09.03.07
Have You “Climbed In” Some Other Way?
There is one God and one mediator between God and man, that is the man, Christ Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no one comes to His Father but through Him.
So many people profess Christ as their Savior in these modern days that it leads me to believe that many are trying to “climb in” to the kingdom of God some other way rather than go through the mediator, Christ Jesus.
But God in His infinite wisdom has declared:
John 10:1
1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.
NASB
Today, people truly believe that salvation is simply a “human descision.”
What I mean is that people claim they are saved by their own power. They have decided for themselves that if there is an eternity to be spent in a place, then it is better for them to be in a place like heaven rather than a place like hell. So, the carnal mind then reasons that they are saved in an attempt to save themselves from this place called “hell”.
They then profess to be a “christian”, act like “christians”, join a church, they try to walk the walk, and talk the talk.
There was no revealing of the wickedness of their soul, no repentance, no contrition, no Godly sorrow, no real encounter with Christ, who is the mediator between them and God. They never were crucified with Christ so it is fair to say they will never be resurrected into life with Christ. They are climbing into the kingdom some other way.
Let me show you something; If I was to set a field on fire every serpernt that was there would flee from the flame, but the truth is that the serpents decision to flee from the sure torment that awaited them does not change what they are.
They are still serpents.
So you see, making a decision that heaven is better than hell will not change who you are from the inside; you will not be a new creature, or born again; it will not save you. Sure, that fear of death is healthy. In fact, God’s word says it is the BEGINNING of knowledge. (”Beginning” meaning there is more to it)
Prov 1:7
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
NASB
But your belief in the fact that there is a heaven and hell does not cause the regeneration of your soul. You must enter through the narrow gate and Christ is the doorkeeper.
Matt 7:13-14
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. 14 “For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.
NASB
Also, remember that the Word says demons believe in God and they tremble.
James 2:19
19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
NASB
So if salvation is not just a mere decision or recognition of the truth, what is it?
It is a supernatural encounter with God. You cannot even add one day to your life, or one inch to your height. So it is God who does all the work. He sees your fear of Him and your understanding of your sin. He sees your repentance and your contrition and your belief. He then rips out your old stoney, wicked, heart and replaces it with one that obeys Him and loves Him, thus creating a new being.
Christ, Himself, has said that we MUST be “born again” in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Paul refers to this newly converted Christian as a “new creature.”
John 3:3
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
NASB
I want to show you something else. God through the prophet Ezekiel described the “born again” process. Yes, being born again is an Old Testament doctrine.
I want to point out the supernatural part of salvation. I want to show you who it is that is working in the True Christians life and also I want to point out the declarations made by GOD about this new creature. Therefore please pay attention to the emphasis I have put on the following passage:
Ezek 36:24-28
24 “For I WILL take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land. 25 “Then I WILL sprinkle clean water on you, and you WILL be clean; I WILL cleanse you from ALL your filthiness and from ALL your idols. 26 “Moreover, I WILL give you a NEW heart and put a NEW spirit within you; and I WILL remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 “And I WILL put My Spirit within you and CAUSE you to walk in My statutes, and you WILL be careful to observe My ordinances. 28 “And you WILL live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you WILL be My people, and I WILL be your God.
NASB
Notice that it is God who changes you. You will obey Him.
This is such a powerful decalaration from God. Who can deny it?
If you are trying to change yourself, your work is vain and useless. You are fighting against your nature.
So how can a man be saved?
The only thing that can save you is to be crucified with Christ. This means taking the word of God and letting it slay you. Letting it condemn you. It will bring you low and the Lord will lift you high.
Recognize that it was YOU who crucified Christ. He was beaten, spit on, He bled, and was nailed to a tree for you and because of you.
If this truth becomes real to you, if this realization comes from within your soul, then I am assured that you will have Godly sorrow, contrition, and repentance, you will tremble at His word because you now have understanding that you are on the wrong side of God’s justice. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.
But now and only now and in this state will God look towards you:
Isa 66:2
2″For My hand made all these things,Thus all these things came into being,” declares the LORD. “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.
NASB
There will now be an unmistakable conversion of your soul. The One whose power created the heavens and the earth will form a new being inside of you.
Your nature will now be Godly. Instead of fighting against God and His ways, you will joyfully concur with Him.
You are a new man with a new nature.
Has this thing happened to you or have you, over the course of time, convinced yourself that you are saved? Are you trying to be a Christian without ever truly being born again?
If God has not worked in your life and your “salvation” has merely come from your profession of faith, then you are not saved at all.
Christ has said repent and believe. This you must do.
Luke 13:3
3 “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
NASB
Quit justifying yourself before man and repent and you will not need to justify yourself any longer, you will have a strong advocate in Heaven who is for you.
And if God is for you who can be against you?
For the Truth of my King
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Sicarii said,
September 4, 2007 at 2:09 am
This is such a powerful message I must thank you for sharing it and rousing in me the desire to truly examine if I have indeed been born again. So many Christians claim to be born again without realizing what it really means, but today you have opened my eyes to understanding what must surely take place if I were to truly call myself ‘born again’.
God bless, and Shalom.
p.s. thank you for putting my blog in your blog roll. It’s an honor!
TruthofmyKing said,
September 5, 2007 at 7:28 am
Sicarii,
Thanks for reading. Over the years, I have found that examining one’s self is a very important process in growing with God. Sicarii, Just the fact that you are willing to examine yourself is pretty good evidence that you truly want to be with God one day and if you TRULY seek, you will TRULY find.
Thanks for reading!
King's Kid said,
September 6, 2007 at 4:22 pm
Wesley,
I concur with much of what you have posted. I pray that the OSAS (Once Saved Always Saved) group reads your post. Though, I am sorry to say, I do not believe they are willing to acknowledge what was written in either post (yours or the sermon).
You wrote…So you see, making a decision that heaven (Kingdom of Heaven) is better than hell (the Lake of Fire) will not change who you are from the inside; you will not be a new creature, or born again; it will not save you. And I agree with you to a degree.
The change inside that you speak of comes by the washing of the water of the Word (Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.), and salvation comes to those who endure until the end ( Matt. 10:22, 24:13, Mk. 13:13, Rev 2:7, 11,17, 26, Rev 3:5, 12, 21.
As to the subject of being “born again”, what man’s doctrine teaches and what the Word of God has to say are totally, and distinctly diverse:
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
1 Cor 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed– 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Thank you for being a friend.
Peace to All
TruthofmyKing said,
September 8, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Kings Kid,
I also thank you for reading. In these latter days I believe there are many who profess “Lord, Lord” who have never been born again. And perhaps the saddest part is that family, friends, and pastors alike in their lives will confirm that they are OK in this state. They have a false sense of security. It is so very important to examine oneself with honesty. The heart is “deceitfully wicked”. We should not trust our hearts. We can only take what the word of God says and compare it to our lives and if we do not measure up, we must repent and believe. We must seek out salvation with fear and trembling. That is partly what is missing in the perceived “church” today. May God save you and keep you.
For the Truth of my King!
Carol said,
September 9, 2007 at 12:17 am
Excellent, Excellent, Excellent!!!!!! I enjoyed this post because it’s full of truth and because you just don’t hear it that much today. Today’s brand of salvation relies on a quick prayer, or an altar call, or saying you received Jesus when you were 4, and works. OR… even if they DO really receive Christ, they think that is the end, that since now they’ve achieved salvation that they can just coast on into eternity without a care or worry about anything else. Nevermind sin, repentance, deception and all it’s Biblical warnings, examining yourself, prayer and Bible study, checking your fruits, obedience etc. These are the types of Christians I’ve been dealing with for the past 4 yrs or so and let me tell you…it’s very refreshing and uplifting to see posts like this. Someone who actually has understanding.
I’m new to blogging and I’d like to come back here to read more but I don’t know how. And I don’t know what a ‘trackback’ is. I’m going to try to figure it out because I don’t want to lose this blog. (or search through the hundreds of blogs to find you again)
Many blessings,
Carol
TruthofmyKing said,
September 9, 2007 at 10:22 am
Carol,
It is also refreshing to hear from you. You are absolutely right. Modern day Christianity has wandered away from the truth. We must speak up and be heard. There are eternal souls at stake.
On another note, A “trackback” is a way for you to respond to this article by writing a “blog” article of your own on your own site and when you are finished writing your article there should be a place to enter in a “trackback” address. This is where you will enter my trackback address and then you will publish your post. The end result is that in my “comments” section, there will be a reference to your article as if it were a comment.
Do you have a site in which you blog?
If so, please feel free to let me know what the web address is and I will stop by and read it.
You can come directly to my blog by entering http://truth.edwardskin.com into your browser.
May God save you and keep you.
For the Truth of my King
Carol said,
September 9, 2007 at 8:55 pm
Hello TruthofmyKing,
This whole trackback thing is hard to grasp. I’m just going to have to do it.
Yes I have a blog and I added you to my Neighborhood so I can find you again. It’s on my blog - http://thebiblethumperssoapbox.blogspot.com/. I think you can get there by clicking my name too.
Looking forward to reading more of your posts.
Blessings,
Carol
Lance Gargus said,
September 10, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Very good article. God has blessed you with your writing.