WILL THE REAL CHRISTIAN STEP FORWARD – Part 3
Friday, February 14, 2014
Are
You A Christian?
|
TEST: Born Again / The Inner Witness /
Correction as Children
|
John
3:3-7 (NIV) Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the
kingdom of God unless he is born again... Flesh gives birth to flesh,
but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying,
'You must be born again.'"
1Pet
1:23 (Phi) For you are not just mortals now but sons of God; the live,
permanent Word of the living God has given you his own indestructible heredity.
Gal
4:6 (NIV) Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,
the Spirit who calls out, "Abba [Daddy!], Father."
Rom
8:14-16,23 (NIV) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of
God... You received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out,
"Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God... Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the
firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our
adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
· Those who believe in the Gospel and follow
Jesus will be born again into new, spiritual life. This will result in what is
termed "the Spirit of adoption" which is evidenced by the "inner
witness" of "Abba, Father". This is an inner knowing that
we are children of God, where we cry out "Daddy! Father!" with love
and expectation by deep, spiritual instinct.
Rom
8:9,15-16 (Phi) You cannot, indeed, be a Christian at all unless you have
something of his Spirit in you... You can say with a full heart, "Father,
my Father". The Spirit himself endorses our inward conviction that we
really are the children of God.
· Christians do not habitually remain in sin,
as we will see in the following test. Yet we all can stumble, we all can fall
into sin. Hopefully, this is not deliberate, but even if it is on occasion God
can still use it to encourage us that we are His children. For if and when we
sin, the correction / rebuke / chastisement of the Lord will train us into the
righteousness of Christ--if we are His.
Heb
12:5-8 (Wey) And you have quite forgotten the encouraging words which are
addressed to you as sons, and which say, "My son, do not think lightly of
the Lord's discipline, and do not faint when He corrects you; for those whom
the Lord loves He disciplines: and He scourges every son whom He
acknowledges." ...God is dealing with you as sons; for what son is there whom
his father does not discipline? And if you are left without discipline, of
which every true son has had a share, that shows that you are bastards, and
not true sons.
· This is a very clear-cut test: if you can
continue in habitual sin and "get away with it", no matter what you
say, you are not a child of God. On the other hand, if we really are His
children, this will be proven by the fact that He will not allow us to remain
in sin--or go far wrong--through His active correction in our lives.
Rev
3:19 (NAS) [Jesus:] "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline;
therefore be zealous and repent."
Heb
12:9-11 (Wey) Our earthly fathers used to discipline us and we treated them
with respect, and shall we not be still more submissive to the Father of our
spirits, and live? It is true that they disciplined us for a few years
according as they thought fit; but He does it for our certain good, in order
that we may become sharers in His own holy character. Now, at the time,
discipline seems to be a matter not for joy, but for grief; yet it afterwards
yields to those who have passed through its training a result full of
peace--namely, righteousness.
http://www.acts17-11.com/christian.html
