DOES SALVATION MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
THE UNCHANGED PROFESSOR
Sir, we would like to inquire about your relationship with the Lord. Are you saved and on your way to heaven?
“Saved? Sure, I’m saved.”
On what are you basing your hope of salvation?
“Some time back someone talked with me about Jesus, and I prayed the sinner’s prayer and the fellow showed me some verses and told me I was on my way to Heaven.”
Great! We’re happy to hear that. Do you walk with the Lord now?
“Well, not really. I guess I don’t live like I should. But that is between me and God. I’m doing the best I can and as good as a lot of people I know. You don’t know how hard it is for me to live for God.”
Do you go to church and fellowship regularly with God’s people?
“Well, no, but I do watch religious programs on TV. sometimes. A person doesn’t have to go to church to be right with God, anyway.”
Surely, though, you must read your Bible now that you are saved.
“I don’t read the Bible too much. I have a hard time understanding the Bible. My eyes aren’t too good, either, and the Bible doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”
Sir, we don’t want to be rude, but are you sure you are saved and on your way to Heaven?
“Listen, my relationship with God is my business. The Bible says something about not judging, doesn’t it? I believe in Jesus and the Bible as much as you do and that man that dealt with me said I am saved and on my way to heaven, and I’d just as soon not talk about it anymore.”
“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. ... But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire” (2 Peter 2:20-22).
“He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4).
“They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16).
__________________________________
With great numbers of people claiming to be saved who have not experienced spiritual change, it has become difficult for men to know what salvation really is. Does salvation in Christ Jesus mean anything? Does it make a difference?
There are a great many people in America and other parts of the world who claim to trust in Christ, but show no love for God, for His book, His people, or His ways.
Oftentimes these have the idea that their mental assent toward the fact that Christ died for their sins is their ticket to Heaven. They agree that Heaven would be a good place to go when they die, and they say they believe that Jesus died for their sins so they can go there someday. Beyond this, they have little or no present interest in spiritual matters.
The empty professor seems bored or upset when the evangelist tries to talk with him about the Bible. He might not even turn his attention away from the television program he was watching before the Christian knocked on his door. The professor's attitude, though possibly friendly, broadcasts the fact that he will be relieved when the soul winner leaves.
The children and family, fellow workers, and neighbors of this kind of “believer” get the idea that salvation must not mean anything. It appears that salvation is just some sort of prayer that guarantees one a ticket to Heaven but has little or nothing to do with daily life right now. What a wrong impression this is!
Where is repentance in all this? Where is the fleeing of the wrath to come to find refuge in Christ (Heb. 6:18)? Where is turning to God from idols (1 Thess. 1:9)? Where is becoming a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17)?
No wonder folk are laughing at Christianity in places where empty professions prevail. Oftentimes, that which is posing as salvation in Christ is, indeed, a laugh.
I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT ADDING WORKS TO GRACE
Let me emphasize that I am NOT talking about adding works to grace for salvation. The gospel is that Jesus Christ died for my sins and was buried and rose from the dead according to the Scriptures, and I am saved by trusting in His finished work. Salvation is a gift of God’s grace. The gospel message is “repent and believe” My Christian growth does not save me, and it does not help save me. It is the product of my salvation.
I do not want someone to think I am adding anything to the Bible message of Grace. I am not. What I am saying is that the Bible emphasizes repentance for salvation and a change that flows from salvation. And we must not fail to emphasize that which God emphasizes.
The following five Bible truths should cause us to be burdened for folk who profess to be saved but whose lives do not show an evidence of salvation.
SALVATION DEMANDS REPENTANCE
“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” Acts 17:30
The evangelists in the New Testament did not seek mere professions; they looked for repentance, convinced faith, lives changed for the glory of God. Their goal was to make disciples of all nations in obedience to their Lord’s Commission, to proclaim without compromise or apology the message of repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21).
John the Baptist demanded repentance from those who wanted to be baptized:
“Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance ... And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire” (Luke 3:7-9).
The Lord Jesus Christ demanded repentance from all that would be saved:
“I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall likewise perish” (Luke 13:3).
“I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).
Paul and the other apostles preached and demanded repentance from both Jews and Gentiles alike:
“When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18).
“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30).
“Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).
“But showed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance” (Acts 26:20).
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9).
Repentance means a change of mind the results in a change of life. It is illustrated by the Corinthian believers who changed their minds about the proud and wicked indifference they had in regard to the gross sin in their midst. A church member had been living in fornication with his stepmother. Instead of mourning this wickedness and the tainting of the testimony of the church. the Corinthians were “puffed up” (1 Cor. 5). The apostle Paul, upon learning of the situation, rebuked them and demanded they put the sinning person away from the fellowship. In response to the apostle’s letter, the believers at Corinth humbled themselves and corrected the problem. In Paul’s second epistle to these brethren, he made the evaluation that they had “repented.”
carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what" For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter” (2 Cor. 7:8-11).
There are several lessons about repentance from this example. One, repentance means a radical change of mind. The Corinthians had completely changed their minds about the sin in their assembly. Two, repentance is observable. The apostle saw the repentance in their changed action and attitude. Three, repentance is a product of the Word of God. The apostle’s letter was God’s Word and it was this Word that caused the Corinthians to repent. If we want to help men and women come to repentance, we must use the Word of God; nothing else is powerful enough to change a sinner’s mind.
The Bible teaches that no one can be saved without repentance--a changed mind about God, life, sin, Jesus Christ, etc. And this changed mind will always result in a changed action as the repentant sinner turns to God for salvation, and God gives him new life in Christ.
The evangelist’s goal, according to Christ’s Great Commission, is to make disciples of all nations. “Repentance and remission of sins” is to be preached in the name of Jesus Christ (Lk. 24:46-47). The soul winner’s goal is to preach the gospel in such a way that men see their sin and need of salvation and are brought to repentance and faith. It is to the repentant believing sinner that God gives salvation.
The sinner does not have to change his life in order to be saved. God does the saving and the life changing. A changed mind is required, though. The individual that has never changed his mind about God, sin, Christ, and the Bible, has never been saved. The changed life is the evidence and fruit of repentance. Repentance is not a sinner changing his life; it is a sinner yielding to God, surrendering to God, so that God can change his life.
SALVATION REQUIRES A NEW BIRTH
“Jesus answered and said unto him Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3).
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are made new” (2 Cor. 5:17).
“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availed any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature” (Gal. 6:14,15).
Regeneration is God’s work. A man cannot work up the new birth, nor can he work for it. God gives the new birth as a gift of grace. But He only gives it to those who repent and place full confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ.
This shows why many make professions but never seem to be born again. They have not repented, and they have never, therefore, been regenerated. They are still lost. The new birth is God giving a person a new nature; how could this new nature fail to produce a new life? Could God live within an individual’s heart without being evidenced in that person’s daily life? The Bible teaches that this is not possible.
WHAT CHANGES DOES SALVATION BRING?
What changes can we expect the new birth to make in a person’s life? Following are some changes emphasized in the Bible.
A NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH AND ATTITUDE TOWARD GOD
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent” (John 17:3).
The regenerated person has become a child of God. Jesus is his Savior. The Spirit of God has taken up permanent abode in his heart. He desires to know God and seeks to do so. Where does this leave the professor that cares nothing about knowing and pleasing God?
A LOVE FOR GOD’S WORD
“He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God” (John 8:47).
The individual that is born again hungers after the Scriptures. The Bible is God’s voice, and the regenerated man loves God’s voice. It is God’s law, and the regenerated man has God’s law written upon his heart. A person’s attitude toward the Bible and sin is a strong indication of his spiritual condition.
A LOVE FOR GOD’S PEOPLE
“We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren” (1 John 3:14).
A new attitude toward God’s people is a mark of a born again person. He that does not love to be with the brethren is not passed from death unto life.
A LOVE FOR GOD’S WAYS
“He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God” (2 John 11). this means a child of GOD does not practice, or make a habit of sinning, he hates sin, sin destroys family's, relationships and if its not dealt with it will kill your soul. a child of GOD does everything he can to stay away from sinful and evil people places and things that are not pleasing to the lord Jesus Christ.
The new birth, then, is the implanting of God’s nature into the soul of a true believer. It is God dwelling within. And this new nature can be observed from without. If God dwells within, a person’s life will be changed. The person who shows forth no change in his attitude toward God, God’s Word, God’s people, and God’s ways has no Bible basis whatsoever for claiming to be saved and on the way to heaven.
SAVING FAITH WORKS
“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone... But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:17,20).
A faith that does not work is a dead faith. The individual who professes to be saved, but who is not interested in Christ and the things of God, has a strange kind of “faith.” It certainly is not saving faith.
Such a person claims to believe that God hates and judges sin as the gospel teaches, yet he does not tremble about his own sinful ways. The unchanged professor claims to believe that Jesus suffered a painful, bloody death to set him free from sin, yet he continues in the very things that required Christ’s death. He claims to believe that the resurrected Christ gives victory over sin, yet he says he simply cannot give up his sin. He claims to believe that Life is in Jesus alone, but he spends no effort to seek and know Christ in daily life; rather, he continually feeds from the cesspools of the world. He claims to believe that God’s wrath is revealed against the ways of this world, yet he refuses to leave his worldly pleasures fornication adultery hate envy lust and pride. He claims to believe that the Bible is God’s Holy Word, the only Book in the world that has eternal value, yet his mind is filled with anything and everything but the Bible.
Does such a person really have faith? No; he whose faith is not evidenced by a changed life and a love for the things of God has no true saving faith. The person who professes to have faith in Christ but who continues to walk far from God’s ways is not someone who has lost his salvation; he is of that sad number that have never possessed salvation.
THESE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TRICKED BY THE MASTER LIAR AND DECEIVER SATAN, TO FOLLOW THE WORLD AND NOT CHRIST. GOD SAYS THIS SEE TO IT THAT NO ONE TAKES YOU CAPTIVE BY PHILOSOPHY AND EMPTY DECEIT, ACCORDING TO HUMAN TRADITION, ACCORDING TO THE RUDIMENTS OF THE WORLD, AND NOT ACCORDING TO CHRIST. COLOSSIANS 2:6-8).
FOR of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with SINS, led away with DIVERS LUSTS, EVER LEARNING, AND NEVER ABLE TO COME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH.(2 timothy 3:1-7).
FOR the time will come when they will not ENDURE SOUND DOCTRINE; but after their own LUSTS shall they heap to themselves TEACHERS, HAVING ITCHING EARS; AND they shall turn AWAY their EARS from the TRUTH, and shall be TURNED UNTO FABLES.(2 timothy 4:3-4).I pray for all my family and friends that GOD would open there eyes and heart to the truth.
IN meekness instructing those that oppose themselves: if GOD peradventure (perhaps) will give them REPENTANCE to the acknowledgement of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the SNARE OF THE DEVIL, WHO ARE TAKEN CAPTIVE BY HIM AT HIS WILL." 2 TIMOTHY 2:25-26.
Most people I talk to don't want nothing to do with GODS ways or his word, for he is HOLY. But most people I talk to believe in a GOD created in there own minds, and one that allows them to have as much sex outside of marriage, lying is okay and cheating on each other is okay as long as you don't get caught. hating someone because that person did you wrong or hurt you, getting drunk partying using filthy perverted language, emailing dirty jokes watching porn and using GODS NAME IN VAIN. Yes these people that I talk to really believe that they know GOD, love GOD, pray to GOD, and are going to be with a holy and righteous GOD forever in his kingdom. FOLKS you are deceived and have been trapped in a deadly trap by Satan himself you are blind and lost and walking in darkness.
But if our GOSPEL be hid, it is hid to them that are LOST: IN whom the god of this world Satan) has blinded the minds of them which believe not, least the light of the GLORIOUS GOSPEL OF CHRIST, WHO IS THE IMAGE OF GOD, SHOULD SHINE UNTO THEM. FOR we preach not ourselves, but CHRIST JESUS THE LORD; and ourselves your servants for JESUS SAKE.
THE UNCHANGED PROFESSOR
Sir, we would like to inquire about your relationship with the Lord. Are you saved and on your way to heaven?
“Saved? Sure, I’m saved.”
On what are you basing your hope of salvation?
“Some time back someone talked with me about Jesus, and I prayed the sinner’s prayer and the fellow showed me some verses and told me I was on my way to Heaven.”
Great! We’re happy to hear that. Do you walk with the Lord now?
“Well, not really. I guess I don’t live like I should. But that is between me and God. I’m doing the best I can and as good as a lot of people I know. You don’t know how hard it is for me to live for God.”
Do you go to church and fellowship regularly with God’s people?
“Well, no, but I do watch religious programs on TV. sometimes. A person doesn’t have to go to church to be right with God, anyway.”
Surely, though, you must read your Bible now that you are saved.
“I don’t read the Bible too much. I have a hard time understanding the Bible. My eyes aren’t too good, either, and the Bible doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”
Sir, we don’t want to be rude, but are you sure you are saved and on your way to Heaven?
“Listen, my relationship with God is my business. The Bible says something about not judging, doesn’t it? I believe in Jesus and the Bible as much as you do and that man that dealt with me said I am saved and on my way to heaven, and I’d just as soon not talk about it anymore.”
“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. ... But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire” (2 Peter 2:20-22).
“He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4).
“They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16).
__________________________________
With great numbers of people claiming to be saved who have not experienced spiritual change, it has become difficult for men to know what salvation really is. Does salvation in Christ Jesus mean anything? Does it make a difference?
There are a great many people in America and other parts of the world who claim to trust in Christ, but show no love for God, for His book, His people, or His ways.
Oftentimes these have the idea that their mental assent toward the fact that Christ died for their sins is their ticket to Heaven. They agree that Heaven would be a good place to go when they die, and they say they believe that Jesus died for their sins so they can go there someday. Beyond this, they have little or no present interest in spiritual matters.
The empty professor seems bored or upset when the evangelist tries to talk with him about the Bible. He might not even turn his attention away from the television program he was watching before the Christian knocked on his door. The professor's attitude, though possibly friendly, broadcasts the fact that he will be relieved when the soul winner leaves.
The children and family, fellow workers, and neighbors of this kind of “believer” get the idea that salvation must not mean anything. It appears that salvation is just some sort of prayer that guarantees one a ticket to Heaven but has little or nothing to do with daily life right now. What a wrong impression this is!
Where is repentance in all this? Where is the fleeing of the wrath to come to find refuge in Christ (Heb. 6:18)? Where is turning to God from idols (1 Thess. 1:9)? Where is becoming a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17)?
No wonder folk are laughing at Christianity in places where empty professions prevail. Oftentimes, that which is posing as salvation in Christ is, indeed, a laugh.
I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT ADDING WORKS TO GRACE
Let me emphasize that I am NOT talking about adding works to grace for salvation. The gospel is that Jesus Christ died for my sins and was buried and rose from the dead according to the Scriptures, and I am saved by trusting in His finished work. Salvation is a gift of God’s grace. The gospel message is “repent and believe” My Christian growth does not save me, and it does not help save me. It is the product of my salvation.
I do not want someone to think I am adding anything to the Bible message of Grace. I am not. What I am saying is that the Bible emphasizes repentance for salvation and a change that flows from salvation. And we must not fail to emphasize that which God emphasizes.
The following five Bible truths should cause us to be burdened for folk who profess to be saved but whose lives do not show an evidence of salvation.
SALVATION DEMANDS REPENTANCE
“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” Acts 17:30
The evangelists in the New Testament did not seek mere professions; they looked for repentance, convinced faith, lives changed for the glory of God. Their goal was to make disciples of all nations in obedience to their Lord’s Commission, to proclaim without compromise or apology the message of repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21).
John the Baptist demanded repentance from those who wanted to be baptized:
“Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance ... And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire” (Luke 3:7-9).
The Lord Jesus Christ demanded repentance from all that would be saved:
“I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall likewise perish” (Luke 13:3).
“I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).
Paul and the other apostles preached and demanded repentance from both Jews and Gentiles alike:
“When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18).
“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30).
“Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).
“But showed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance” (Acts 26:20).
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9).
Repentance means a change of mind the results in a change of life. It is illustrated by the Corinthian believers who changed their minds about the proud and wicked indifference they had in regard to the gross sin in their midst. A church member had been living in fornication with his stepmother. Instead of mourning this wickedness and the tainting of the testimony of the church. the Corinthians were “puffed up” (1 Cor. 5). The apostle Paul, upon learning of the situation, rebuked them and demanded they put the sinning person away from the fellowship. In response to the apostle’s letter, the believers at Corinth humbled themselves and corrected the problem. In Paul’s second epistle to these brethren, he made the evaluation that they had “repented.”
carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what" For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter” (2 Cor. 7:8-11).
There are several lessons about repentance from this example. One, repentance means a radical change of mind. The Corinthians had completely changed their minds about the sin in their assembly. Two, repentance is observable. The apostle saw the repentance in their changed action and attitude. Three, repentance is a product of the Word of God. The apostle’s letter was God’s Word and it was this Word that caused the Corinthians to repent. If we want to help men and women come to repentance, we must use the Word of God; nothing else is powerful enough to change a sinner’s mind.
The Bible teaches that no one can be saved without repentance--a changed mind about God, life, sin, Jesus Christ, etc. And this changed mind will always result in a changed action as the repentant sinner turns to God for salvation, and God gives him new life in Christ.
The evangelist’s goal, according to Christ’s Great Commission, is to make disciples of all nations. “Repentance and remission of sins” is to be preached in the name of Jesus Christ (Lk. 24:46-47). The soul winner’s goal is to preach the gospel in such a way that men see their sin and need of salvation and are brought to repentance and faith. It is to the repentant believing sinner that God gives salvation.
The sinner does not have to change his life in order to be saved. God does the saving and the life changing. A changed mind is required, though. The individual that has never changed his mind about God, sin, Christ, and the Bible, has never been saved. The changed life is the evidence and fruit of repentance. Repentance is not a sinner changing his life; it is a sinner yielding to God, surrendering to God, so that God can change his life.
SALVATION REQUIRES A NEW BIRTH
“Jesus answered and said unto him Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3).
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are made new” (2 Cor. 5:17).
“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availed any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature” (Gal. 6:14,15).
Regeneration is God’s work. A man cannot work up the new birth, nor can he work for it. God gives the new birth as a gift of grace. But He only gives it to those who repent and place full confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ.
This shows why many make professions but never seem to be born again. They have not repented, and they have never, therefore, been regenerated. They are still lost. The new birth is God giving a person a new nature; how could this new nature fail to produce a new life? Could God live within an individual’s heart without being evidenced in that person’s daily life? The Bible teaches that this is not possible.
WHAT CHANGES DOES SALVATION BRING?
What changes can we expect the new birth to make in a person’s life? Following are some changes emphasized in the Bible.
A NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH AND ATTITUDE TOWARD GOD
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent” (John 17:3).
The regenerated person has become a child of God. Jesus is his Savior. The Spirit of God has taken up permanent abode in his heart. He desires to know God and seeks to do so. Where does this leave the professor that cares nothing about knowing and pleasing God?
A LOVE FOR GOD’S WORD
“He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God” (John 8:47).
The individual that is born again hungers after the Scriptures. The Bible is God’s voice, and the regenerated man loves God’s voice. It is God’s law, and the regenerated man has God’s law written upon his heart. A person’s attitude toward the Bible and sin is a strong indication of his spiritual condition.
A LOVE FOR GOD’S PEOPLE
“We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren” (1 John 3:14).
A new attitude toward God’s people is a mark of a born again person. He that does not love to be with the brethren is not passed from death unto life.
A LOVE FOR GOD’S WAYS
“He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God” (2 John 11). this means a child of GOD does not practice, or make a habit of sinning, he hates sin, sin destroys family's, relationships and if its not dealt with it will kill your soul. a child of GOD does everything he can to stay away from sinful and evil people places and things that are not pleasing to the lord Jesus Christ.
The new birth, then, is the implanting of God’s nature into the soul of a true believer. It is God dwelling within. And this new nature can be observed from without. If God dwells within, a person’s life will be changed. The person who shows forth no change in his attitude toward God, God’s Word, God’s people, and God’s ways has no Bible basis whatsoever for claiming to be saved and on the way to heaven.
SAVING FAITH WORKS
“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone... But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:17,20).
A faith that does not work is a dead faith. The individual who professes to be saved, but who is not interested in Christ and the things of God, has a strange kind of “faith.” It certainly is not saving faith.
Such a person claims to believe that God hates and judges sin as the gospel teaches, yet he does not tremble about his own sinful ways. The unchanged professor claims to believe that Jesus suffered a painful, bloody death to set him free from sin, yet he continues in the very things that required Christ’s death. He claims to believe that the resurrected Christ gives victory over sin, yet he says he simply cannot give up his sin. He claims to believe that Life is in Jesus alone, but he spends no effort to seek and know Christ in daily life; rather, he continually feeds from the cesspools of the world. He claims to believe that God’s wrath is revealed against the ways of this world, yet he refuses to leave his worldly pleasures fornication adultery hate envy lust and pride. He claims to believe that the Bible is God’s Holy Word, the only Book in the world that has eternal value, yet his mind is filled with anything and everything but the Bible.
Does such a person really have faith? No; he whose faith is not evidenced by a changed life and a love for the things of God has no true saving faith. The person who professes to have faith in Christ but who continues to walk far from God’s ways is not someone who has lost his salvation; he is of that sad number that have never possessed salvation.
THESE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TRICKED BY THE MASTER LIAR AND DECEIVER SATAN, TO FOLLOW THE WORLD AND NOT CHRIST. GOD SAYS THIS SEE TO IT THAT NO ONE TAKES YOU CAPTIVE BY PHILOSOPHY AND EMPTY DECEIT, ACCORDING TO HUMAN TRADITION, ACCORDING TO THE RUDIMENTS OF THE WORLD, AND NOT ACCORDING TO CHRIST. COLOSSIANS 2:6-8).
FOR of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with SINS, led away with DIVERS LUSTS, EVER LEARNING, AND NEVER ABLE TO COME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH.(2 timothy 3:1-7).
FOR the time will come when they will not ENDURE SOUND DOCTRINE; but after their own LUSTS shall they heap to themselves TEACHERS, HAVING ITCHING EARS; AND they shall turn AWAY their EARS from the TRUTH, and shall be TURNED UNTO FABLES.(2 timothy 4:3-4).I pray for all my family and friends that GOD would open there eyes and heart to the truth.
IN meekness instructing those that oppose themselves: if GOD peradventure (perhaps) will give them REPENTANCE to the acknowledgement of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the SNARE OF THE DEVIL, WHO ARE TAKEN CAPTIVE BY HIM AT HIS WILL." 2 TIMOTHY 2:25-26.
Most people I talk to don't want nothing to do with GODS ways or his word, for he is HOLY. But most people I talk to believe in a GOD created in there own minds, and one that allows them to have as much sex outside of marriage, lying is okay and cheating on each other is okay as long as you don't get caught. hating someone because that person did you wrong or hurt you, getting drunk partying using filthy perverted language, emailing dirty jokes watching porn and using GODS NAME IN VAIN. Yes these people that I talk to really believe that they know GOD, love GOD, pray to GOD, and are going to be with a holy and righteous GOD forever in his kingdom. FOLKS you are deceived and have been trapped in a deadly trap by Satan himself you are blind and lost and walking in darkness.
But if our GOSPEL be hid, it is hid to them that are LOST: IN whom the god of this world Satan) has blinded the minds of them which believe not, least the light of the GLORIOUS GOSPEL OF CHRIST, WHO IS THE IMAGE OF GOD, SHOULD SHINE UNTO THEM. FOR we preach not ourselves, but CHRIST JESUS THE LORD; and ourselves your servants for JESUS SAKE.
