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Am I Truly God's |
All of true
religion consists in having a pure conscience both before man and God. Having
the "old man" or "old nature" put off. With what does
the "old man" or "old nature" consist? It is this, and
no more, the very spirit of selfishness, the great "me",
"mine", "my" and " I ". It is self-esteem,
self-seeking, and living wholly to self, and this is all that possibly can come
from "our flesh" or "old nature", in other words, the real you
without God! And mark me well, these things must be "put off",
so that the new man (Christ Jesus) can be put on.
Self-love,
self-esteem, self-seeking, and living wholly to self, all of this selfishness is
done away with in Christ, at the moment we are born of God. The new
creation is always manifested by humility and meekness and, a deep desire to do
the will of God.
A Very Important Point!
We are not
abiding in Christ if any of the above forms of selfishness are present and
ruling in us. For all of this disappears when we are literally and truly
born of God. Selfishness or sin, whichever term you choose to use, becomes the
rare exception in the believer's life, and righteousness becomes the practice!
The proof of our being born of God
is the reality of the Spirit of God living and Manifesting His fruit in
us!
2 Corinthians 13:5
"Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or
do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you unless
indeed you fail the test?" The proof of our being born of God is the
reality of the Spirit of God living and ruling in us, and by His
Spirit, we are brought into communion with the Living God. Luke 9:23 And He was saying
to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and
take up his cross daily, and follow Me. When we actually
become disciples of Jesus Christ, we are willing, and in fact do 
deny ourselves, we pick up our cross
daily, and of course we follow Him! Jesus said that unless we do this we cannot
be His disciples.
"At This
Point Is Anger Or Pride Welling Up In You"
While reading this, examine yourself, is
anger or pride welling up in you, is indignation rising to the
top? Then understand that as of this very moment you are still
resisting the Holy Spirit. Only your “flesh” gets angry, not God’s Spirit in
you, God does not lead you into uncontrolled anger!
If on the other hand you are pleased with
what you have just read, whether or not it is true in your life, you are
yielding to the Spirit of God. In other words, are you crying out to God?
. . .
"O my God make this true in my life"
Lord, Lord
Matthew
7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many
wonderful works?
Many people rest
in the works that they do like witnessing, preaching and giving
money for the work of God, and things like these, but the Buddhist monk does
all of this and is no more born of the Spirit of God than Satan is! Do
not be at ease with your works, if self-will, selfishness or pride in any of
its forms are still ruling in your life!
But also remember
. . . . Works don't save us, nor can they,
nothing but the regenerating power of the living God can do that, through
Christ! You must understand this, we are not saved by our works.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are you saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any
man should boast. This is a very important, and just as important, is
this truth, the Bible tells us that after we are saved from sin, our works will be different,
for example, Titus 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of
good works. And again, James 2:20 But will you know, O vain
man, that faith without works is dead? Many disregard this side
of the coin, please realize this, we are not saved by any works we do, but
after we are saved we become a new creation in Christ Jesus and this new
creation is zealous of good works. We do not do good works to save ourselves
or stay saved, but only because we love the Lord and want to please Him! You
see if we are truly born of the Spirit of God, Jesus is formed in us, and He
will still be doing the very thing the Father sent Him into the world to do, to
seek and to save that which is lost. If you do not have a burden for the lost,
it is because Jesus is not formed within you! If the meek and
lowly Lamb of God is born within us, we, like Christ " will want to be
about our Father's business." 2Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be
in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new.
To Sum Up!
We are not saved
on the basis of our works, because, all of our works before we are regenerated
are formed out of selfishness. Before we are born of God we have nothing but
"selfish self" to draw from, we do things for self-centered and
self-serving reasons. After we are regenerated, we become new creations in
Christ, we have the living God to draw from, to guide us, our motives now
originate in love. This transformation is evident by the things we do,
i.e., we love people, instead of simply using them, and we truly
live for God, instead of pretending to live for God! This is because after
being born again from above, we have the love of God to draw from; we truly
love God!
Here are a few more Scripture references
on this subject of faith and works, Ephesians 2:10 - 1Timothy 6:18
- 2Timothy 3:17 - Titus 1:16 - Titus 2:14 - James 2:17 - James 2:18 - James
2:26 - 1Peter 2:12
Never
forget, only the light of God, which alone gives humility and meek submission
to all of the will of God, can make us like Jesus Christ. And that is God's
goal for us!
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In 1 John chapter 2, we find
Biblical proofs of our being born of the Spirit of God |
1 John 2:29 If you
know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices
righteousness is born of Him. Do you practice sin or righteousness?
It is impossible to practice both at the same time! Which are you practicing?
By answering this question you will know if you are born of God, or simply
religious, and living like the Pharisees, not following the example of Jesus
Christ!
1 John 2:3-6 And
by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His
commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His
word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we
are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same
manner as He walked. John points out that if we do not obey
the Lord we don't know Him, If we say that we are in Christ, we should walk as
He walked!
1 John 3:7-10 Little
children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is
righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil;
for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this
purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of
God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin,
because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the
devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God,
nor the one who does not love his brother. This is Bible, I need not
explain it, it is simply true in your life, or it is not!
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Listen to the words of Jesus in Luke 6:46 " And why do you
call Me, `Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?" |
A born again child of God does maintain a pure
conscience. Acts 24:16 "In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always
a blameless conscience both before God and before men.
1Timothy 1:5 But the goal of our
instruction is love from a pure heart and a good
conscience and a sincere faith.
1Timothy 1:19 keeping faith and a good
conscience, which some have rejected and
suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.
1 Timothy 3:9 but holding to the
mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.
Yes, this is the fruit of being born
again, a good, blameless and clear conscience! If these things are true of you,
you are now walking in newness of life, and
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You are His! |
But If these
things are not true, in deed, in fact, in reality, in you do not despair; only
believe in God's many promises to bring this about! Remember the
Christian life is Christ born within us! We do not get smarter, or better, we die
to ourselves so that Jesus Christ can be formed in us! Here are a few
Scriptures that tell us this very thing.
Romans 6:4-6
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in
order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,
so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him
in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His
resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him,
that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no
longer be slaves to sin; Has your old self been crucified with
Him? Then you are no longer a slave to sin! The Son has
set you free!
And again,
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer
I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh,
I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for
me.
Philippians 1:21
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
If you want to
see clearly how we are set free from sin, and how we can walk in newness of
life,
Click here.
. . . How to
live the Christian life
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After you are His, you can make a
difference! |
Jesus said in, Matthew 5:14-16 "You
are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. "Nor do
men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lamp stand; and
it gives light to all who are in the house. "Let your light shine
before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your
Father who is in heaven.
Do you want to be
a light in this world? All you have to do is "LET" your light shine!
You ask, " what is this light that is to shine forth from us?" and
how do we get this light? It is the very life of Jesus Christ that is born in
the believer, Listen again to Jesus, John 14:12 "Truly, truly, I say to
you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and GREATER
WORKS than these shall he do; because I go to the Father. Do you
believe that He was telling us the truth? If you say, "Yes" then you
must look for the doing of the "greater works than these" because if
we are not doing the greater works of Jesus, it can only be that we don't
believe in Him. Yes this is a part of the light we are supposed to let shine.
Don't be beat down by all of the unbelief
that professing Christians demonstrate daily!
Believe the word of God! IT
WILL NOT FAIL!
The only reason Christians are not doing
the greater works is because they don't really believe the words of
Jesus! GET UP NOW, GO INTO YOUR CLOSET, GET BEFORE GOD AND REPENT OF
UNBELIEF, START LIVING THE LIFE JESUS CHRIST INTENDED FOR YOU TO
LIVE! After all, He paid the price!
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DO IT NOW! |
Jesus also said in
John 15:4-5 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear
fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you
abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in
him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing."
Are you bearing much fruit? The answer to this
question tells us if we are abiding in Jesus! We must abide in Christ to bear
fruit, this too is the "light" that is to shine forth from us.
Jesus tells us in, John 4:14 "But
whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the
water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water
springing up to eternal life." Do you have this water? It is
free for the asking! And it too is the light that shines forth from us.
Romans 8:13-14 tells us one of the
important secrets of living the sanctified life - "for if you are
living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are
putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being
led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." God gives us His
Spirit because we cannot deal with our old nature any other way, "by
the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the body" Not by trying, not
by our might, but by His Spirit! Fail at this and you will fail at
everything!
How much clearer could we be told what
this light is than by these words of Jesus, in John 8:12 Again therefore Jesus
spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me
shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life."
The word humility
plays a very important part in the Christian life
Colossians 3:12 And so, as those who have been chosen of God,
holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and
patience;
1 Peter 5:5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your
elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one
another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
Matthew
11:29 "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and
you shall find rest for your souls."
Ephesians 4:1-2 I, therefore, the prisoner of the
Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have
been called, with all humility and gentleness,
with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love,
Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,
but with humility of mind let each of you regard one
another as more important than himself;
Yes, humility is
an expression of the "light", if humility is absent in your
life; this only means that the humble Jesus is absent in your life! Remember,
without humility we have no light!
Can you see that
this light we are suppose to let shine is Jesus Christ!
Is your light shining? Are you "letting"
it shine?
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An Important
Notice |
If you are in a
Church, that does not uphold these Scriptures, or a Church that will teach
against them, or try to explain them away, A Church that does not exhort you to
STOP SINNING, and does not exhort you to live a life that is pleasing to God,
GET OUT OF IT!
You are in a man
made organization that can be called nothing but a sinning religion; it will
lead you to HELL! Remember it was our sin that caused Jesus to suffer and
be killed on the cross! And remember this important fact, Jesus came to
save us from being sinners!!!! The
Bible tells us this in Matthew 1:21
Here is Matthew
1:21 in ten different translations.
NASV "And she will bear a Son; and you
shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins."
KJV “ And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their
sins.
NKJV "And she will bring forth a Son, and
you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.''
ASV “And she shall bring forth a son;
and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for it is he that shall save his people
from their sins.”
LVBV “And she will have a Son, and you
shall name him Jesus (meaning `Savior'), for he will save his people from their
sins.”
NIV “She will give birth to a son, and
you are to give him the name Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins."”
RSV She will bear a son, and you shall call
his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
SIMV She will give birth to a son. You will
name him Jesus, because he will save
his people from their sins.
NJBV She will give birth to a son. You will
name him Jesus, because he will save
his people from their sins.
NRSV She will bear a son, and you are to name
him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
Yes, Jesus came to save us from our SIN! Are you really saved? All ten of the above translations say
so!
Take the time and effort to Find a Church
that believes and teaches the Bible!
I know that it is difficult to find a Church that is not following
the world, but it can be done. It is important to your soul, and the souls of
your family and loved ones!
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Realize This . . . .
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God hates SIN! That is why He converts sinners into Saints!
Romans 6:23 For the wages
of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord.
Often times I have been in Churches where
the congregation refers to each other as "sinners", after observing
this for a while, I looked into the word of God to find out if this label was
correct. It is not! In the Bible you will not find Christians being referred
to as sinners, but as Saints.
A sinner is someone who is in rebellion
to God, a person who practices sin! A Christian is someone that has been
converted from a life of rebellion to God, to a life pleasing to God.
Sin
is the rare (very rare) exception in the believer’s life, not the rule!
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What did Christians call each other? |
Acts 9:13
But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how
much harm he did to Thy saints at Jerusalem;
Acts 9:32 Now it came about
that as Peter was traveling through all those parts, he came down also to the saints
who lived at Lydda.
Acts 9:41. And he
gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he
presented her alive.
Romans 1:7 to all
who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you
and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans
16:15 Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and
all the saints who are with them.
1 Corinthians
1:2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified
in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call
upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is
not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
Just a few more references, if you care to
look them up, again not a complete list, Romans 8:27 - Romans
12:13 Acts 26:10 - Romans 15:25 - Romans 15:26
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Is the term
sinner a "Christian" term? |
When
the Bible speaks of someone being a sinner, it is not speaking of a person in
favor with God, but someone who needs to be saved from a fiery Hell! It
is amusing to me that some read 1 Timothy 1:15 and come away believing that the
Apostle Paul was stating that he is still a sinner, I believe the text itself
shows this to be wrong, this is what he said "Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all." Who among
us does not see his sin as horrible? Do you think that Paul was saying
that he was not yet saved? Remember Jesus came to save us from sin, if
you are still in bondage to sin; you still need to be saved! Matthew
1:21 "And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus,
for it is He who will save His people from their sins."
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Please take
notice of this very important fact, |
When the Bible
speaks of Christians and a practice of sin, it is always in the
"past-tense." Watch how often the Bible uses past-tense when referring
to a believer and sin! Romans 6:17-18 But God be thanked, that you were the servants of
sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was
delivered you. Being then made free from sin, you became the
servants of righteousness.
1 Corinthians 6:9
- 11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves,
nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the
kingdom of God. And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were
sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in
the Spirit of our God.
Ephesians
2:1-10 And you were dead in your trespasses and
sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now
working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in
the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and
were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in
mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead
in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have
been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly
places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing
riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you
have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of
God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Colossians
1:21-23 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind,
engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through
death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond
reproach if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast,
and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was
proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a
minister.
Colossians 3:5-11 Therefore consider the members of your earthly
body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which
amounts to idolatry. For it is on account of these things that the wrath of God
will come, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But
now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive
speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old
self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed
to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him a renewal
in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and
uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and
in all.
Titus 3:3-5 For we also once were foolish ourselves,
disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our
life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of
God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis
of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by
the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
If you are thinking that this is the complete Bible list of
examples of sin and believers, spoken of in the past-tense you are greatly
mistaken! Each and every time the Bible speaks of a
believer and sin as a practice, it speaks in the past-tense!
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Matthew 548 |
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"Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is
perfect." |
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Five Important Rules
1. Have you stopped
wanting, and lusting for “Things?”
2. Are you patience at all times?
3. Are you meek at all times?
4. Are you humble at all times?
5. Are you wholly resigned to all of the Will
of God at all times?
And one to grow on
6. Allow only truth to come out of your
mouth?
In other words, are you born of the Spirit of God, which is the meek and lowly Lamb of God?
The fruit of
God’s Spirit will be manifest in your life, if you are truly born of His
Spirit!
This is the
reason these questions are important!
Question 1. When we have
truly been born of God’s Spirit, we will of discovered that the Lord is our
all. The search is over, we have found the pearl of great price, and have sold
all that we have in order to purchase it. Having the pearl of great price, we
shall never want anything, except being closer to the Living God! Yes, the
silver bullet has pierced through the lust of the flesh.
Question 2. The fruit of
God’s Spirit is love, and we are told in 1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patience, love is always patience, no matter what happens
around us. When we are truly born of His Spirit and abiding in Him, we are
always patience, when we abide in Him. Remember, we are to always abide in Him!
Question 3. Meekness
is another proof that we are abiding in Him, the human spirit always wants its
way, but Jesus demonstrated that we can and must always live without strife,
and anger.
Question 4. Humility is
the very attribute of the Lamb of God. Make no pretence of being born of the
Spirit pf the Lamb of God, when this humility is covered over by pride. Realize
that when we are born of the Spirit of God, and raised to newness of life, we
will be in the likeness of the Son of God, the meek, and humble Lamb of God.
Question 5. Being wholly resigned to all of the
Will of God is a wonderful proof that that we have truly repented. Jesus asked
this question, Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I ask? Jesus
is our savior; we must obey Him if we want to be saved.
Question 6. We are told that the Devil is the father of all liars, if we persist in lying; we are showing that we are not sons of God, but instead, a son of the Devil. All of Gods sons are born of the Spirit of Truth, which is the Spirit of God.
Now if you don't agree with always being as the scripture teaches us to be, if you think it alright to not be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect, you are doing this, you are making provision for your flesh! The Bible tells us NOT to make provision for our flesh.