HAVE YOU BEEN BORN AGAIN? Do you really know Jesus Christ? by Voice of the Watchman

Christianity is much more than just another religion. There are many who claim the name Christian who doesn't really know Jesus Christ personally.  A lot of people say, "I believe in God".  Well, that's good but by itself it doesn't save anyone.  The Bible says that the demons believe in God and tremble, and it does them no good.  The fact is that many say that they believe in God and probably do, but when it comes right down to it they live like God doesn't exist.  They live as if they can walk in their sins and still somehow get to heaven anyway.  See, its important that you "know" if you have truly been born again!  For Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son said that you must be born again to see the Kingdom of God. 

1 John 2:3-4 " 3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. "

1 John 3:23-24 " 23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. 24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. "

Every last one of us are under a sentence of death, and all that we have to do to go to Hell is “nothing!” Hebrews 9:27 " And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: "

Though we will all physically die once, we all have a choice about what comes after that. There is a demonic adversary who will try to get you to put off making a commitment to the Lord Jesus. Who will you believe?  And all of us are not promised tomorrow.  All that we know that we have is today.  That is why the Bible declares that today is the day of salvation in 2 Corinthians 6:2  “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 

God has allowed you to come to this place and read this today to give you the opportunity to get right with Him through Jesus Christ. It is only when a person gets right with God that he is really ready to enjoy all this life can bring. It is your choice!  YOUR ETERNAL DESTINY depends on which kingdom you are in when you die. At birth, we entered into the Kingdom ruled by Satan, the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 2:14). Jesus told the Pharisees, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do” (John 8:44).

When we make a commitment to the Lord and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, then God gives us the Spirit and through the Holy Spirit, we are born again.  We know that we know Him and that He is abiding in us when we keep His commandments.  We keep them because we love Him.  We can because He fills us with His love and His Spirit.  We have been born by the Spirit of God, and He has given us love.  And that love gives us power to walk as children of God.  We "know" that He abides in us.

It is not enough to be simply religious.  There are many religions and many are religious without any salvation.  There are many going to church today and talking the "churchese" talk and acting like a Christian outwardly with no change inside, but have never been born again.  They are empty of the life of God and empty of His love.  Their religion is vain.  You see, we need salvation... we need to be saved.  There is something to be saved from.  Jesus came to this earth and became flesh so that we could become the children of God... adopted into the family of God where we could call God, Father or Abba (daddy).  There are two spiritual families on the earth.  The children of the devil through sin.  And the children of God through faith in Jesus Christ and adoption by the Holy Spirit.  We have all sinned, and we all need Jesus as our savior.

You see, Jesus wants you to know Him as both savior and Lord. So many are just "vainly" religious. So many even get involved in the local church and become religious and have never really been born again. So many do not know Jesus in a real way. You see...

We have all sinned... every last one of us.

In fact, we are born into sin.  That sin nature is passed down to us through our earthly father.  Its in our blood you might say. 
Romans 3:10-11 " 10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

Romans 3:22-23 " 22 Even the righteousness of God [which is] by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; "

Romans 6:23 " For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. "

Revelation 20:15, “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Wages are something that you earn... something that you deserve. But God loved you and me so much, that He sent His only begotten Son... to take the penalty upon Himself so that we could live. YOU AND I NEED JESUS CHRIST.

The final penalty for sin is the Lake of Fire and the SECOND DEATH.  If you reject Jesus Christ, then the penalty for your sin is Hell and eventually the Lake of Fire.  It is the most tragic thing for a human being to walk over top of and, reject the love that God has shown for them and wind up in a punishment that God did not intend for us.  It is not God's will that any should perish, though many will through rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ.  2 Peter 3:9 " The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. "

Understand that the penalty of our sin is death.  Our life's blood (the life is in the blood) was required for our sin.  GOD provided a sinless sacrifice to die in our place as our substitute! This is what Jesus did, 1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.”

John 3:16 " For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. "

There is hope through Jesus. There is life through Jesus Christ. He came according to John 10:10 so that we could have that abundant life. Do you have that abundant life today? Have you been born again? Have you been born of the Spirit? Do you have an ever-living hope?

John 3:3 " Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. "

We have to get beyond just "religion".  We have to get beyond the traditions of men.  We have to get beyond just doing a few devotions and hoping that we have enough good works to be saved.  Nobody is saved by their own works.  They are saved by faith in the works that Jesus Christ did on the cross.  How are we born again? How are we saved? How can we have this reality of God in our lives and become a new creature in Jesus Christ?

Romans 10:8-13 " 8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, [even] in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. "

If you will call upon His name... confess the name of Jesus... believe in your heart... know that He went to the cross and died and took your and my sin upon Himself and died... and raised again... and believe this in your heart and confess it with your mouth, you shall be saved! It is through faith.

Ephesians 2:8-10 " 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. "

You are saved by faith... it is the gift of God. The works come after we believe. We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works, but lets understand that those good works come because that Jesus is in our heart. WE ARE SAVED BY FAITH... and then works come.

Mark 16:16 " He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. "

We are saved by faith... by believing... by calling on the name of Jesus in faith... He wants to save you. You can't understand it. That is why Jesus spoke of the wind moving and you seeing the results, but are not able to actually see the wind. The Spirit is the same way... when you believe on Jesus, you are forgiven... you are saved... born again by the Spirit. He does the work... you simply believe.

You do need to be baptized though when you do believe. It is an outward sign of how you have died to your sins and been raised up in new life in Jesus Christ. We do it out of obedience to our Lord's command.

NOW, IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY BORN AGAIN, THEN YOU HAVE A DECISION TO MAKE.  God is giving you an opportunity to choose wisely right now.  This moment... you are being given the opportunity to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and make Him your Lord and Savior.  There is another voice that is demonic that will tell you not to.  Which voice will you listen to?  Which destiny do you want for "you"?  It literally does come down to Heaven or Hell.  Jesus Christ will give you life right now if you repent (turn to Him) and believe upon Him.

GOD LOVES YOU... I MEAN, HE REALLY LOVES YOU... and God sent His best so that you could be saved. If you will believe on Jesus Christ and the works that He did on the cross, then your sins will be washed away and you will have new life.

IF YOU DON'T KNOW JESUS AS YOUR OWN PERSONAL SAVIOR AND LORD, I encourage you to pray and call upon Him even now. The Bible says that today is the day of salvation while it is still called today. Don't wait until tomorrow... none of us are promised tomorrow. Now that you are reading this, call upon the name of the Lord and believe... and God will save your soul.

You could pray something like this (but you have to mean it in your heart):

"Jesus, I am a sinner and I need you in my life.
Lord, I need you. Forgive me of all my sins. Jesus I believe that you are the Son of God. I believe that you went to the cross and died for my sins. And right now, I call upon your name... Jesus, come into my life... forgive me now... give me this new life... Lord, I give myself to you completely. I am turning to you away from my old sinful life.

Come into my life and let me live for you. Fill me with your love and forgiveness right now... I believe you Lord for this. Heavenly Father... right now... I thank you for Jesus... I thank you for saving me... I thank you for forgiving me... right now, my new life will start fresh... in Jesus Christ's name.

Amen."

If you prayed this... and you believe it, then understand that the Lord just saved your soul. You are saved by faith. God will stand behind His Word.  You also need to find fellowship with other believers (in other words, church).  Jesus commanded us that after we believed that we should be baptized.  Also, you need to get into a church (a fellowship of other believers) that teaches and preaches the full Word of God.  Study the Bible and pray.  When you pray and ask the Spirit to open your understanding, then He makes the Bible come alive.

If you just gave your life to Him, then tell someone. Testify to us if you will. We would love to hear about it and would like to help you with your first steps as a newborn Christian.  You have just started a great adventure that will never end!  You have started "really" living.

In fact, you can post a message on our Guest Book and tell us, and we will be glad to help you in any way that we can.  Guest Book

Remember... God really loves you!
 

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