How To Become A Christian Pt 2

When you become a Christian—when you become born again—you take on the nature of God, your heavenly Father. The nature of sin and Satan is death; the nature of God is life.

Jesus spoke to the people of His day and said, “Ye are of your father the devil” (John 8:44). To accept Jesus as your Lord causes you to turn your back on your father the devil, or on “the god of this world” as Satan is called (2 Corinthians 4:4). You take on a new Father, a heavenly Father; and you are born again—not physically, but spiritually.

 

Your spirit is reborn in the likeness of God.

You see, you are a threefold being:

You are a spirit,

you have a soul (mind, will, emotions), and

you live in a body.

Jesus referred to this in a conversation with Nicodemus (John 3:3-7).
Jesus said to him, “You must be born again.”
Nicodemus replied, “What do you mean? Do I have to go back again into my mother’s womb?”
Jesus answered, “No. What is born of the flesh is flesh. What is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Being born again is a spiritual rebirth. You are born of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit was sent into the earth to carry out the new birth. When you make Jesus the Lord of your life, the Holy Spirit comes to indwell you and causes your spirit to be re-created. According to 2 Corinthians 5:17, when you accept Jesus as your Lord, you become a new creature, or new creation; old things pass away and all things become new. As far as God is concerned, at that moment, you stand before Him as a brand-new person. You are reborn from sin and death to righteousness and new life. That is a fact.

First John 5:1-4 says, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God…. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”

I want you to realize what happens the moment a person makes Jesus Christ the Lord of his life. In the eyes of God, he becomes a world overcomer. Sin no longer reigns over his life. Sin is no longer his lord. Jesus is His Lord and he can live above the satanic forces in the world.

After Jesus was raised from the dead, He stood before His disciples and said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18). Then He delegated that power to His people. He said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). What is the gospel? The good news that God is no longer holding your sins and trespasses against you.

The Bible gives some specific instructions that you are to follow in order to become a Christian, or in order to be born again. Look at Romans 10:8-11:
…The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Jesus said, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).

No matter what kind of sinner you are, no matter what you have done, you can go to Jesus and He will accept you. Once you go to Him, then He will cause you to be born again. He will re-create you, and that sin which has been plaguing you will be a thing of the past. It will be gone. You will be accepted before God as if you have never sinned!

To be born again, you use your mouth and you use your heart.

First, you believe in your heart that God’s Word is true; then you confess it with your mouth because you believe it.

I want you to realize one very important fact: You don’t confess you are saved because you feel saved. Feelings have absolutely nothing to do with salvation.

Let me give you an example:

Suppose someone says to you, “I went to the bank this morning and deposited $1,000 in your account.” How do you know they actually did what they said? You don’t believe they did it because you feel $1,000 richer, and you don’t doubt them just because you don’t feel any different. Your feelings really have nothing to do with it. If that person’s word is good, you will believe him. If his word is bad, you won’t.

When your salvation is involved, you are relying on God’s Word—and God doesn’t lie. He means what He says. If He said it, then you can believe it. He has said that if you believe in your heart and confess with your month that Jesus is

Lord, you will be saved. You don’t base your salvation on the way you feel. You base it on the pure, unadulterated Word of Almighty God.

 

 

 

-Welcome to the Family by Kenneth copeland

How To Become A Christian Pt 2