On one hand there are many true life stories from born again Christians that I could use to give an example of just how glorious salvation really is and how they've become "changed" by their encounter with the Living God through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
To hear them speak it is obvious that the Lord is "Present" in them. I say that because they've "been there", they know what they're talking about, and they "know" of whom and with what authority they are speaking from. They have "A First Hand" Knowledge of the Grace and the Truth. They've experienced it first-hand for themselves, because they've experienced Him in His saving Grace. They've been there! They have been "Changed - Born Again - Made Anew"!
All who have been "born again" know and acknowledge this same * Truth as well. It is this very Truth they have found first-hand, acknowledge and conform to that makes them all ONE! (John 17:17) They all speak the same language (the language of the cross); they all confess the same Truth (the language of the Risen Lord), and show that they all personally know to whom it is they are speaking of.
On the other hand I hear many, many more wishful-thinking stories of how every-day unregenerated people imagine so glorious a salvation to be, but I neither see nor hear that sought-after and precious "change" coming from the "new-heart" that these people claim to have. Their hearts remain unchanged and they are far removed from Him. The Lord is obviously "Absent" in them.
(We are speaking here of the kind of religious beliefs that bring no change of heart with them simply because they have their hopes in another Gospel.
This "system of works and sacraments" to help save oneself is one where: the person is taught to go to confession and privately confess their offenses (sins) to a priest; are taught to believe that through a self-imposed penance they are being sorry and forgiven for their sins; and then are taught to go and receive holy communion (i.e. "Grace") to purify them again, only to have to repeat the same religious ceremonies over and over again week in and week out because they repeat the same sin(s) over and over again as well. There has been no "repentance", no "change"!
Notice, all of their swearing, or lying, or hatred, or greed, or homosexualities, or stealings, or unforgivenesses, etc., remain as unchanged as it was before and after going to church. The outside may be clean but the inside is just as dirty as it was before! Their hearts remain unchanged, proving that their religion is powerless to save (thus change) them and instead gives them a false gospel to believe in and set their hopes upon. The sad thing is that the very religion they have learned to put their trust in is the very instrument that robs them of the power to "Go and sin no more", and instead leaves them powerless as this "religious system" conveniently allows them to continue in sin at their leisure!
Yet once you've been there and caught a glimpse of Him in glory the rest doesn't matter! Not this life, not this world, nor all its ambitions, perversions, goals nor all that glitters (2 Corinthians 5:17). This NEW BIRTH is what happens to all born again Christians... for them this temporal life and all that it deems important is Finished, Done, Over, Kaput! The taste for the "perfect" has come, and the need to have "more" of it.!
Allow me to demonstrate what I mean by using a man "walking on the moon"....
( * This is a "personal acknowledgement" of the Truth as a Person called The Word of God (John 14:6) who is very much real and alive, and goes far beyond having only a mere second-hand, intellectual knowledge of the written word - John 5:39.)
Using but one example of this kind of "belief system" is that which is dictated by "The Roman Catholic Church" to its members. It is in the very practice of this "religious system" that keeps their members IN their sins and offers them the excuses to remain in them week after week.
Now the Lord saying: "Go and sin no more" (John 5:14; 8:11) holds Power in them. They carry in them The Power of His Life! It is this very "Life-Giving Power" that enables one to actually live the Christian life is what is missing in everyone who is not born again.
Just think what it would be like for you to walk on the moon first-hand? It can't be done without many preparations set and followed in the first place.
#1. In the physical sense, first of all we would need to be in great physical and mental shape. This is a must requirement!
#2. Then we would need to go through a rigorous training program that would gradually acclimate us in cyclotrons to be able to withstand the high G-forces of lift off and re-entry, along with flying in high diving planes in order to experience and work in weightlessness.
How would walking on the moon compare with ones being born again?
Well for one thing, walking on the moon would be a whole new way of life for us. Exactly as would our being born again: (not as I will Father, but as Thou will!)!
In other words, there's a lot more involved than our just wanting to go to the moon or becoming born again at a moments notice.
In going to the moon there's our physical and mental well-being to consider, along with an enormous amount of preparation leading up to it!
In becoming born again we have our spiritual nature to consider. Things like getting a softer heart, ears that hear and eyes that open, and through it all getting understanding (Matthew 13:15).
Let's face it, without the proper health and physical and mental conditioning and preparation; along with the necessary training that goes with it, then our walking on the moon becomes nothing more than a figament of our imagination.. a movie of how it "might" be instead of the reality of how it is. This applies to our salvation as well!
In much the same way we cannot come to the Lord without our being "prepared in advance" to meet Him, by being in great "spiritual" shape (see Isaiah 6:5) in order to HEAR (i.e. "Understand") the Word of God, and act accordingly. It is at this stage of "hearing" that brings with it our acknowledgement of Him and our repentance of sin! This is no "fly-by-night seat of your pants" operation!
In one way "Getting Saved" is simple, but "Staying Saved" (if we were not 100% genuine with Him in the first place) is another story. There are many scriptures which speak of ones falling away After one is saved (Rom.1:21, etc.). When Jesus says what He does in Matthew 10:37-38 He means what He says. If anyone thinks that there aren't "costs" involved in becoming a born again disciple of Christ, let him think again! Yet our costs are so far removed from the future glory in store for those who believe on Him that they fade into oblivion.
In the parable of the sower (Matthew 13) we see that the well-prepared heart (the good ground) is the only one who produces good fruit, up to a hundred-fold. This is the kind of "preparation" I speak of, one that has sat down and weighed the costs and paid the price to come (i.e. by going all out) to Jesus! (A price; by the way, that Paul says he considers as absolute "Dung" when compared to the real glory that awaits a child of God! - Philippians 3:8)
Without personal sacrifice no one can walk on the moon! Neither can one remain a Christian for long who is not willing to continue walking after Him.
No one can just come to the Lord whenever "they" feel like it. It takes preparation: "Sacrifice and Acknowledgement" by both parties. Without our acknowledging Him with our entire beings we cannot come ALL THE WAY to Him. Some stop short at the cross; at His death, and go no further. However, He is BOTH the Crucified Savior and the Risen Lord! He was once dead but is now alive! We come bowing before a LIVING Person through acknowledging a DEAD One, and He will remain alive... forever!
Now the Lord already did "His" part: "He laid down His precious life to save us from ours because THAT is how much He Loves us! Without such love as He demonstrated to us by going to the cross; and the Father by sending His Son, all of us would end up in the fires of hell, forever seperated from Him.
But His part in saving us is over, and by His resurrection He is offering us a new life to those who believe by coming to Him for that life.
"Our" part is simple! To do it right we are to acknowledge and come to Him, making sacrifices to do so by casting aside every obstacle and vain imagination that may impede us from coming to Him and receiving the already won salvation He is offering to each and every one of us who wants it IN FULL.
Going to the moon costs a lot of money and personal effort, while going to Jesus for New Life is Free and by His effort He has already paid the price to gain our freedom in advance. What we each need to determine is whether or not His free gift grace is worth it to us, by asking us come in order to let go of a sinful life by laying hold of Him for a new one and live opaque before Him.
If we want Him with all of our heart, then by His Love He will change us and we will find the strength and courage in His grace to finish our walk to the very end.
A man is incapable of saving himself. He doesn't have the power or righteousness necessary to do so. The power to illuminate a man to his need of having to be saved and receiving God's genuine and free offer of grace to all who come for it, is contained in the very Gospel message itself. It becomes... "Alive" to those who "hear" it!
Whosoever hears the one true Gospel is capable of receiving it, or rejecting it. The choice is ours!
So whether we walk on the moon or walk with Christ the choice is ours. It's "There" IF we want it!
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
May every blessing in Christ be yours,
Biff
