For the true Christian, God becomes the center of everything!
Whereas before He didn't know God (religion yes, God no!) but now suddenly he does. God has made Himself personally known to him by the revelation of Himself!
So before any tests can be made on a person, that person must be a "Christian", made so by the Spirit of God. A Christian is one who has seen that Christ died and paid for all his sins, and knows that He alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that saving us is a work that "Christ alone does and has done" at the cross.

Today (as in the past), what is needed to save each of us individually comes when we hear the Gospel of Grace and believe on Him through the work He did for us at the cross. His crucifixion and resurrection were done in order that we may believe; and by believing on Him (who was, and is, and is coming again), they can take and appropriate this work done for them personally, 2,000 years ago at Calvary, by taking it (and Him) into our hearts by faith.

The first part (i.e. "The Son of God's Part") was for Him to obey (as a man) the Father's will in His going to the cross as the payment for our sins... It Is Finished, and God's Holiness has been satisfied. Through Him, God has poured out His Free Grace on us (costing us nothing) - thus making His Salvation Invitation free and offered equally to everyone...
Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

The second part (i.e. "Our Part") is for us to look at the role He played in going to the cross as our crucified Savior in forgiving sin and simply believe! It is because we do believe on Him that we come to Him (by returning our love) as our risen Lord, laying our lives down before Him, taking up our cross to follow Him, and finding this New and Spiritual Power at work in us to do all that He asks. We are saved by His Grace working through faith (costing us everything) - thus proving that Genuine (inward) Faith exists wherever a Genuine (outward) Love towards God and His word is in operation, because of such a faith...
Luke 6:47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:

So first off - What is the yardstick that we are going to use to measure by? Who or what determines whether or not one is of the Lord, rather than of the world, the flesh and the devil? What exactly is the measure used that determines whether or not one is a child of God? How can one know for certain that they love the Lord (by doing as He says) and have been born again, baptized with the Spirit of God?
The ONLY answer comes from the word of God itself and the one who has the Spirit of God in him: "IF a man loves Me, then he will KEEP My words" John 14:15; 23 (and if he doesn't, then he won't! John 14:24). The proof that he is a disciple who LOVES the Lord (or not) by Keeping His words (all of them!), is easily discerned by those who have truly been born again and can readily be seen by observing the following tests....

1 . . . The man of God has been crucified with Christ! - He knows it and he shows it

Like Paul before him (Galatians 2:20), he too can rightfully say that he also has been crucified with Christ - put to death with Him at the cross (and mean it)... nevertheless I live... yet not I but Christ!

( The simplest teaching I have ever seen on being crucified with Christ can be found here: newsljul.htm )

What the man of God gives is his all - all his love in return. He has been bought with a price thus brought low to see the uselessness of himself and his possessions as far as God and sin are concerned. He doesn't just give God a mere mental assent that he has been crucified with Christ, just because the Scriptures says so (read John 5:39-40). The world does that! He must first come to know Christ personally for himself, then he'll be glad (i.e. "overjoyed") to forsake all in order to gain Christ. To do otherwise does no more than give one a BLIND/POWERLESS faith - a mere "mental assent" without any of God's reality coming from behind it.

This is what Jesus Himself had to say about such nonsense...

John 5:39-40 Ye search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

How can one be saved who refuses to come to Him for so great a salvation??? In order to come to Him one must first not only repent of their sins but become bankrupt, forsaking all they own and become bereft of life in this world in order to lay hold of Jesus and the next world. Ask, who in their right mind would do such a thing except the man who saw Christ in all His glory and power - and saw that He was worth far more than he could ever give???

I don't just mean acknowledging or consenting ourselves afterwards to be better people - OOPS - I mean "part time sinners" who seek to be forgiven of our sins at that specific time, only to go on sinning afterwards much as before... NOR do I mean that we lose everything but we somehow hang on to our own lives afterwards. I mean that we see ourselves as "convicted sinners - corrupted sinners through and through" - who realize that in their self (i.e. in their flesh) dwells nothing good at all. "WOE IS ME", he cries out, knowing that he needs to be saved! This (his Old Man, himself, the very source of his sin = who he really is apart from Christ) is what needs to be put to death with Christ!

Without the Holy Spirit taking the spotlight of God and shining it in his heart, and giving him someone Perfect (i.e. "Christ") to compare with, then he will NEVER know or believe just how rotten sin has made him and how evil he is and will see no need to come to the cross and lay it All down - by gladly forsaking it all - for the sake of gaining Christ. John 16:8

The man of God has the marks on him, that even though he still lives yet he is dead - being crucified with Christ. The marks are that he no longer "practices sin", and He takes God's word at face value! Nor does he "practice religion" as a way or the way to gain or keep God [This is a very important note!]. He has already been there (at the cross), saw His face, and recognized Him; high and lifted up, for who He is and was, as well as for what real sin, righteousness and the judgement really means. So for him it's over! The law is also finished with him. It did it's job by showing him how the penalty for breaking the Law is death, and this was what brought the wretched sinner to Christ to save!

2 . . . The man of God has been Born Again! - he knows it and he shows it

Christ has... "touched him". It's no longer "I" but "Christ" who lives and He lives His life through him - Gal.2:20.

( Again. the simplest teaching I have ever seen on being born again can be found here: newslaug.htm )

The man of God has been made alive by the life-giving touch of Jesus Christ, and through this "touch" the man will never be the same again. The kingdom of God has come to him in a very real and powerful way! (1 Corinthians 4:20) Just as the women who touched Jesus in Luke 8:46-49, and Jesus felt Power flow out of Him to her. That Power was and is The Holy Spirit! Therefore, the Old has died, the New has come! For that woman and every born again believer, ALL things became NEW! It's best described as life is starting all over again, only now we see everything and everyone as never before, with a new heart and a new mind... through the eyes of the Spirit.

Notice that the man of God no longer can bear to associate with sinful things as he had in the past. He has Never tasted nor experienced such joy and refreshment as he does now. In him is the Power of a New Life. The only word to express what happened to him is, "Miracle". Who but God could take and change a vile sinner into a holy saint? He is elated, overjoyed at this marvelous "Change" in him.

3 . . . The man of God practices righteousness and keeps themselves pure

"Everyone that doeth righteousness is born of God." 1 John 2:29

"He that is begotten of God keepeth himself." 1 John 5:18

It's so easy to fall into and be carried away with temptations. Anyone can do it! However, because the man of God has wisdom (the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom - Proverbs 9:10) he has crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts (Galatians 5:24) and he endeavours to live according to God's will and walk in the Spirit, doing the things that please God and wilfully choosing (because of his faith in God) to avoid the things that God hates. He does this, not by the strenuous outward keeping of God's Holy Law (which all unregenerated men do), but by following after the Spirit that bore the Law.

Speaking of God's Wisdom: there are those who fear God and those who don't! The difference between the two is seen right here: When Jesus says, "Go and sin no more" (John 8:11), He means exactly that. Those who don't fear God don't heed His word either, while those who do fear and love Him heed His word as well.

The difference is this: The unbeliever (being cut off from God and operating through the Carnal Man) sees little if anything wrong with any sin they may be practicing at the moment (and may even make excuses for it) having no lasting conviction of it. While the Christian (operating through the New Man) KNOWS that what his body is doing is sin (sin against God - hurting the One he now loves), and he repents of it.

So, and because he is now sensative to the Lord and knows better, then he does not continue the sinful practice but repents of it. He repents because he knows that it is hurting/dishonoring the One he loves. And the beauty in all of this is that in him (i.e. in his New Man) is the Power to live this kind of Christian ("Spirit-filled") Life (Ephesians 1:19).

4 . . . The man of God loves other Christians

"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren" (1 John 3:14).

A man who is born again has a special love for all true disciples of Christ. He has a special love for those who share his faith in Christ. Like his Lord and Saviour, he loves the worst of sinners and could weep over them; but he has a peculiar love for those who are believers. He loves them, because like himself, they are all saved by Grace that works through Faith. He is never so much at home as when he is in their company praising and sharing the Lord in His body of believers.

He loves them too and wants to do for them because they carry the same marks that he does, the mark of brokenness and praise. They are his fellow travelers, journeying along the same road. He understands them, and they understand him, spiritually speaking, because they've all gone through the same narrow gate as he had. They are The Father's sons and daughters and his spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ, and he cannot but help to love them. They are the children of His Kingdom; the body of His Son, and the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

5 . . . . The man of God gives God thanks in all things and at all times

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

"Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world." 1 John 5:4

Since being saved the Christian has become so thankful, never forgetting the blood that Jesus shed for his sins. The man has been loved with a love that blew him away, with a love that first loved him. For salvation purposes he knows that he can never return the favor, but in our overcoming the world (through the Fathers love to us in sending us His Son - and the Son's loving obedience to the Father - proven by the Spirit's love for both the Father and the Son in us) the man of God has been given responsibilty and knows what pleases the Lord -- and what doesn't. He has sold all to follow Jesus, the One who has made him ever grateful and thankful for saving a wretch like him.

A man who is born again does not use the world's opinion as his standard of what's right and wrong, or good and evil to judge by. When he became born again he found a higher standard to measure all things and judge by - "God's Standard". What men think or say no longer concern him, because he now sees things the way they are seen through God's eyes (1 Cor. 2:16). He can no longer find any lasting pleasure in the things of this world which seem to bring happiness to most people. He has sold all of his other pearls and treasures as the price to follow Jesus. He is so thankful to find that Jesus alone is the Pearl Of Great Price!

6 . . . The man of God has a heart after God

1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

Matthew 21:13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

It is also written that: "Without holiness no one will see the Lord!" (Hebrews 12:14) Simply put, the man of God is sanctified to the Truth. This means that he no longer is or thinks the same as he once did before he knew the Lord. He belongs to a whole new way of seeing and understanding things, and whether or not such things are from God or from man and the devil.

At one time he could care less about what happened to the Truth, now he loves the Truth more than he loves his own life. In him is a new heart, one with a zeal for the truth in order to see God being credited and glorified in all things.

7 . . . The man of God has been given a hunger for the word of God

Luke 4:4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

The man who truly knows the truth also loves, receives and embraces all the truth. He now has a real spiritual hunger for the Truth, seeking to know and share the Truth with like-minded believers. Such a man will (if he loves the Truth) continue to distance himself from all proven and known biblical error!

All that's important to him, all he wants to know and feast upon is only the Truth now, only upon what God, and not what man in his own strength, says. The reigning power of darkness over him has been broken by the light found and the nourishment given to him in God's Word through the hunger for the Truth.

He has looked the Truth squarely in the eye, weighed the cost, and came and fell before Jesus in full recognition and surrender. Now that he is [born] of the Truth he eagerly wants to hear and be around what others [born] of the Truth say and know as well! (Jn.8:47; 1 Jn.4:6)

May God bless you in the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ!

Biff & Suzanne