• Regeneration

    by Published on 02-14-2015 01:35 PM     Number of Views: 2887 
    1. Categories:
    2. Regeneration,
    3. Spiritual Warfare

    Are You Saved if You Believe
    those Who Reject Christ Will Be Saved
    and not Go to Hell?

    Every One that Believes

    "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 10.32,33).

    So you can't confess in anyone to be saved, but it has to be Jesus. There is no other name under Heaven by which one can be saved.

    "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8.38).

    When you don’t give the gospel of salvation to people, especially loved ones, you are acting as though you are ashamed of Jesus.

    “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24.14). “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Rom. 1.16). Therefore, you are not saved if you don't believe. Pretty simple. Not so simple for the fleshly to understand.

    “1 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve…” (1 Cor. 15.1-5).

    "15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 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. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God" (John 3.15-21).

    Pseudo-Universalism

    "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad" (Matt. 12.30). "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal" (Matt. 25.46). "The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who refuses to believe in the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him" (John 3.36). "They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power" (2 Thess. 1.9). A false Christian -- someone who proclaims to be a Christian but is not --, if not for other reasons, rejects Jesus on the basis of these verses, because as lovers of the world they can't accept a God who sends husbands and wives, family and relatives to Hell. Ironically, they believe some people will go to Hell as long as they are not in their family circle.

    The correct Jesus, therefore, is the Jesus who sends people to Hell for rejecting what He did on the cross, where the judgment is eternal, that He is God, resurrected the 3rd day, ascended to the Father the 40th day and shall return to reign over the nations with a "rod of iron" (Rev. 12.5) with His overcomers (Jude 14,15; Rev. 2.26,27) for 1000 years (20.4-6) on earth in the 3rd Temple (11.2; 2 Thess. 2.2-4). You are making a mockery of the gospel of salvation of Christ if you claim people can be saved other than by the cross. If you don't acknowledge such a person who rejects the gospel as being unsaved then what is the point of giving them the gospel if they can be saved without it? Did Jesus die in vain? What happens then to the exclusivity of God's only begotten Son? It's as if the Church body of Christ is non-existent for those who are silent on the matter. We are guilty of what we don't say as much as what we do say. People who currently reject Christ if they were to die this very moment surely they would go to Hell. Unregenerates will be resurrected to the Great White Throne 1000 years after the elect are resurrected to Judgment Seat. The latter is unto rewards for believers in the parousia of Christ at the end of this age. "But the rest of the dead [unsaved] lived not again until the thousand years were finished" (Rev. 20.5).

    If you make the claim a person could still be saved after death either before being placed in Hell or after what then of free will for those who would eternally separate themselves from God? Is no such free choice afforded to people? How is that truly free will made in God's image if not afforded this choice? Have you not debased God by professing there is no free choice to have this free will to eternally separate yourself from God? Are we only robots? God is great though He can give us this free choice and have communion with him by possessing these full faculties, made in His image, to experience the new birth and receive the Holy Spirit once born-again. Universalists or pseudo-universalists have no such experience, worshiping a false Christ and a Jesus I do not know. They may claim they have some experience, but it is certainly not the new life by the new birth as new creations of God. How very important to give the gospel to people now because we have this one life to decide if we want reconciliation with God! The evil of universalists is that they convince many people not to accept the true Jesus now who sends people to Hell, because once you have died, the choice is final. Sitting on the fence, claiming we can't discern these truths and it is only God who judges without knowing what He judges in the immediate moment is the lie from the pit. Why give us the 66 books of the Bible if we can't know God's intent?

    Don't Be Negative

    What is really offensive (but don't pick up the bait of Satan) and ignorant is when you describe Jesus of the Bible to people who are lost in their feelings, not in the spirit of truth, and accuse you of being negative are themselves being negative, because what is worse than the lie of rejecting the gospel, for by doing so they condemn and send themselves to Hell! Negatively, they deny the exclusivity of Christ effectively calling Jesus and the Father liars. It is as if they had a hand in killing Jesus. They don't like the feeling that Jesus of the Bible conveys because it does not exalt the flesh but brings us down low as unprofitable servants. Jesus spoke on Hell more than anyone. So when family members come against you and play unethical games because of your faith, realize what Jesus said that as He was treated so will we be treated. Families and relatives are broken apart because of Jesus since they do not want to give their lives to Christ. How sad! They create another Jesus of their own making and selfish proclivity not in accordance with Scripture. "18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book" (Rev. 22.18,19).

    We call non-Christians out! Holding them accountable. Consequently, their hostility stirs and they retaliate in strange ways. They are not even in control of themselves when they react. I am reminded of how Jesus' family came against Him and prodded Him to go to Jerusalem where they knew He would be captured and killed. His biological brothers and sisters were jealous. But they didn't understand who He was, is and always will be: the way, the truth and the life. Not how I feel at this moment! Feelings are undependable. Later though Jude and James, brothers of Jesus, after seeing Him resurrected believed and were saved. And Jesus' mother Mary believed her Son was God.

    Keep giving the gospel in love that saves people from their sins and gives eternal life through His resurrection: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17.3). Having eternal life which can never be lost is an ability to have a personal relationship with Jesus and eternal blessings.
    by Published on 06-05-2014 12:27 AM     Number of Views: 1275 
    1. Categories:
    2. Regeneration

    "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins" (John 8.24).

    To die in your sins is to remain unforgiven and go to Hell. Who is He? Lets come back to that question in a bit.

    "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also" (1 John 2.23).

    To not have the Father by denying the Son of God such a person will go to Hell.

    "And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6.40).

    Those who don't believe the Son do not receive everlasting life but everlasting judgment or perdition in Hell to be eternally separated from God. Believing in a false Christ is not the Son of God so God would not save such a person.

    "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3.36).

    The wrath of God is on those who don't receive the Son who He truly is.

    "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14.6).

    Who is Jesus?

    "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4.12).

    If Jesus is only a man or only an angel, how can He be the only way?

    "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6.23).

    How can merely a created being give eternal life? A created being was not eternally existing so how can that which is not eternal give eternality? This is where the Trinity comes in. The Trinity teaches not just the Father but the Son also are eternal and have the power to give eternal life.

    Back to John 8.24. So who is He that we need to believe in to be saved?

    "Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me" (Is. 43.10).

    Jesus is saying "I am He" (John 8.24). Yahweh God says, "I am He" (Is. 43.10).

    God pleads with us and foreknew our free choice to believe in God the Father and God the Son and know that He is God.

    "Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?" (Is. 43.13)

    Yahweh God says "I am He" also in Deut. 32.39, Isaiah 41.4, 43.10, 48.12, 51.12, Jer. 29.23.

    If you don't accept God who He truly is, you will perish in Hell. If you deny God will send people to Hell for refusing who He truly is -- who sends people to Hell for denying who He truly is -- you will likewise perish in your sins and go to Hell because that is worshiping a false Christ.

    "Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah" (Ps. 3.8).

    Who does He save since salvation is of the LORD? Those who accept His Son.

    "Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God" (John 5.18).

    If you are equal with the Father then you are eternal also so Jesus is God the Son. Ancient Israelites believed "Son of God" refers to God. To be the Son is to be the same nature, the same being, same essence and equal with God -- co-eternal, co-existing and co-equal!

    "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by" (John 8.58,59).

    Exodus 3:14 reads: God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (RSV)

    God the Father says "I AM" (Ex. 3.14) and Jesus says "I AM" (John 8.58). God the Father says He is God. Jesus says He Himself is God too. No wonder why they wanted to kill Jesus for claiming to be God since they did not want to submit to Him and His authority.

    "The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God" (John 10.33).

    Jesus never denied that He is God able to forgive sins.

    Jesus is the creator of all things (John 1.3, Heb. 1.10, Col. 1.15,16).
    by Published on 01-30-2014 09:34 AM     Number of Views: 1322 
    1. Categories:
    2. Regeneration,
    3. Atheist, Agnostic, Agtheist

    You do not need to know everything, be all-knowing, as God would be, to know if God exists as that would be self-contradictory, for obviously you are not God, never will be, and surely God has enough grace to reveal Himself instead of being a deistic absentee landlord. Sorry Antony Flew, you are going to Hell.

    There are two ways atheists try to deny the existence of the uncreated Creator. One, they say the universe was created from nothing, but we have no hard evidence of that. We only have evidence in nature of something from something. Therefore, according to this evidence, the universe can't start up from non-existence. Really, that which does not exist can't cause anything. A billion pound gorilla can't cause anything. Why? Because it doesn't exist.

    Second, atheists try to disprove God is by claiming the universe always existed in an infinite regress of cause and effects. But, of course, that is fallacious too, because if there was an eternity of the past of cause and effects in nature, by that very definition, you would have had an eternity to come into being before now, so you should have already happened, having had an eternity to do so. Surely an eternity is enough time. Do you need more time than an eternity? It gets even worse for the atheist, because by proposing an infinite regress of cause and effects in nature, contrawise, you should never have existed because a past eternity, by that very definition, would continue on for eternity, never reaching this point. A past eternity of cause and effects is a man-made delusional construct that goes completely against the above evidence. And of course, there is nothing to support infinite regress. So why even go down that rabbit hole of nonsense? It might make a good sci-fi movie but that's all.

    By this evidence, since nature can't start up from nothing, nor always have existed, we know that nature needs a cause outside of itself, outside of time and space, being uncreated. This uncreated Creator is whom we call God. Now that you know God exists, find out where He reveals Himself. God can't have morals below our own, for the greater can never be lesser than the created. Therefore, since we are personal and accessible so God is too.

    Only in Christianity does God personally enter His creation and make Himself accessible as the most widely accessible faith on the planet by His good graces. Since nobody can find a naturalistic explanation to account for the eyewitness testimony of the Apostles, realize Jesus, the most documented and corroborated person in antiquity, raised Himself from the dead. Therefore, since Jesus spoke on Hell more than anyone, if you don't come to the cross as a helpless sinner to receive the Lord Jesus as Savior, surely you will spend an eternity in Hell.

    God created you with free will and expects you to use it. He will not strive against the flesh forever to draw you to Him. Even by not using your free will to choose Christ, you are still using it to shut your mind down which is your way of rejecting God. Jesus said in the Bible, if you are not for Me, you are against Me. A decision not for Christ is a decision against Him.

    Now if Christianity is false and you don't believe in it, good for you. But are you any better off by believing in it if it is not true since you end up being annihilated anyhow with the same end result? However, if it is true, and you reject Christ, nothing is worse than going to Hell. But if you do accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior, nothing is better than receiving eternal life - an ability to know God now and eternal blessings. Jesus was a liar, lunatic or God. Since He was not a liar, nor a lunatic, He must be God.

    Praise the Lord for this discernment!
    by Published on 09-30-2013 06:13 PM     Number of Views: 1717 
    1. Categories:
    2. Regeneration,
    3. Calvinism

    The Fall and Salvation

    Unfortunately, mankind has fallen. By this plunge man’s unfettered volition suffered prodigious damage. We may say that there are two massive contradictory wills throughout the universe. On the one side stands the holy and perfect will of God; on the other is arrayed the defiled, defiling and opposing will of Satan. In between subsists the sovereign, independent, free will of man. When man listens to the devil and rebels against God he seems to render an eternal "no" to God’s will and an abiding "yes" to Satan’s. Since man employs his volition to choose the will of the devil, his volition falls captive to the devil. Therefore all his acts are governed by Satan’s will. Until he overturns his early subjection, man's will remains unquestionably oppressed by the enemy power.

    In this fallen position and condition man is fleshly. This flesh—by which his will, together with his other organs, is ruled—is thoroughly corrupted. How can anything pleasing to God ever result from such a darkened will? Even his questing after God springs from the realm of the flesh and therefore lacks any spiritual value. He may invent many ways of worshiping God at this time, yet all are his own ideas, all are "will-worship" (Col. 2.23 ASV), totally unacceptable to Him.

    Let us realize, then, that except a man receive God’s new life and serve Him therein, every bit of service for God is but the work of the flesh. His intention to serve and even to suffer for Him is vain. Before he is regenerated, his will, even though it may be inclined towards good and God, is futile. For it is not what fallen man intends to do for God but how He Himself wishes man to do for Him that really counts in God’s eyes. Man may devise and initiate countless notable works for God; nonetheless, if they do not originate with God they are nothing more than will-worship.

    This is true with respect to salvation. When man lives carnally even his desire to be saved is not acceptable to God. We read in the Gospel of John that "to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (1.12-13). Man is not regenerated because he wills it so. He must be born of God. Nowadays Christians entertain the incorrect concept that if anyone wishes to be saved and seeks the way of life he undoubtedly will be a good disciple of Christ, for nothing can be better than this desire. God nonetheless affirms that in this matter of regeneration as well as in all other matters related to Him, the will of man is totally nonefficacious.

    Many children of God cannot understand why John 1 asserts the will of man to be noneffective whereas Revelation concludes by saying, "Let him who desires take the water of life without price" (22.17), as though man himself is entirely responsible for his salvation. And does not the Lord Jesus Himself give as explanation for the Jews not being saved the following declaration: "You refuse to come to me that you may have life" (John 5.40) ? Here again, the responsibility for perdition apparently rests on man’s will. Can the Bible be contradicting itself? Is there any special meaning behind these apparent inconsistencies? A comprehension of this matter will help us to appreciate what God requires of us in our Christian life.

    We will recall that God wishes no one to "perish but that all should reach repentance" because He "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Peter 3.9; 1 Tim. 2.4). No problem arises concerning whom God wants to save or whom He will let perish. The problem before us is, rather, what is the sinner’s attitude towards God’s will? If he decides to be a Christian because he is naturally inclined towards "religion," naturally contemptuous of the world or naturally influenced by his heredity, environment or family, he is as far from God and His life as are other sinners. If the sinner chooses to be a Christian at the moment of excitement or enthusiasm, he may not fare better than the rest. It all reduces itself to this: what is his attitude towards God’s will? God loves him, but will he accept this love? Christ calls him, but will he come? The Holy Spirit wants to give him life, but is he willing to be born? His will is useful only in choosing God’s will. The question now is, and solely is, how does his volition react towards God’s will?

    Have we noticed the difference here? If man himself commences the search for salvation, he is yet perishing. Various founders of religions belong to this category. But if man, upon hearing the gospel, is willing to accept what God offers to him, he shall be saved. In the one case, man originates; in the other, he receives. The one does the willing himself while the other accepts God’s will. John 1 speaks of man himself willing, whereas John 5 and Revelation 22 refer to man’s accepting God’s will. Hence no contradiction exists between these two; rather is there a very crucial lesson for us to learn.
    by Published on 05-09-2013 12:32 AM     Number of Views: 1587 
    1. Categories:
    2. Regeneration,
    3. Spiritual Christian Life,
    4. Universalism,
    5. Spiritual Warfare



    Have you come across people, and more potently family members, who claim to be Christians but are clearly not? They throw the word "Christian" around when tested as if somehow that automatically makes them a Christian. For example, a family member may think the atheist in the family or other members of the family are Christians even though they never want to discuss the gospel of salvation of Jesus Christ let alone hear about it. They get angry about it. So this "nominal Christian" (i.e. false Christian) essentially believes in universalism that they are all saved and is under strong delusion that they believe in Christ anyhow in some mysterious esoteric way. What a false Christ this would be!

    How does an atheist accept Christ when the atheist claims God does not exist? That is the most obvious case to put forward. But it is no less true to observe the contradiction in someone who may not vocally deny Christ, but certainly has not received Him for forgiveness of sins and resurrection life.

    This family member who is a false Christian may have accused you of being a fanatic for your faith as a Christian even though you were simply giving the gospel of salvation with love to another family member who is an atheist. You were saved so you ask this fake Christian family member when he or she was born-again? Never did he or she ever give you the gospel before you were saved (or even after). What love is that? But as the years go by this fake Christian says she or he was saved long before you were. What a surprise that is hearing it for the first time when just a few days ago she or he said she believed in reincarnation, universalism and never mentioned Jesus is God the Son. This is a perverted form of one-up-man-ship. This is how worldly people are. They don't care about the truth of the Scriptures or the Spirit of Truth.

    Not only have I experienced this demented game they play, but I know other Christians who have given me their testimony that they have undergone the same mind games from fake Christian family members. I would like to add as well, I have never met anyone over the age of 40 who ever gave their life to Christ so don't expect them to change. At some point you need to simply not discuss it with them anymore, kicking the dust under your feet even as Jesus and the Apostles did. Just be aware of this universalist deception. Obviously, the Scripture are clear that such antics and those who rely on such antics are headed straight for the Lake of Fire.

    What's even worse is they are responding to the Christian in such a way to tell the Christian what the Christian wants to hear that they believe in Christ, but what then of these false Christ? There are many false Christs. Presenting a false Christ is not Christ Jesus. They are really purporting to believe in a false Christ of universalism. That is to say, the atheist, deist, worldling and gnostic in the family are saved by this Calvinistic irresistibly imposed salvation from a false Christ. Apparently, nobody goes to Hell in this scheme except the really really bad people.

    I don't think this onslaught that Christians have to put up with is anything new, but when it touches close to your heart by those who are family members, you realize Satan is working overtime in the spirit of your family members.

    J
    esus said, "Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 10.32,33).

    If you are unwilling to confess Jesus to others especially to close family members, obviously you are violating this verse, and therefore, you will go to Hell. Family members who reject Christ, that is, they don’t accept that He is God, died on the cross for the sins of the world, resurrected the 3rd day or make Him universalist shall spend eternity in Hell according to the Bible.

    I asked this particular fake Christian family member what would be his or her response when before the Throne when God asks, Do you accept Me and My decision to send the rest of your family members to Hell because they have rejected my only begotten Son? Her answer to me was, "Then I am going to Hell." I have never gotten her to ever admit she is going to Hell, but today she admitted it. Christians need to approach such people who worship a false Christ in precise ways to expose their own hearts back to them. What she is willing to do with this revelation is up to her. But you can see clearly she rejects the God who sends people to Hell whom are close family members. Call it a family-centric faith. If you love your mother, father, brother, sister or children more than me, you have not put Me first in your life to save you.

    As she has not shared the gospel of salvation with said family members, leaving an empty Church on her watch, by not giving the gospel of salvation to them when they are perishing shows she or he is not a Christian.

    “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3.15). Eternal life is not given to the person who is antichrist. If you are not for Him whom He truly is, you are in your heart of hearts truly against Him.

    “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” (John 3.16).

    “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3.18).

    “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3.19).

    “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” (John 3.20).

    How should we confess Him? "...confess Me before men..." (Matt. 10.32).

    Jesus says in Mark 8.38, "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when he comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."

    Question: Is it wrong to be a Christian secretly in order to preserve your own life?

    Jesus Himself gives us the answer: "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword” (Matt. 10.32-34).

    Christ made it clear to us that “if the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15.18-19). If you call yourself a Christian and don’t have this sense, it is because you are not a Christian.

    For a Christian, a secret faith is simply not an option.

    Another message that Jesus brought to the world: “They [the world] will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake” (Matt. 24.9).

    “But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them” (Mark 13.9).

    Christians have a mandate from Christ to “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28.19).

    Paul echoes Christ’s directive with this query: “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!’” (Rom. 10.14-15)
    by Published on 02-17-2013 03:56 PM     Number of Views: 1285 
    1. Categories:
    2. Regeneration

    We should always have in mind that as the servants of God we must not withhold our love in a place until some Christian brethren arrive on the scene. All who hold this misconception—namely, that their love is to be reserved for the brethren only—are unable to do the work of God. Let it be known and unequivocally declared that the love of the brethren comes afterwards, and that it is a totally different proposition.

    You need to have a love for the generality of mankind and a compassion towards them. For John 3.16 makes plain that "God so loved the world." What is "the world" here? It refers to all the people in the world, including the unsaved and ignorant. Those whom God loves are the people of the entire world. He loves every one on the earth. If you are not interested in a person whom God loves, and furthermore, if you will love him only after he becomes a Christian brother, your disposition is quite different from the Lord’s; and therefore, you cannot serve God.

    Your heart will need to be expanded to such a degree that you feel that all people are to be
    loved. As long as this one or that one is a person, you love him. And only then shall you be qualified to serve God. (The Character of God's Workman, pp. 22-23, CFP white cover only.)

    by Published on 10-03-2012 06:52 PM     Number of Views: 1696 
    1. Categories:
    2. Regeneration

    After Regeneration the Mind Must be Renewed

    But even following repentance the believer’s mind is not liberated totally from the touch of Satan. As the enemy worked through the mind in former days, so today will he work in the same manner. Paul, in writing to the Corinthian believers, confided that he was “afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11. 3). The Apostle well recognizes that as the god of this world blinds the mind of unbelievers so will he deceive the mind of the believers. Even though they are saved their life of thought is as yet unrenewed; consequently it remains the most strategic battleground. The mind suffers the onslaughts of the powers of darkness more than any other organ of the whole man. We should realize that satanic spirits are directing special attention to our minds and are attacking them unrelentingly—“as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning.” Satan did not assail Eve’s heart first but rather her head. Similarly today, the evil spirits first attack our head, not our heart, in order to have us corrupted from the simplicity and purity which is towards Christ. They fully understand how it is the weakest point in our entire being, for it had served as their fortress before we believed and even now is not yet entirely overthrown. Attacking the mind is the easiest avenue for them to accomplish their purpose. Eve’s heart was sinless and yet she received Satan’s suggested thoughts. She was thus beguiled through his deception into forfeiting her reasoning and tumbling into the snare of the enemy. Let a believer accordingly be careful in his boast of possessing an honest and sincere heart, for unless he learns how to repulse the evil spirits in his mind he will continue to be tempted and deceived into losing the sovereignty of his will.

    Paul continues by telling us from whence this danger comes: “if some one comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted” (v.4). The peril for the Christian is to have false teaching injected into his thought life so as to lead him astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. These are the works the “serpent” is perpetrating today. Satan has disguised himself as an angel of light to lead saints to worship with their intellect a Jesus other than the Lord, to receive a spirit other than the Holy Spirit, and by these to propagate a gospel other than the gospel of the grace of God. Paul pronounces these to be nothing else than the deeds of Satan in the Christian’s mind. The adversary translates these “doctrines” into thoughts and then imposes them upon the mind of the Christian. How tragic that few appreciate the reality of these activities! Few, indeed, who would ever think that the devil could give such good thoughts to men!

    It is possible for a child of God to have a new life and a new heart but be without a new head. With too many saints, the mind, though their heart is new, is still quite old. Their heart is full of love whereas their head is totally lacking in perception. How often the intents of the heart are utterly pure and yet the thoughts in the head are confused. Having become saturated with a mishmash of everything, the mind lacks the most signal element of all, which is spiritual insight. Countless saints genuinely love all children of God, but unfortunately their brain is stuffed with a hodgepodge of theories, opinions and objectives. Quite a number of God’s best and most faithful children are the most narrow-minded and prejudice-filled. Already have they decided what is the truth and what truth they shall accept. They reject every other truth because these do not blend in with their preconceived notions. Their head is not as expansive as their heart. Moreover, there are other children of God whose mind can conceive no thought whatever. No matter how many truths have been heard they can neither remember nor practice nor communicate them to others. These have certainly heard a lot, yet they possess no ability to express any of it. For many years they have received truths, but not even a little can they supply for the needs of others. Perhaps they may even brag how full they are of the Holy Spirit! What creates such symptoms is an unrenewed mind.

    Man’s head damages people more than man’s heart! Were believers to learn how to distinguish the renewal of heart from the renewal of head, they would not commit the mistake of believing in man. Christians ought to realize that even one who maintains a most intimate fellowship with God may nevertheless unknowingly have accepted Satan’s suggestions in his mind, which consequently precipitate errors in his conduct, words and viewpoints! Aside from the plain teaching of the Bible no man’s words are entirely trustworthy. We must not live by a man’s words just because we admire or respect that man. His utterance and conduct may be most holy but his thought may not be spiritual. What we therefore observe is not his speech and behavior but his mind. Were we to believe, because of one’s life conduct, that what a worker says is God’s truth, we would then be making man’s word and demeanor our standard of truth instead of the Bible. History is strewn with innumerable cases of sanctified saints who propagated heresies! The simple explanation is that their hearts were renewed but their minds remained old. We will undeniably acknowledge that life is more important than knowledge. Indeed, the former is a thousand times more consequential than the latter. Nonetheless, after some growth in life it is essential to seek the knowledge which proceeds from a renewed mind. We should see how urgent it is for both heart and head to be renewed.

    If a Christian’s mind is not renewed his life is bound to be lopsided and narrow. Work becomes nigh to impossible for him. The popular teaching nowadays stresses that there should be love, patience, humility and so forth in the Christian life. These traits of the heart are highly significant, since nothing else can replace them. Even so, can we regard these as meeting all our needs? They are important but not inclusive. It is equally vital for a person’s mind to be renewed, enlarged and strengthened. Otherwise we shall witness an unbalanced life. Many hold that spiritual Christians should not be common sensical, as though the more foolish they are the better. Now except for the fact that such spiritual believers live a little better than the rest, they have no other usefulness and cannot be entrusted with any work. To be sure, we do not advocate worldly wisdom and knowledge, because God’s redemption does not call for employing our former sin-stained mind. But He does desire it to be renewed as is our spirit. God wishes to restore our thought life to the excellent state it had when He created it so that we may not only glorify God in our walk but may glorify Him in our thinking as well. Who can estimate the multipled number of God’s children who, due to neglecting their mind, grow narrow, stubborn and obstinate, and even sometimes defiled. They fall short of the glory of God. The Lord’s people need to know that if they want to live a full life their mind must be renewed. One of the reasons why the kingdom of God lacks workers today is because too many cannot undertake anything with their head. They neglect to seek its renewal after they are saved and hence permit their work to be obstructed. The Bible declares emphatically that we must “be transformed by the renewal of our mind” (Rom. 12.2).
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