Once and For All | Part Three

"Since we are now capable of embracing and assimilating to heaven's culture, we only need to be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in all things."

The new birth is the most fascinating of metamorphoses.  Often likened to the dramatic change a caterpillar undergoes to become a butterfly, the new birth is even more radical because the process occurs within the unseen space of a clearly visible and functioning person.  We can see the person, but we can't see what's going on inside of them, only the manifested evidence of the work that's been accomplished within.  When a person accepts Jesus the Christ as Lord and Savior, their spirit man is regenerated and takes its rightful place as the person's identity (Romans 8:9-11).

All of us arrived to Earth with dormant spirits that required the quickening power of GOD to make us alive--in the truest sense of living.  As spirits possessing souls and living in bodies, humans must be born again by the Spirit in order to understand who we are at the very core of our being.  Without the new birth, life just ends up being an aimless journey of mistakes, sorrows and disappointments because of all the things we do (in our own reasoning) in search of ourselves.  But with a spirit that's alive and attuned to heaven's frequency, the murkiness of life takes on a refreshing sense of clarity, gains meaning and finally has a recognizable purpose.

Once and For All | Part Two

"What's the point in following a whole bunch of rules, statutes, laws and commandments, if you can't even please GOD in the simplest way?"

It's amazing how SIMPLE it is to receive eternal life. If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus the Christ, the Son of GOD, was raised from the dead, then you're saved. While there's great power in this life changing confession, what activates its power is believing. The word translated "believe" in Romans 10:9 is the Greek word "pisteuo", which means to have faith.

It takes faith to confess the LORD Jesus with your mouth and to believe in your heart that GOD raised Him from the dead. It's illogical for one man--let alone the Son of GOD in flesh?!--to come to Earth just to die and redeem all of mankind from eternal separation from GOD the Father. A man's mind can not and will not receive this, which is why it's a matter of the heart, a matter of one's will. You have to will to believe and confess this. There's no room for doubt. As I've heard my pastor say, "You've got to believe 'til you leave."  (And for those who are wondering, "What if you once believed and stopped?" The answer: you never believed in the first place, you only convinced yourself that you did.)

We must understand that without faith it's IMPOSSIBLE to please GOD (Heb. 11:16). When we come to GOD, we must believe (have faith) that He is (exists). Scripture records Jesus telling people He'd helped that it was their faith that saved them or made them whole. Faith is powerful! Yes, the grace of GOD saves us and it's available to all. However, GOD's saving grace must connect with an individual's faith--not his/her works--in order for him/her to receive (not earn) salvation. GOD designed it this way: if we could say that we--in any way--contributed to our own salvation, we most certainly would because it's just part of our human nature. That's why salvation is the gift of GOD (Eph. 2:8-9). (Again, for my fellow Bible Thumpers, I know what Eph. 2:10 says, and it will be addressed later on...please stay tuned for the rest of the matter.)

So, if you don't get anything else from this blog post, please get this: it is by GOD's grace that we are saved (Rom. 2:8) through the measure of faith that He's given us to believe (Rom. 12:3). All we've got to do is believe; for without our faith, GOD finds no pleasure in us. Sometimes as Christians, we put a whole lot of emphasis on living right and holy when ministering to the lost. But what's the point in following a whole bunch of rules, statutes, laws and commandments, if you can't even please GOD in the simplest way?

TO BE CONTINUED... Check out Part Three of "Once and For All"