leave this world. We are a work in process as He instructs us, disciplines us and then carries us Home in His timing.

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."

Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you.

6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.”

7 Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?…"

When we become born again we remain trapped in this body full of sin but under the control of the Holy Spirit. Our spirit is replaced by the Spirit of God but we remain in this fleshly body with all its feelings and distortions. God takes our life as believers and cledanses us from the wrong thinking and the fleshly desires. As we grow in holiness the sin diminishes dramatically as we submit to Him.

God told us to confess our sins to be cleansed. If we do not confess He will not cleanse us but will take us through trials to show us our need to confess them. We grow in direct proportions to how often we confess our sins as they arise. Many people remain spiritual and emotional infants because they will not lay down their pride and confess. The following passage was given to the church.

1 John 1:8-10

"8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us."

Our flesh battles against the Spirit of God Who lives in us, we must do the battle through confession to God and others in order to grow in holiness.

Galatians 5:16-18 "16So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.…"

If we walk in the Spirit, pray continually and study God's Word we will sin less. We are not sinless but we do not live a lifestyle of sin as those who are not born-again.

1 John 3:8-10 "…8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.

9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.

10 By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother."

When we see people in the church fighting against the truth of the Bible while living a lifestyle of resistance to the truth we have witnessed a pretender. Someone who wants the safety of Christ but does not want Him.

How do we discern who is born of God and who is not?

God gave us the principles of a changed heart that reveal who belongs to Him and who does not.

Galatians 5:22-23

"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

Those who love Christ do not need rules and laws, these are used to control those who are wicked. Believers want to do what is right and are led by the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the Law, He lives in us and we love Him and His Law.

We do not have to tell a believer not to steal, they just don't want to, nor do we have to tell a believer not to murder, because they hate murder as God hates it. Those who walk with God having been changed by Christ love righteousness and are recoiled at the deceitfulness of the world and the devil's lies.

May every believer stop following man and begin seeking the Holy Spirit, anyone who does this will be amazed at what God shows them.

Hallelujah!