Am I converted or just convicted of my sin? Am I truly saved and changing, or do I have a false hope of spending eternity in Heaven? These are serious questions that need answering for our peace of mind, and for the security of knowing our eternal destination.
If we confess with our mouth and believe with our whole heart that God really did raise Jesus from the dead, then we shall be saved (Romans 10:9). We will never see or enter the Kingdom of God unless we are truly transformed, Born Again (John 3:3-5).
We are born by both water through our natural birth, and at salvation by the Spirit into our second birth, which is our spiritual birth. God saved us, not because of the works of righteousness, which we have done in our lifetime, but because of His mercy through the washing of this second birth and our renewal by His Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5).
After our salvation, we walk in His light, as Jesus is in the light, and we have fellowship with other authentic Believers through His blood, who cleanses us from all sinful behavior (1 John 1:7). No one who is truly Born Again keeps on willfully sinning (1 John 3:9).
If someone does keep on sinning, they have not really seen or known Jesus’ presence in their life at all (1 John 3:6). They may have felt conviction over their sin, but they were never converted; their spirit was never Born Again, and is still dead in sin.
As a Born Again Believer, it is almost impossible to bring forth evil fruit; in fact, we do not continue sinning so that God’s grace abounds, because we are dead to sin, and we cannot even imagine our self living in sin again (Romans 6:11). Sin grieves us as much as it grieves our Father God (Genesis 6:6).
Eternal life is not some future event that we must earn. It is a free gift that is ours from the exact moment of our conversion. This everlasting life includes intimately knowing God personally, as well as Jesus Christ whom He sent to save us from the penalty of our former unrestrained, depraved lifestyle.
Prayer:
Father God, remind us that anyone who practices sinful behavior is not Born Again, but of our father, the devil, who has been sinning from the very start. Help us to understand fully that Your Son was revealed to destroy Satan’s works. When we are truly born of Your Holy Spirit, we refuse to sin because Your seed abides in us. We cannot, and do not want to continue sinning because we have been Born Again and Your Trinity abides within us (1 John 3:8-10).
Our life, hidden with Christ in You (Colossians 3:3), distinguishes us as Your children, rather than slaves to Satan and unrighteousness. If we are truly authentic Believers, we live in holiness, and we love Your Body, our spiritual family (1 John 3:10). You protect Your children, give us a way of escape from temptation, and satanic forces cannot touch us (1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 John 5:18).
Thought for the Day:
Once we come to Christ for salvation, we no longer imitate what is evil, but do only what is good, and that which comes from God; if we keep on willfully sinning, we have not truly seen God for who He is and what He wants to do in and through us because we were convicted of our sin, but not fully converted.
- Matthew 7:18; Romans 6:2; 3 John 1:11; 1 John 2:29
