"Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us.' But he answered and said, 'Verily I say unto you, I know you not.'" - Matt 25:11-12
There
is a big difference between Conviction and Conversion in a person's life. I
want to explain the difference to you in case you may have been convicted, but
never converted. Satanic strongholds in our life may keep us struggling with
our walk with the Lord, but we may also be hindered because we do not have a
personal relationship with the Lord.
If we say that we are saved,
but our life is not transformed, we were convicted, but not converted.
Conversion starts our conformity into the image of Christ. He renews our minds
and changes our behavior daily. If after a few months, you are the same person
you were before praying for Christ to be your savior, you are not converted;
you are not born again; you are not saved.
Believing
is not enough. “You do well to believe in God. Satan also believes...and trembles” (James 2:19). There are many examples of good people in the Bible who thought they were saved, but they never
had a relationship with God. (Matt 7:21,
Matt 25:11, Luke 6:46, Luke 13:25).
One
way to know for sure if you are saved is because Born Again people cannot live
in sin (1 John 2:3-6, James
1:12-16, 1 John 3:7-10). Therefore, if
you continue to live in sin, as these
verses all clearly state, it shows that you belong to Satan. If you were born
again into the family of God, you would not make a practice of sinning. You
could not keep on sinning as a way of life. You might fall into sin once, or
even twice, but then your heart would break and you would run from sin, because
you would realize that you are breaking God’s heart with every sin (John 5:18-21).
Sometimes
people, places, things or even animals take the place of God in our heart. You
form an unholy physical tie and/or “soul” tie ~ with your mind, will and
emotions ~ with that person or item and you dishonor yourself and your family
and the family of God (Eph 5:1-7,
Heb 10:26-31, Rom 6:1-4).
If you are an authentic
Christian, you could walk away from
sin, sometimes with the help of counseling, and serve God, because the power of
sin would be broken in your life by the power of Christ's sacrifice on the
Cross. If, by your own admission, you are still a slave to sin and addicted to
it, you are not Born Again by the Spirit of God. This proves that sin’s power
was never broken in you because you did not completely surrender your life to
God through Salvation.
here is an unholy soul tie keeping you addicted to
this sin, you are giving Satan permission to wreak havoc in your life through
your lack of willingness to surrender this area of your life to God. Do not try
to keep control of any part of your life, surrender it all to the Lordship of
Jesus Christ.
You see, at some time in the past you got convicted, you said the sinner’s prayer, you went to church, you talk to God and He continually tries to draw you to Himself, but there was no transformation in you. You are not living a converted life. You are not yet saved from the power of sin. According to these verses, your lifestyle proves that you are lost and going to hell. If anyone tells you differently, they are deceiving you and they do not love you enough to tell you the truth.
However,
there is good news! You can repent right now. You can walk away from sin, give
God control of every part of your life, and ask God to forgive you and change
your heart. Then you will have a converted life. If you are double-minded in
your prayer and not sincere, you will change nothing by praying a prayer, going
to church, serving in a ministry, talking to God, getting baptized or even
tithing your income. You will just be doing good works, and that does not get
you into heaven (Eph 2:8, Rom 6:12-14, Matt
5:27-30, Rom 7:13).
If
you are a child of God, He will discipline you when you live in sin until you
repent and change your ways. You will understand that you are nailing the nails
back into His hands with every sin you commit. You are shoving that crown of
thorns back on His head by your sin. You are sticking the sword in His side
again by your sin. You are hanging Him on the cross to die again by your sin.
You are also setting yourself up to sin unto death (1 John
5:16).
There
is a difference between reaping what you sow and being disciplined by God. If
you live in sin and reap the results, God is not disciplining you and bringing
you back to Himself, or pruning you to bear more fruit, because you are not yet
His child. God
is drawing you to Himself right now, but if you harden your heart against Him
over and over, you will stop hearing His voice after a while. You will turn a
deaf ear to God and become totally sold out to sin. You will continue to live
as a slave to Satan. Do you really want to do that?
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I do not want to live my life as a slave to myself, sin or Satan. I ask You for Your forgiveness. I ask You to save me completely. I relinquish my sinful nature to You. I dedicate my life to You. I submit my life to the Holy Spirit to live within me, to change me from the inside out and to direct me moment by moment throughout the day.
Thought for the Day:
We are saved, not to sin but to serve.
Many thanks to Tonia Neil for the use of her photo...
