One of the misconceptions by those who think they can lose their salvation, is that they are doing something to keep it. We can do nothing to become born again, except believe in Christ. Then He begins His work in us.
John 6:29 " Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."
Thursday, March 19, 2015
God Does Not Give Us What We Deserve
If You are a born again believer, we can be grateful for this:
Psalm 103:8-12
"The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us."
Here is a great verse for those who think you can lose your salvation as a believer. God does not deal with us according to what we deserve, if He did that, then no one would ever get into heaven.
Psalm 103:8-12
"The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us."
Here is a great verse for those who think you can lose your salvation as a believer. God does not deal with us according to what we deserve, if He did that, then no one would ever get into heaven.
We Don't Get What We Deserve
Psalm 103:8-12
"The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us."
Here is a great verse for those who think you can lose your salvation as a believer. God does not deal with us according to what we deserve, if He did that, then no one would ever get into heaven.
"The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us."
Here is a great verse for those who think you can lose your salvation as a believer. God does not deal with us according to what we deserve, if He did that, then no one would ever get into heaven.
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."
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."
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Go With God!
What the world calls love, is not love at all, but hatred. The devil has managed to convince many people that it is love to allow others to self destruct without challenge or intervention. Sadly this is the case for the apostate church, who now have both feet in the world. While they hold a Bible in one hand and all their useless activities in the other, they are feeling mighty secure and special.
When we have done and said all we can do to help someone we love, see that what they are doing is ruining their lives and taking them down a course toward an eternal hell, and they still will not listen, there is only one thing to do, that is to walk away, continue to pray and let God take them through without us.
If we have trusted Christ for our own salvation, we can also trust Him for the salvation of others. He knows their heart, He knows what must be done to drive them to their knees toward sorrow over their sinfulness. To remain in their lives comforting them through their rebellion, only solidifies their high view of their own importance.
Until I came to the end of myself when I was much younger, I had no inclination to change anything. Many people are self righteous, they see no need for change in their bitter angry hearts, because they are getting what they want. They look good on the outside and they are not committing crimes, or strung out on drugs, so they count themselves too good to need Christ, and often above others who have come out of these things.
When God removes what they want, leaving them realizing that they are not in control of their own destiny, then and only then, can they see their need for Christ.
We learn very little when things are easy, we say "no pain no gain", when it comes to exercise for the body, but don't want to equate it to spiritual growth. The only way to grow our spiritual muscle is to lean into the plan of God rather than escape it. Sometimes this means rejection by those who don't see the need for discipline or isolation from those who will not repent.
In these days of apostasy we are likely to be demeaned and rejected for doing what is best for others, God's way. We must ignore the cultural pressures and go with God, He knows best.
When we have done and said all we can do to help someone we love, see that what they are doing is ruining their lives and taking them down a course toward an eternal hell, and they still will not listen, there is only one thing to do, that is to walk away, continue to pray and let God take them through without us.
If we have trusted Christ for our own salvation, we can also trust Him for the salvation of others. He knows their heart, He knows what must be done to drive them to their knees toward sorrow over their sinfulness. To remain in their lives comforting them through their rebellion, only solidifies their high view of their own importance.
Until I came to the end of myself when I was much younger, I had no inclination to change anything. Many people are self righteous, they see no need for change in their bitter angry hearts, because they are getting what they want. They look good on the outside and they are not committing crimes, or strung out on drugs, so they count themselves too good to need Christ, and often above others who have come out of these things.
When God removes what they want, leaving them realizing that they are not in control of their own destiny, then and only then, can they see their need for Christ.
We learn very little when things are easy, we say "no pain no gain", when it comes to exercise for the body, but don't want to equate it to spiritual growth. The only way to grow our spiritual muscle is to lean into the plan of God rather than escape it. Sometimes this means rejection by those who don't see the need for discipline or isolation from those who will not repent.
In these days of apostasy we are likely to be demeaned and rejected for doing what is best for others, God's way. We must ignore the cultural pressures and go with God, He knows best.
Agony Over Sin
One way to know if you are born again and on your way to glory?
When you have a sinful thought, attitude or action, you are grieved over your own heart of sinfulness, the Holy Spirit nags at you relentlessly day and night until you confess the sin to God and go back to make right what you did wrong.
There is a strong sense of having to confess to those you harmed, that they might be relieved of the hurt they felt over it.
Those who do mean things and are not sorry, even justify their sin, perhaps even feeling a sense of glee that they got away with it, are not born again. No child of God can continue in sin without mental and emotional trauma until all is made right.
1 John 3:9 "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit (continue in) sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.:"
When you have a sinful thought, attitude or action, you are grieved over your own heart of sinfulness, the Holy Spirit nags at you relentlessly day and night until you confess the sin to God and go back to make right what you did wrong.
There is a strong sense of having to confess to those you harmed, that they might be relieved of the hurt they felt over it.
Those who do mean things and are not sorry, even justify their sin, perhaps even feeling a sense of glee that they got away with it, are not born again. No child of God can continue in sin without mental and emotional trauma until all is made right.
1 John 3:9 "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit (continue in) sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.:"
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Pray in Honesty
When someone deeply loves Christ, He will have all the fruit of the Spirit, the evidence will be clear.
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."
When someone only claims to be a Christian but has not been born again, we will see a conspicuous lack of these character qualities. There will be manipulation, using others, lack of joy, impatience, lack of self control, faithlessness to the Word, lacking integrity in the use of the Scriptures, restlessness and merely superficial love. Lack of empathy and concern for others is missing. These people are not free in their spirit, they are guarded to the point of lacking a personality, working so hard to hide the real them that they quench any personality creativity.
One can have much knowledge about the Bible, attend a Bible college, pass out tracks occasionally, all the while absent is the Holy Spirit and missing is the fruit.
The joy of the Lord is evident in those who love Christ, each one who possesses Him, will bear witness with every other Holy Spirit empowered believer. These people are free to be honest, express themselves openly, even their own flaws. Truth is more important to them than appearances.
Romans 8:16 "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:"
Matthew 7:16-18 "16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit."
If you do not seem to click with someone who claims to be a Christian, then they may not be born again. I have met godly believers, there was no question of their salvation, it was obvious to another believer. There was an immediate spiritual connection.
Then there are the times when you meet someone who claims to be a Christian, but there is a sense of foreboding, you can't put your finger on it, you don't make the judgement that they are not saved, but something is clearly wrong. Your spirit does not connect with theirs and they are very uncomfortable in your presence. We do not immediately judge that person as unsaved, but over time, you begin to see the lack of commitment to Christ, even embarrassment at the mention of Him or His Word, we may be in the presence of an pretender.
New believers have fervor for the Lord, they can't get enough of the Word of God and enjoy speaking about Him more than anything else. When someone has been a Christian for a long period of time and has regressed in their excitement about Christ, we may be looking at a non-believer, as soon as we see this, we need to start praying for their salvation.
Christ will guide us in our discernings, He will tell us what to pray and the things to say when we encounter those who claim salvation but lack the fruit, God did say we would recognize them. We need to be honest about what we see, if we deny things that we see to avoid wrong judgments we will not pray what is needed.
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."
When someone only claims to be a Christian but has not been born again, we will see a conspicuous lack of these character qualities. There will be manipulation, using others, lack of joy, impatience, lack of self control, faithlessness to the Word, lacking integrity in the use of the Scriptures, restlessness and merely superficial love. Lack of empathy and concern for others is missing. These people are not free in their spirit, they are guarded to the point of lacking a personality, working so hard to hide the real them that they quench any personality creativity.
One can have much knowledge about the Bible, attend a Bible college, pass out tracks occasionally, all the while absent is the Holy Spirit and missing is the fruit.
The joy of the Lord is evident in those who love Christ, each one who possesses Him, will bear witness with every other Holy Spirit empowered believer. These people are free to be honest, express themselves openly, even their own flaws. Truth is more important to them than appearances.
Romans 8:16 "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:"
Matthew 7:16-18 "16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit."
If you do not seem to click with someone who claims to be a Christian, then they may not be born again. I have met godly believers, there was no question of their salvation, it was obvious to another believer. There was an immediate spiritual connection.
Then there are the times when you meet someone who claims to be a Christian, but there is a sense of foreboding, you can't put your finger on it, you don't make the judgement that they are not saved, but something is clearly wrong. Your spirit does not connect with theirs and they are very uncomfortable in your presence. We do not immediately judge that person as unsaved, but over time, you begin to see the lack of commitment to Christ, even embarrassment at the mention of Him or His Word, we may be in the presence of an pretender.
New believers have fervor for the Lord, they can't get enough of the Word of God and enjoy speaking about Him more than anything else. When someone has been a Christian for a long period of time and has regressed in their excitement about Christ, we may be looking at a non-believer, as soon as we see this, we need to start praying for their salvation.
Christ will guide us in our discernings, He will tell us what to pray and the things to say when we encounter those who claim salvation but lack the fruit, God did say we would recognize them. We need to be honest about what we see, if we deny things that we see to avoid wrong judgments we will not pray what is needed.
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