The Evidence of an Authentic Christian

Someone who lives a life of sin even defending it when confronted has never been born again. Those who have been changed by Christ hate sin, agonize over it until they confess to be cleansed. When someone is born again they no longer think the same way they did before the transformation. The transformation is done by Christ not by our own flesh.

Romans 12:2 "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God."

1 Corinthians 6:10-11 "…10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. "

The most frightening verse in the Bible for pretenders.

Matthew 7:21-23 "Matthew 7:21-23

I Never Knew You

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.’"

I know many people who are deeply proud of themselves for who they think they have become in their own power. They say they are Christians but walk in pride and stubbornness. Even justifying and making excuses for their own sinful behavior as long as it isn't the big bad stuff that others do.

They defend their snarkiness, self-righteousness and selfishness as though they deserve to have what they want the way they want it without a thought to the needs or concerns of others.

If you sense that things are growing darker and meaner than you have ever seen it, you are experiencing the end times in which there is a form of religion but there is little godliness.

Religion is what unsaved people choose to make themselves feel special and safe. A relationship with Christ comes about because we see ourselves in truth, that is beggarly without the ability to be anything but selfish. It is when we get to this point, the end of self-righteousness that we can come to Christ to be changed by Him.

God will not change someone who believes they are changing themselves. He will only change those who admit they have no ability to be good unless He is the One doing the good in us.

Philippians 3:8-10 "…8 More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death,"

Those who know their weak condition can come to Christ with great joy that they can leave the work of changing us to Him. All we have to do is want to be changed by Him.

2 Corinthians 5:17

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

Ephesians 4:22-24

"To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."

1 John 1:9

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

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."

John 14:21

"Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him."

God made it clear that we will live a lifestyle of obeying His commands if we are born again. This is not a command it is a promise.

However, we are trapped in this body of death. Our Spirit is Christ now, He has promised that we will live forever if we have trusted in Christ. It is the body that remains sinful and must be resisted and battled daily.

Galatians 5:16–18

"16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from."

When believers fall into sin even momentarily in their thoughts they hate it, they desire not to be sinful. This is why God said this:

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?…"

Christ gives us a helper, the Holy Spirit Who speaks to us when we have fallen.

1 John 1:9

"9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

If we do not confess when we sin we do not grow in holiness. God will not change the heart of someone who refuses to admit they need changing. This is why so many believers remain infants in their walk, they ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit and they do not seek the wisdom of God in His Word.

The good news is that all we have to do to be cleansed is to confess our sins to Him and ask Him to change us. The more we do this the less often we will fall into sin, the more we will catch the sin in the heart before it becomes an action.

Many Christians count themselves as being good because they are working hard to keep from sinning, following all the rules that make them feel spiritual but on the inside they are walking dead men because they think they are earning their way to heaven.

Matthew 23:27-28

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."

It is not our own righteousness or good deeds that get us to heaven, it is a relationship with Christ based on Him, it's all Him. He responds to our desire to be changed by placing the Holy Spirit in us to be our guide for the rest of our life. We do not do the work but we want Him to work in us.

Hallelujah!

The Daily Heart Beat: Love Worth Finding

From the "Daily Heart Beat" Love Worth Finding

BIBLE MEDITATION

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

(John 3:3-5)

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

If you know someone who is not a Christian, don’t try to argue. Nobody was ever argued into the kingdom of Heaven. Anything someone can argue you into, you can be argued out of. The problem is, that person cannot see. Would you scold a blind man for not seeing? But a blind man would be foolish to say there’s no light just because he cannot see it.

There is light, but man needs more than light. He needs sight. “...unless one is born again, he cannot see….” He may have 20/20 sight, but spiritually he’s blind. “Having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:18). The eyes may be fine, but the heart is blind.

Maybe you’ve shared the Gospel with people—even members of your own family—but they haven’t a clue as to what it’s all about. They never will, until the Holy Spirit opens their understanding.

ACTION POINT

It takes more than preaching for someone to be saved; it takes the work of the Holy Spirit. Pray, “God, open the eyes of those who have been blinded, that the light of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the image of God, might shine on them.” (See 2 Corinthians 4:4.) Before I ever preach, I get on my knees and pray, “God, for those who need Jesus Christ, give them sight.”

The Difference Between Believer and Pretender

If someone wants to continue in sin, even defending it they have never been born again. The first thing that happens when Christ changes us into a new creation is our developing hatred of sin. The very things we used to like we hate, the things that we disliked of God we love.

There is a difference between a flawed growing Christian who is changing over the years and one who fights to defend their sin because they love it.

One, the one who is flawed but hates sin will go to heaven because they are born again.

The one who fights to defend sin in spite of being shown it is sin, does not have a hatred for sin and has never been 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."

For the believer, we pray for the strength to keep on growing in holiness as they seek Christ.

For the pretender who still loves their sin, we pray for salvation, that God would convict them of their sin and soften their stone heart.

Missing Those Things We Take for Granted

We always miss the things we take for granted when they are removed!

Truth Makes Some People Mad

Throwing a Veil over Sin

No One is Better than Someone Else!!

When we love someone we don't try to shape them into being like us. We appreciate them for who they are, even feeling blessed that they bring other ideas to the relationship that didn't come to our mind.

Every human being has strengths we don't know about unless we care enough to get to know them. No one's calling is lesser than another one's calling. All the callings come from Jesus Christ, He is the special one.

Personalities are very diverse, they can enhance our life experience when we stop judging what is not sin.

It's alright to judge according to God's Word concerning sin and upholding righteousness, but there is no place for judging someone over their hair, clothing or work styles. There is no place for judging someone's taste in home decorating or talents.

Those who judge these things are arrogant and lacking in good sense.

1 Corinthians 12:15-26

"15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any less a part of the body.

16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any less a part of the body.

17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?

18 But now God has arranged the parts, each one of them in the body, just as He desired.

19 If they were all one part, where would the body be?

20 But now there are many parts, but one body.

21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again, the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;

23 and those parts of the body which we consider less honorable, on these we bestow the greater honor, and our less presentable parts become much more presentable,

24 whereas our more presentable parts have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that part which lacked,

25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same care for one another.

26 And if one part of the body suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if a part is [g]honored, all the parts rejoice with it."

See that, no part of the body is better than any other part. Every part of the body is equal no matter what their calling because they are all being directed by Jesus Christ in them. It is Jesus Christ Who is above and special, not the human being He possesses.

Hallalujah!

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