Yesterday I posted a warning to test ourselves to see if we are truly born again (see that post here). I said I would post the tests from John's first epistle today, so here goes. These were compiled by my good friend, Luke Geraty (see his blog at www.thinktheology.org/).
Please look at these tests honestly and prayerfully. Is there truly evidence in our lives that God has worked a life-changing miracle of salvation in our hearts?
The 11 Evidences of Being Born Again
1. Those who are born of God keep his commandments.
1 John 2:3–4: “By this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
1 John 3:24: “Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him.”
2. Those who are born of God walk as Christ walked.
1 John 2:5–6: “By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
3. Those who are born of God don’t hate others but love them. (Particularly, other Christians - "the brothers")
1 John 2:9: “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.”
1 John 3:14: “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.”
1 John 4:7–8: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
1 John 4:20: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar.”
4. Those who are born of God don’t love the world.
1 John 2:15: “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
5. Those who are born of God confess the Son and receive (have) him.
1 John 2:23: “No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.”
1 John 4:15: “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”
1 John 5:12: “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
6. Those who are born of God practice righteousness.
1 John 2:29: “If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.”
7. Those who are born of God don’t make a practice of sinning.
1 John 3:6: “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.”
1 John 3:9–10: “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”
1 John 5:18: “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.”
8. Those who are born of God possess the Spirit of God.
1 John 3:24: “By this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.”
1 John 4:13: “By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.”
9. Those who are born of God listen submissively to the apostolic Word.
1 John 4:6: “We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
10. Those who are born of God believe that Jesus is the Christ.
1 John 5:1: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.”
11. Those who are born of God overcome the world.
1 John 5:4: “Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”
We are known by our fruit. May God truly do a God-glorifying work of salvation in our hearts that shows up in our lives!
Showing posts with label test yourself; fruit; evidence of conversion; the gospel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label test yourself; fruit; evidence of conversion; the gospel. Show all posts
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Warning! Are You Truly Born Again?
When is the last time you tested yourself to see if you have genuine, biblical evidence that God has truly saved you? Jesus taught that many will be surprised on the day they stand before him, thinking they are "in" and finding, too late, that they are "out." He taught that not everyone who calls him "Lord" will "enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 7:21-23, ESV). Is this not a sobering thought? Remember, these are not the words of the stereotypical conservative fundamentalist, but of Jesus himself!
Many people imagine themselves to be buddies with Jesus; they see themselves as really "getting" Jesus, while all the other knuckleheads are just way off. But imagine yourself standing before the Lord on that Day, and hearing him say - to YOU - "I never knew you. Depart from me..." (Matt 7:23). This is the ultimate bad day.
Have you been born again (John 3:7-8) into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) who is different from the inside out (Ezekiel 36:26)?
Scripture gives us several tests and examples of fruit/evidence that would indicate that our profession of faith in Jesus is indeed real (tomorrow, Lord willing, I will post 11 tests from First John). But today I want to just focus on the evidence of having a desire for God and the things, people and ways of God.
If we have truly experienced God's saving power, we cannot remain the same. Paul Washer gives the example of being run over by a speeding dump truck. You cannot go away from that experience unchanged; to say you have experienced a speeding dump truck head on with no physical changes indicates that you are deceived about your professed experience.
To be 'hit' full force with the powerful, life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God brings about radical and noticable change! This new creation has crossed over from death to life (John 5:24), has gone from hating God to loving God (Romans 1:30; 5:10; Ephesians 2:3-10), and from loving sin to hating sin (Romans 6:20-21; Jude 1:23). The one who has experienced God in Christ now loves the things of God, the people of God and the ways of God.
Test yourself (2 Corinthians 13:5): Do you catch yourself daydreaming about giving money away, or getting more stuff? Do you eagerly desire to meet with Christians as often as possible, or look for excuses to miss church gatherings? Do you desire to share your life with other believers, or want them to mind their own business? Do you want to hear the Bible preached and taught, or does the very idea bore you to tears? Does it fill you with great delight to think about praying, reading the Bible, singing hymns with other believers and spending eternity with the God of the Bible and the church? Or does your idea of heaven amount to a never-ending pleasure-fest with no God in sight?
Do you not understand that these are indicators of your heart, revealing the truth about your profession of faith in Jesus? These are evidences of whether you have been changed by the power of God or are still in your sins. Indeed, if God does not change you from the inside out through the message of Christ - who he is and what he did for sinners at the cross and resurrection - then you will carry the full guilt of your sins and enter what Jesus called "eternal punishment" (Matthew 25:46).
Nothing else is more important! Don't be lulled to sleep, coasting through life and thinking you are ok. Ask God to show you the true condition of your heart. Take an honest look at your heart through the lens of the Bible. An old sign in our youth group room in the church where I grew up said this: "If you were accused of being a Christian would there be enough evidence to prove it?" Heart evidence. Are you true or false? Do you love God, or love yourself? Has a life-changing miracle been worked upon your heart or not?
There is hope!
Jesus saves sinners. He has come to us from God, sent in love, to take our place and bear our sins on his own body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). Jesus took the punishment, bore the wrath of God, received our curse and died our death (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Isaiah 53:10-11). He cried out "It is finished!" and he died. But he rose from the grave on the third day, and promised forgiveness of sins and eternal life for those who will repent of sin and believe on him and his gospel (Luke 24:46-47; John 3:16).
God is willing and able to save!
Many people imagine themselves to be buddies with Jesus; they see themselves as really "getting" Jesus, while all the other knuckleheads are just way off. But imagine yourself standing before the Lord on that Day, and hearing him say - to YOU - "I never knew you. Depart from me..." (Matt 7:23). This is the ultimate bad day.
Have you been born again (John 3:7-8) into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) who is different from the inside out (Ezekiel 36:26)?
Scripture gives us several tests and examples of fruit/evidence that would indicate that our profession of faith in Jesus is indeed real (tomorrow, Lord willing, I will post 11 tests from First John). But today I want to just focus on the evidence of having a desire for God and the things, people and ways of God.
If we have truly experienced God's saving power, we cannot remain the same. Paul Washer gives the example of being run over by a speeding dump truck. You cannot go away from that experience unchanged; to say you have experienced a speeding dump truck head on with no physical changes indicates that you are deceived about your professed experience.
To be 'hit' full force with the powerful, life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God brings about radical and noticable change! This new creation has crossed over from death to life (John 5:24), has gone from hating God to loving God (Romans 1:30; 5:10; Ephesians 2:3-10), and from loving sin to hating sin (Romans 6:20-21; Jude 1:23). The one who has experienced God in Christ now loves the things of God, the people of God and the ways of God.
Test yourself (2 Corinthians 13:5): Do you catch yourself daydreaming about giving money away, or getting more stuff? Do you eagerly desire to meet with Christians as often as possible, or look for excuses to miss church gatherings? Do you desire to share your life with other believers, or want them to mind their own business? Do you want to hear the Bible preached and taught, or does the very idea bore you to tears? Does it fill you with great delight to think about praying, reading the Bible, singing hymns with other believers and spending eternity with the God of the Bible and the church? Or does your idea of heaven amount to a never-ending pleasure-fest with no God in sight?
Do you not understand that these are indicators of your heart, revealing the truth about your profession of faith in Jesus? These are evidences of whether you have been changed by the power of God or are still in your sins. Indeed, if God does not change you from the inside out through the message of Christ - who he is and what he did for sinners at the cross and resurrection - then you will carry the full guilt of your sins and enter what Jesus called "eternal punishment" (Matthew 25:46).
Nothing else is more important! Don't be lulled to sleep, coasting through life and thinking you are ok. Ask God to show you the true condition of your heart. Take an honest look at your heart through the lens of the Bible. An old sign in our youth group room in the church where I grew up said this: "If you were accused of being a Christian would there be enough evidence to prove it?" Heart evidence. Are you true or false? Do you love God, or love yourself? Has a life-changing miracle been worked upon your heart or not?
There is hope!
Jesus saves sinners. He has come to us from God, sent in love, to take our place and bear our sins on his own body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). Jesus took the punishment, bore the wrath of God, received our curse and died our death (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Isaiah 53:10-11). He cried out "It is finished!" and he died. But he rose from the grave on the third day, and promised forgiveness of sins and eternal life for those who will repent of sin and believe on him and his gospel (Luke 24:46-47; John 3:16).
God is willing and able to save!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)