Abba, Father, I …

This is part three of the salvation series.

• Part 1: Salvation: What does it mean anyway?
• Part 2: The Holy Spirit:-Assurance of the future

Growing up!

When a Baby is born, the Parents of the baby are excited. They expect the baby to one day become  a grown up. And that is what normally  happens. But on occasion it does happen that some baby remains a “baby” forever. Still, other babies do die before reaching adulthood.

A similar principle applies in the spiritual arena. When one gets  born again (spiritually), they are expected to attain maturity, and become adults.  Maturity means “being clothed with Christ”. But alas, it is possible for one to be born again and for them to forever remain children, never growing up:

Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. ²I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. ³You are still worldly. ( 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, NLT)

It is also possible that one may die young before becoming a spiritual adult.

How not to grow up

How do you achieve good growth? Simple.

Everyone needs bread. Spiritual bread from the mouth of God, to grow.

it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:32-33, NLT)

⁵⁰But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. ( John 6:50-51, NLT)

Neglect that, and you will be weak, or walking the slippery path that is leading to early death.

And since you remain a baby, you always soil your clothes.

Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. ( Revelation 3 :4)

What does that mean, soiled clothes? It means, your life is characterized by:

sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

How can that be?

How does that happen? If you are not born again, that lifestyle of soiled clothes is what is expected of you, for

you are powerless to tackle the sinful nature within

that we all have. You have no power over it. It has power over you. It may be dormant at times, but it is there, in the shadows, lurking, waiting. And it does not respect whether you are tribal or civilized, unschooled  or a PhD, an atheist or one highly educated in the “ways of the bible”.

But is the sinful nature dead once i am born again? Well, bad and good news.

Bad news. That sinful nature is still around you.  Trailing you, trying to get you back to when you were bosom buddies. Actually, it is trying to get you to when you were it’s slave.

But the good news is this:

You have power over it now.  It does not have power over you.

Unlike the non born again, you have power to disobey what it wants of you. You are no longer a slave to it.

So, is the sinful nature dead in my life? It depends on you.  If you kill it, it dies. If you leave it alone, it lives next door to you.
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“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” Romans 9:13, NIV

Many people who know that verse excuse their hate for things Godly and say they want nothing to do with a “God who hates.” That, even as they themselves exhibit hate!

But, anyway, non-believers can be excused when they are unforgiving about the things of God. Or for seeing so much foolishness with the whole idea of salvation. Why? They are ignorant.

Hear what the Lord says:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” ( 1 Corinthians 1:18-19, NIV)

But, i am sure there are Christians who also sometimes wonder:

“If God is love, how could He say such things?”.

I will not be surprised if soon someone comes up with a Bible translation that changes the meaning of that verse to something more “godly” and more like the “god” we want .

Here is an attempt to shed more light for those saints who wonder and wander at times  because of that verse.

Teachable Moment

The Bible says that the whole law ( Old Testament ) was a school teacher whose purpose was to bring people to a point whereby they would be able to distinguish between life and death. So that when presented with a choice, they would shun death,  and happily embrace life.

So that  people would be able to understand what Grace is. And what love is.

Always remember that about the old testament.

That being said, i am sure most of you are happy you do not have to practice all those rules that were given to the Jews of old. Because you understand that Christ’s coming was a turning point for the whole world. That there was a time before and a time after that point in time.

And you understand what was meant by the saying:

“you heard it said that.. BUT NOW I SAY TO YOU”.

So back to the point. He is a simple revelation i had.

Revelation

It was said that

“Jacob i chose, Esau i rejected”

BUT NOW i say unto you

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Hear that?

I do a new thing.

What the Lord is saying is

“Yes, it is True. In old times, i chose the Jewish people. I showed them my favor. I showered them with love, grace and tender mercies. I “ignored” the other people.”

“You do realize of course that i included many other people who were not Jews but who were willing to relate to me? People such has Ruth or that whore in Jericho.”

“Anyway, i hear what you are saying. ”

“But now i do a new thing. The old has passed away, the new has come. Now, anyone who is interested in a relationship with me can come to me. I will not turn anyone away, no matter how filthy they think they are. And he will be my son. ”

“The Jews were just my people. But now you can be my son. A much better and closer relationship, don’t you think? ”

“I exclude no one. The power of exclusion is in your own hands. I accept all. Would you come?”

Today i will step on some toes with this post.

The Bible clearly promises that anyone who believes in Jesus Christ will become a son ( child ) of God. But the Bible also says many other things in relation to this promise.

Question: Is it possible to be a believer and yet not become a child of God? ( i.e. miss eternal life?)

Yes and No!

The Promise

Listen to this promise that runs all over the scriptures in one form or another. In fact it is the whole purpose of human existence:

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1:12-13, NIV)

Basic genomic science tells us what we somehow knew, that if you are a child of your father, you have your father’s nature ( DNA ) operating in you. Since God chose this metaphor to describe His relationship with us, we should expect similarities.

That which identifies a person as a child of the heavenly Father is the Holy Spirit:

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the
Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have
the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. (Romans 8:9 NIV)

Based on that (and many other scriptures) you can see that being a child of God is tied to having the Holy Spirit, as you would expect.

So the question is: Is it possible to be a believer and not have the Spirit of Christ? Yes and No.

Yes. You have just seen above verse. No, i will explain below.
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Are you tired of your life as it is? Do you wish you were someone else? Do you want a new life that never ends? Then you need to be born again. How do you get born again? You acquire a new Father.

So, how do you get this new never-ending life from the Father above?

(i) Own up to your sin problem. ALL people have a sin problem, not just flaws. Accept that you have been disobeying God and perhaps done things that God says He does not like ( e.g. stealing, lying, using God’s name in vain, looking at women (and vice versa) lustfully, hating someone, etc ) and that you have no power to keep yourself from these actions. The bible says ( Romans 3:23):

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

AND (Romans 6:23)

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(ii) Believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, was sent by God the Father into the world to die in order that your sins may be forgiven and taken away from you.(John 3:16)

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

(iii) Once you believe the above, simply pray/say something along these lines to the Lord:

Heavenly Father, i am a sinner but i know that you love me and sent your Son Jesus Christ to take away my sins. I now believe that Jesus Christ died for me to forgive my sins. Do forgive my sins. Thank you that now i am your son and i have everlasting life.

That’s it.

Now, just read your bible and follow the words of Jesus Christ. That is all that the heavenly Father requires of you.

Most of you generation-web may not know some of the terms i use in this blog, so i will offer some simple definitions:

Love:

Love, as in the Love of God : the action whereby, God, who does not need anything or anybody, comes to someone who is sinful and who hates Him or does not care about Him, and says,

“Hi there! I want you to be my child. I want to be your new Father. A good Father. I want you to be like me. I want you to be as I AM. I am going to do what it takes. You do not have to do anything, just believe what i am saying.”

Somehow, the “what it takes” that He talks about means Him dying, so He dies for you. And if you believe it, He starts the process of turning you to be like Him.
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