Post by Are you really a Christian on Sept 9, 2007 18:46:08 GMT -5
Did you truly repent? John the Baptist and Jesus both started their public ministry with these words, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” You must not only repent of all of the sin in your life, but also of the sin attitude. I personally believe that this type of repentance only occurs, when we truly see that our lives are a virtual fountain of sin, that truly, even when we wish to do good, sin rules in us. Our best efforts are born in sin, and are worthless in the sight of God.
When we know this about ourselves, and not until, we won’t be truly hungering and thirsting after the living God and His righteousness. When we want Jesus Christ, (repentance) like the blind man wants to see, like the deaf man wants to hear, and like the crippled man wants to walk, then, and only then, will we have Him!
What does the word repent mean? To be sorry about our sin? NO! Repentance means to turn away from sin. In the Aramaic, the word repentance means simply, "Stop sinning." (The Gospels were originally written in Aramaic) Remember God’s standard is
Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Do you have it in your heart to deny yourself continually? The Lord told us to deny ourselves, Luke 9:23 And he said to [them] all, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. The very root of all sin is selfishness! The fact that we deny ourselves is a proof that we have truly been born again, to a new life, the very life of Jesus. When we aren’t denying ourselves, we are denying the Lord, the very moment we start denying ourselves, that is the moment we stop denying the Lord!
This is not a side issue, this is not an unimportant matter, this subject of denying ourselves is the very heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Selfishness is the root of all sin, a desire to deny ourselves is the one great thing that Jesus came to place in our hearts, and until it is in our hearts, it will never be in our lives.
The book of Revelation portrays our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as standing at the door of our hearts, knocking, asking to come in. The very thing that He wants to accomplish in us is this humanly impossible change of heart, a change from being selfish continually, to having a desire to deny ourselves continually, so that His will can be done! In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells us a very important secret, it wasn’t meant to be a secret, but listening to today’s preachers, this great truth has become a secret!
Jesus said in John 15:5 "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.’ Bearing fruit can only be accomplished by abiding in Christ; we do not improve, and we will never get to a point in our lives where we can live a holy life, apart from Jesus.
He said apart from me you can do NOTHING!!! This will be forever true, He must become our very life, because apart from Him we can’t bear fruit, we can only and always do NOTHING!!! Except, sin everyday in word, thought, and deed!
<b>The best test!</b>
The best test available for us to discover if we are truly abiding in Christ is the test of, Patience, Meekness, Humility, and Total resignation to all of the will of God.
Patience - Do people comment about how patient you are? In any, and every circumstance are you truly patient? If your answer is yes, then you pass the first part of the test.
Meekness - Are you truly meek, especially when you have a difference of opinion with someone?
Perhaps before you answer this question we should look at the definition for the work meek. Meek ‘compliant, overly submissive, subservient. Do you like to have the last word in a conversation? Then, you are not meek. Jesus was the best example of meekness, He said in Matthew 11:28 ‘Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and humble in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Jesus is our example; we must follow Him in His walk of meekness. If we are not meek, we will always be striving with people, this is one evidence of the great ‘ME, My, Mine, and I’ reigning on the throne of our life, instead of the meek, and lowly Lamb of God. When we are truly born of God’s Spirit, we WILL be like Him, meek and humble in heart.
Humility - Are you truly humble, if not, it can only be for this one reason, the meek and humble Lamb of God has not taken a birth within you!
I am convinced that a human being, born of Adam, is never truly humble until the humble Lamb of God is born within. We may appear, at times, humble, but humility is part of God’s nature, and in no way, even a little part of the nature of the offspring of fallen Adam. Humility is a very good proof of the birthing of the Lamb of God within us, if humility is the practice of your life, you may certainly entertain a hope.
Total resignation to all of God’s will - ‘When we are continually and always totally resigned to God’s will, we have another certain proof that the ‘self-life’ has been put in the grave, and the ‘New man’ (Jesus Christ) has truly had His birth within us. This again, is not some side issue; this also is the very heart of the new birth. Roman’s 12:1-2 ‘I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
When this Scripture is true in our lives, we will always desire to be wholly conformed to all the will of God. The reason for this is, that now we have a mind that has been renewed, and we know that the will of God is the only correct thing to do, no matter how it appears to us. We will live our lives denying our own reasoning, and we will do this because we believe the Scripture that says, ‘There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.’
If you pass this test of Patience, Meekness, Humility, and Total resignation to all of the will of God, you can rest assured that you ARE born of the Spirit of God, and that you ARE truly abiding in Christ. When these virtues are truly yours in practice, the fountain of sin in your life will have stopped running! You will NOT have a practice of sin! If your life doesn’t pass this test, all of this test, you will always need people to assure you that you are ‘born again,’ that you are a Christian; you will, from time to time, need to be ‘shored up.’
Don’t let any Devil tell you otherwise; if all of these virtues are not practiced in your life, you have not been ‘Born again!’ Jesus Christ is not currently reigning in your life.
If you are presently in a church that does not insist on a new, and holy life for a believer, Get out of it!
It is of the Devil, not of God! I am not being hard on other ministers, if they are truly ministers of Jesus Christ, they will insist on 1 Corinthians 5:17 being true in your life, ‘Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, all things have become new.’ They will insist on Luke 9:23 being true in your life, ‘And he said to [them] all, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.’ Because the pastor knows that Jesus, our Savior, said Self-denial must be in our life if we want to be a disciple of His.
I know that very few ministers preach, or insist on these truths today, but then, look at the church in general, look at the church’s ‘Report card’ the morning newspaper, it is obvious, with all that is happening, that the things that were prophesied in the Bible, by God’s holy Apostles are now becoming evident, all around us. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 ‘But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these.
Disobey this warning, and you will seal your own doom!
What hinders the birthing of Jesus within us?
When we think that all we have to do, to be a Christian, is ‘try really hard,’ ‘do our best’ we are in for a real surprise, our ‘best’ is not of any value. We will end up in hell doing our best. Jesus came to save us, because we can’t save ourselves, even when we try our hardest!
Here is something very important Jesus told His disciples ‘Stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.’ (found in Luke 24:49) These Apostles who ate, and slept with Jesus for three years, these Apostles who heard Him preach the Gospel of life, these Apostles who were given the power to heal, cast out devils, and raise the dead: these are the very people that were told to ‘Stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high’ Why did Jesus say this to them, He had already given them great powers.
It was for this reason, they were to be ‘clothed with power from on high to live a holy life!' No more would the Lord of glory need to stop a discussion among them as to which of them was more important, you know, ‘Who would be in charge when Jesus was not with them.’ This power from on high is the greatest power man can know, it is the power to be patient, meek, and humble. Remember this, if these holy men of old, needed this power from on high, how much more do we need it!
Have you received this power? Are you abiding in Jesus Christ, are you always patient, meek, and humble? In other words, have you been born again, in the very love of God? Patience, meekness, and humility, are not natural in the un-regenerate man, if these virtues are a practice of your life, of a truth, you have been born again!
You are no longer in bondage to SIN!
When we know this about ourselves, and not until, we won’t be truly hungering and thirsting after the living God and His righteousness. When we want Jesus Christ, (repentance) like the blind man wants to see, like the deaf man wants to hear, and like the crippled man wants to walk, then, and only then, will we have Him!
What does the word repent mean? To be sorry about our sin? NO! Repentance means to turn away from sin. In the Aramaic, the word repentance means simply, "Stop sinning." (The Gospels were originally written in Aramaic) Remember God’s standard is
Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Do you have it in your heart to deny yourself continually? The Lord told us to deny ourselves, Luke 9:23 And he said to [them] all, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. The very root of all sin is selfishness! The fact that we deny ourselves is a proof that we have truly been born again, to a new life, the very life of Jesus. When we aren’t denying ourselves, we are denying the Lord, the very moment we start denying ourselves, that is the moment we stop denying the Lord!
This is not a side issue, this is not an unimportant matter, this subject of denying ourselves is the very heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Selfishness is the root of all sin, a desire to deny ourselves is the one great thing that Jesus came to place in our hearts, and until it is in our hearts, it will never be in our lives.
The book of Revelation portrays our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as standing at the door of our hearts, knocking, asking to come in. The very thing that He wants to accomplish in us is this humanly impossible change of heart, a change from being selfish continually, to having a desire to deny ourselves continually, so that His will can be done! In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells us a very important secret, it wasn’t meant to be a secret, but listening to today’s preachers, this great truth has become a secret!
Jesus said in John 15:5 "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.’ Bearing fruit can only be accomplished by abiding in Christ; we do not improve, and we will never get to a point in our lives where we can live a holy life, apart from Jesus.
He said apart from me you can do NOTHING!!! This will be forever true, He must become our very life, because apart from Him we can’t bear fruit, we can only and always do NOTHING!!! Except, sin everyday in word, thought, and deed!
<b>The best test!</b>
The best test available for us to discover if we are truly abiding in Christ is the test of, Patience, Meekness, Humility, and Total resignation to all of the will of God.
Patience - Do people comment about how patient you are? In any, and every circumstance are you truly patient? If your answer is yes, then you pass the first part of the test.
Meekness - Are you truly meek, especially when you have a difference of opinion with someone?
Perhaps before you answer this question we should look at the definition for the work meek. Meek ‘compliant, overly submissive, subservient. Do you like to have the last word in a conversation? Then, you are not meek. Jesus was the best example of meekness, He said in Matthew 11:28 ‘Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and humble in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Jesus is our example; we must follow Him in His walk of meekness. If we are not meek, we will always be striving with people, this is one evidence of the great ‘ME, My, Mine, and I’ reigning on the throne of our life, instead of the meek, and lowly Lamb of God. When we are truly born of God’s Spirit, we WILL be like Him, meek and humble in heart.
Humility - Are you truly humble, if not, it can only be for this one reason, the meek and humble Lamb of God has not taken a birth within you!
I am convinced that a human being, born of Adam, is never truly humble until the humble Lamb of God is born within. We may appear, at times, humble, but humility is part of God’s nature, and in no way, even a little part of the nature of the offspring of fallen Adam. Humility is a very good proof of the birthing of the Lamb of God within us, if humility is the practice of your life, you may certainly entertain a hope.
Total resignation to all of God’s will - ‘When we are continually and always totally resigned to God’s will, we have another certain proof that the ‘self-life’ has been put in the grave, and the ‘New man’ (Jesus Christ) has truly had His birth within us. This again, is not some side issue; this also is the very heart of the new birth. Roman’s 12:1-2 ‘I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
When this Scripture is true in our lives, we will always desire to be wholly conformed to all the will of God. The reason for this is, that now we have a mind that has been renewed, and we know that the will of God is the only correct thing to do, no matter how it appears to us. We will live our lives denying our own reasoning, and we will do this because we believe the Scripture that says, ‘There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.’
If you pass this test of Patience, Meekness, Humility, and Total resignation to all of the will of God, you can rest assured that you ARE born of the Spirit of God, and that you ARE truly abiding in Christ. When these virtues are truly yours in practice, the fountain of sin in your life will have stopped running! You will NOT have a practice of sin! If your life doesn’t pass this test, all of this test, you will always need people to assure you that you are ‘born again,’ that you are a Christian; you will, from time to time, need to be ‘shored up.’
Don’t let any Devil tell you otherwise; if all of these virtues are not practiced in your life, you have not been ‘Born again!’ Jesus Christ is not currently reigning in your life.
If you are presently in a church that does not insist on a new, and holy life for a believer, Get out of it!
It is of the Devil, not of God! I am not being hard on other ministers, if they are truly ministers of Jesus Christ, they will insist on 1 Corinthians 5:17 being true in your life, ‘Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, all things have become new.’ They will insist on Luke 9:23 being true in your life, ‘And he said to [them] all, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.’ Because the pastor knows that Jesus, our Savior, said Self-denial must be in our life if we want to be a disciple of His.
I know that very few ministers preach, or insist on these truths today, but then, look at the church in general, look at the church’s ‘Report card’ the morning newspaper, it is obvious, with all that is happening, that the things that were prophesied in the Bible, by God’s holy Apostles are now becoming evident, all around us. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 ‘But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these.
Disobey this warning, and you will seal your own doom!
What hinders the birthing of Jesus within us?
When we think that all we have to do, to be a Christian, is ‘try really hard,’ ‘do our best’ we are in for a real surprise, our ‘best’ is not of any value. We will end up in hell doing our best. Jesus came to save us, because we can’t save ourselves, even when we try our hardest!
Here is something very important Jesus told His disciples ‘Stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.’ (found in Luke 24:49) These Apostles who ate, and slept with Jesus for three years, these Apostles who heard Him preach the Gospel of life, these Apostles who were given the power to heal, cast out devils, and raise the dead: these are the very people that were told to ‘Stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high’ Why did Jesus say this to them, He had already given them great powers.
It was for this reason, they were to be ‘clothed with power from on high to live a holy life!' No more would the Lord of glory need to stop a discussion among them as to which of them was more important, you know, ‘Who would be in charge when Jesus was not with them.’ This power from on high is the greatest power man can know, it is the power to be patient, meek, and humble. Remember this, if these holy men of old, needed this power from on high, how much more do we need it!
Have you received this power? Are you abiding in Jesus Christ, are you always patient, meek, and humble? In other words, have you been born again, in the very love of God? Patience, meekness, and humility, are not natural in the un-regenerate man, if these virtues are a practice of your life, of a truth, you have been born again!
You are no longer in bondage to SIN!
Everything you said is so true. Our whole goal in this life is to become more like Jesus and to let Him work through us. Thank you very much for this post.
