Introduction: Are
you sure you are saved or are you just a church goer? Do you have a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ? Remember that until you are saved you are not
safe.
How can one know for sure that he is saved? You will know
that you are saved because there are definite and undeniable changes in your
life (Matt. 3:8; 2 Cor. 5:17).
You claim that you are saved but there are no observable
changes in your life. Those things you used to do before you gave your life to
Christ (Gal. 5:19-21), you are still doing them. In fact, you have upgraded
them.
Therefore, one of the surest ways you can know that you are
really saved is the obvious changes that MUST occur in your life from the very
moment you gave your life to Christ.
The Bible says, “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for
repentance” (Matt. 3:8). If you say you have repented, then begin to do those
things that will show that you are truly Born Again.
By the fruits you are bearing right now it will be clear to
us if you are really saved. Because the nature you have received is a divine
nature, you’ll love to do only those things that are in line with the Word of
God.
The Bible says that
the fruit of righteousness is the tree of life (Prov. 11:30).
The tree of life is the fruit of the Spirit which is listed
in Galatians 5:22-25, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against
such there is no law.”
Because you have received the gift of righteousness from God
the Father because of your faith in the finished work of Christ (Rom. 5:17),
and have become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:21), you
have been empowered to do righteousness (1 Jn. 3:7).
If you are truly Born Again, you have received the nature of
Christ, and would love to do righteousness without struggles. You cannot but
bear the fruit of righteousness and thereby manifesting the character of
Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if any man BE IN
CHRIST, he is a new creature: old things have passed away; behold all things
are become new.”
Hebrews 1:8-9 says, “But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne,
O God, is forever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy
kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even
thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”
I John 3:4-10 says, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth
also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 5 And ye know that He
was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin. 6 Whosoever abideth
in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him. 7
Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is
righteous, even as He (Christ) is righteous. 8 He that committeth sin is of the
devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of
God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him: and he
cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 In this the children of God are
manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is
not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.”
If you are really saved, you will suddenly notice:
a) A hatred for sin and a love for righteousness.
b) Those things you used to do before, you have stopped them
– those things listed out in Galatians 5:19-21.
For instance, you have sacked your boyfriend; you have
sacked your girlfriend.
You have stopped lying.
You have started dressing decently, not with show-belly
low-waist etc.
You have totally disconnected yourself from all those
friends you had when you were an unbeliever. If you still have them as your
friends that means that there are still things you are enjoying together with
them. If a dog keeps moving with a goat, then the dog will soon start eating
yam.
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for
what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion
hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what
part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the
temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said,
I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall
be My people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, and
touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,18 And will be a Father
unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2
Cor. 6:14-18).
“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of
her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not
of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath
remembered her iniquities” (Rev. 18:4-5).
He that moves with the wise shall be wise, but a companion
of fools shall be destroyed.
The Bible says, “He that walketh with wise men shall be
wise: but A COMPANION OF FOOLS shall be destroyed” (Prov. 13:20).
This Scripture emphasizes the need for one to choose his/her
friend carefully because the pressure from peers is much stronger than people
realize.
Proverbs12:26 says, “The righteous should CHOOSE HIS FRIENDS
[company, peers] CAREFULLY, for the way of the wicked leads them astray.” Who
is a peer?
Who is a peer? A peer is somebody who is the equal of
somebody else in age, social class – rank, merit or quality.
Now listen, there was a certain committed Christian girl who
was raised in a godly home where Christ is exalted. Though she professed Jesus
Christ as her Lord and Saviour as a young girl, as she grew into a young woman,
she found excitement in the party scene, in drinking and associating with
worldly men.
However, whenever she was around her church and Christian
friends, she repented, read her Bible, and lived godly. Sometimes she succumbs
to Satan’s pounding temptation and the lure of her worldly friends.
When she is around the nightclubs and parties, this godly
Christian girl takes on another spirit entirely. She becomes carnal and
sensuous.
She is faced with a choice: the pleasures of sin for a
season or a godly life in Christ for all eternity. Does this describe you,
beloved?
How can one explain this? Have you ever wondered why you are
more comfortable with some people than others?
Have you ever observed that where you find an individual
with a strange behaviour or rebellion in his heart, those in his cluster or
association often have the same characteristics or attitudes?
Why is it that your child plays with a rebellious,
disobedient little boy in your neighbour-hood, he may come home with
rebellious, disobedient attitude?
Why is it that a virgin may go to work for a business firm
and within six months she has been seduced by one of the partners? Could it be
that a spirit of carnality and promiscuity has been transferred to her by that
playboy businessman in her office?
Why is it that a young person, who has been involved in hard
rock music, going to rock concerts, and introduced to the world of sex and
drugs, suddenly changes overnight to become like another person?
He may even lose interest in school. His appearance may
drastically change. His dressing may become wild. He may become rebellious and
may not want to obey or even listen to his parents anymore. How can this
radical change be explained?
Why is it that a godly young person may go away to college
and come home to tell you that he does not believe in God anymore? Could it be
that the prevailing spirit of intellectualism and philosophy have gradually
transferred to him and destroyed his belief in God?
Why is it that a worldly and an ungodly person comes into a
living church service, where there is a mighty anointing on the praise, worship
and a convicting power on the message, and person is compelled to give his life
to Christ?
Have you wondered why someone with a different [or wrong]
spirit may come into a church, and it may cause division and actually split the
church?
Listen beloved, you can’t be anywhere in this world without
being influenced to some degree by the spirit around you.
You may walk into a night club thinking it will have no
effect on you because you are a child of God. You may even plan to go into that
nightclub with its loud, sensual music, heavy drinking, illicit drug
trafficking, and sexual interplay thinking you can evangelize that place for
Jesus Christ.
But there is another spirit in that atmosphere. It is the
spirit of Satan and this world system. It will affect your attitudes and may
even transfer to you if you are exposed to it for a long time.
Whenever there is strong spirit present, it can influence
and eventually transfer to you. One must therefore be extremely cautious about
the kind of people with whom he/she associates.
Those around you can have a very powerful effect [influence]
on you. By association you take on some attitude and characteristics as that of
the person(s) with whom you company [associate].
In 1 Corinthians 15:33 the Bible says, “Do not be deceived
and misled! Evil company [communication; association] corrupts good habits
[morals; manners] and character.”
Proverbs 23:30-21 says, “Do not mix with winebibbers, or
with gluttonous eaters of meat; 21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come
to poverty, and drowsiness [too much sleep] will clothe a man with rags.”
Do not associate with drunkards and gluttons, for they are
on their way to poverty. With whom do you associate? You become like those with
whom you company. You become like those with whom you communicate. We take on
their characteristics, their traits [good or evil] and even their anointing and
mantle.
Because it seems easier for compromising Christians to be
influenced by the wrong in others than influence them for good, Paul, by the
Spirit of God, warned us not to date or marry unbelievers and not to associate
closely with the people of the world.
He said, “Avoid fellowshipping with believers who live
immoral lives.”
In 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 the Bible says, “Do not keep company
[don’t be friends to] with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not
mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or
extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a
brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or
a drunkard, or an extortioner-not even to eat with such a person. 12 For what
have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those
who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away
[expel] from yourselves the evil person.”
Peer group influence resulting from wrong association is one
of the major reasons why many Christians are not able to live in victory. God’s
plan and purpose for your life can be thwarted if you allow others to
manipulate and influence you.
Therefore, if you want to live a victorious Christian life
you must be extremely cautious about those with whom you associate.
Beloved, are there any observable changes in your life since
you got Born Again? Those things that are contrary to the Word of God that you
used to do before, are you still doing them (Matt. 3:8)? Remember, you are not
safe until you are saved.
Watch out for the next edition of Good News from the
Pulpit!
Your friend: I. I. MADUBUNYI (Senior Pastor)
Please note
that:
1. Life without Christ is full of crisis. 2. You have no
future without Christ. 3. You are not safe until you are saved
No comments:
Post a Comment