Becoming reborn has serious implications. Without changing the NATURE of man, it is like putting a new dress on a pig…that pig, because of it’s nature, will always return to the slop. Regeneration now gives us an escape from the power of sin! It gives us a new nature to contend with the flesh.
If our old bodies are corrupted by sin, there must be a way for God to eradicate sin and FREE us from its power and its effects. We are freed from its penalty by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross! But what of the lingering effects? Why do many remain in the same beat up, messed up state after we are reborn?
From a practical perspective, growth is supposed to occur after birth however, there are a ton of folks that are “reborn” but they do not go past the floor of the delivery room- in essence they are “still born”. There are many that say that they are been born again but show NO signs of regeneration/renewal nor are they making any efforts to do so! They stay in the fetal position forever, and have no problem with it. This includes preachers, politicians, leaders and ALL who are Christians in name only. These are the ones that Christ commands to “depart from me, you workers of iniquity…I never knew you!”
Why are there so many Christians that are “stillborn”? There are some key concepts that many do not understand but if these concepts are understood then the Christian walk becomes much more doable. Many walk down the aisle to “join church” with no understanding of what walking that aisle really means- it means we are uniting with Christ and renouncing old ways in favor of new ways. It does not mean we are uniting with Bishop so and so or Pastuh so and so but with Christ!
There are several concepts (Holiness, Grace, Repentance and Sanctification) in Christianity that are misunderstood, poorly taught or not taught at all. As it stands, these misconceptions keep churches full of immature Christians with the desire to hear a man-centered gospel rather than the true gospel which is Christ centered!
A. HOLINESS
God is HOLY! 1 Tim 6:16 says that God lives in unapproachable light! Isaiah, when in the presence of God said that he was undone! When he beheld the Holiness he immediately understood his uncleanness! Only those with clean hands and a pure heart shall ascend up the hill of God!
Not only is God’s holiness not preached about, our pursuit of holiness has been shelved for a gospel of prosperity and dominion without any regard for sanctification. Holiness is an action word. The pursuit of holiness is not the pursuit of perfection, but the pursuit of becoming more like Christ and less like ourselves. True holiness removes the concept of competition with others and focuses on self in relation to God and should be the aspiration/desire of everyone that follows Christ. Christ commanded it in Matthew 5:48 and its pursuit shows reverence for God! We don’t reach true “perfection” until death BUT we can/should strive for holiness in life.
B. GRACE
Grace is God’s unmerited favor and love towards man. It enables us, strengthens us, saved us but is not license for sin! Sin and iniquity cannot come from grace because only good things result from God’s grace. Forgiveness and Salvation (justification) result from God’s grace (Romans 5:20-21). Sin and iniquity cause the OPPOSITE of grace (death)—therefore we cannot use grace to EXCUSE sin/iniquity! ONLY GOD CAN USE GRACE AS A MEANS OF FORGIVING US, WE CANNOT USE GRACE AS A MEANS OF FORGIVING OURSELVES! Grace is a blanket that covers our mistakes on the way to holiness, not on the way to iniquity! When we willfully sin, we are in essence calling God a lie and perverting his grace because we are bringing forth sin and iniquity [through our lives] out of his perfect gift of grace! God’s grace was demonstrated in Christ through whom he lavished his grace upon us (Ephesians 1:6-8). Not because we are so great but because of the super abundance of sin!
C. REPENTANCE
Grace makes it possible for repentance; Ifgrace is the blanket, repentance keeps it tucked in! Repentance is a sign of regeneration and in Luke 3 we are admonished to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Repentance says to God that we understand that we have wronged Him! Thank God that because of the blood of Jesus, for believers, He no longer holds it against us. Repentance involves A. recognizing sin B. being convicted of sin (2 Cor 7:10) and C. Turning away from sin (1 John 3:8,9; Hebrews 10:26). Many do not want to touch this area – - it may run folks away and decrease numbers.
D. SANCTIFICATION
A lot of the New Testament, outside of the gospels (which mainly chronicle the life of Christ), is devoted to giving instructions on the process of sanctification or becoming Holy before the Lord! We are taught how to live a godly life through God’s word! After salvation occurs, then the process of sanctification begins. Too many churches do not take their members past the baptism pool. You are saved instantaneously but you are not transformed because in order to become a new creature, old things must pass away- but they die hard! We aren’t always taught this! We are sold a lollipop gospel to make us feel “good” on Sunday morning! We must die to self daily (Mark 8:34, Romans 6:17-19, Galatians 2 and 5)! WE MUST submit to the Sanctification process carried out by the Holy Ghost- [Ephesians 4:30].
This is not meant to be mean spirited, but I am tired of seeing our Holy God being made a mockery of by preachers that refuse to tell the truth from the pulpit thereby setting their parishioners up for failure. If the preacher is the one to give the proverbial “slap on the butt” to awaken the new Christian once they are “reborn”, then based on the rampant MESS going on in the church, many are sorely underperforming at their jobs. As for the parishioners, we too have a responsibility to find out what happens next on the Christian walk. We cannot afford to be complacent, stillborn Christians! We need to be actively engaged in the process of sanctification while depending on God to continually help us, through His Spirit, to stay in the race!! It is called dependent responsibility whereby we are responsible to God to obey His word and dependent on Him to HELP us obey it. It is my prayer that a sincere desire to be more like Christ is awakened in churches all across the world! God be with you all.
Ok so I finally get around to reading STILLBORN. Yaay me! Seems I'm doing more reading than writing these days! lol
ReplyDeleteSo here's my thing (and not to get bogged down in the small stuff bc i am well aware that there is a dying world out there and we; Ecclesia the called out ones, have a mandate to share and compel men and women to be saved) I'm just trying to get a good grasp on this thing because I see that it is a very divisive issue within the Body. That being said, here is where I take a slight issue with what you are saying.
1. "After salvation occurs, then the process of sanctification begins". -and-
2."WE MUST submit to the Sanctification process carried out by the Holy Ghost."
That's the point I was attempting to make earlier: you say these statements as if they are *automatic*. I am saying when we are born again, receive salvation, however one wants to refer to it, we MAY receive the Holy Ghost at that time, but it is NOT GUARANTEED TO BE INCLUDED in the package (based upon our faith level). I know the wording of that sounds funny, but I'm stating it as clear as I possibly can based upon my understanding of scripture. I even heard one preacher ask, "Why would God withhold anything good from a believer instead of giving us all that there is to have?"
There are several verses which I have looked at in support of my belief that receiving salvation and receiving the Holy Spirit could be separate occurences, one is found in Acts chapter 8 when Samaria was being BAPTISED and RECEIVING SALVATION. Although the people were being baptised and getting "saved" why did the apostles (when they heard what was going on) feel the need to send Peter and John all the way to Samaria so that they could receive the gift of the Holy Ghost? (vs 14-15) Wasn't what they were already doing sufficient? Another verse I like to refer to is Acts 19, and I'm sure you're already familiar with it: While Paul was traveling in Ephesus, why did he ask disciples "Have you received the Holy Ghost SINCE you believed? It sounds like a clear distinction of action.
It is no great mystery to me why people can't walk this journey out without falling victim to sin over and over and over and over again. It is because they have NO POWER. They only have a form of godliness. (2Tim 3:5) Sure we all need grace from time to time, some more often that others ;-), but to PRACTICE sin in a habitual manner is because quite likely you have never received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. This may seem a bit far fetched, but I'll go so far as to say that if you can't attach an actual DATE to when your life changed or you had an experience--an encounter with the Lord, quite likely, you just got a touch or some goose bumps. The old folks used to tell us go back to the altar and be sure! Rationalizing that when He comes, He speaks for himself. Good intentions are one thing, but Holy Ghost Power to abstain, refrain, pass up, quit, stop, and make right choices is yet another. The good news is that it is STILL available today to whomever will ask, believe, and receive it because it was poured out so many years ago!
I am not a debater, but I do LOVE to share ideas,thoughts, and dialogue about God's Word with others who seek to know Him in a better way just as I do.
You make a very compelling case and your points are well taken. I agree that baptism in the Holy Ghost is a separate event however I also agree that the action of the Holy Ghost occurs immediately in that the job of the Holy Spirit is to regenerate man and cause old things to pass away. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a special event wheras sanctification takes a lifetime. I believe that the events that occurred in Acts were signs to the disciples that were present that Jesus had truly fulfilled His promise to send the comforter. The events in Acts were breathtaking displays of the power of God. What I will say is that in Acts 8, John and Peter went also to see if the phenomenon was real i.e. Samaritans that were actually receiving the gospel and getting saved/truly believing the gospel. Paul's encounter was a little different in that he encountered men that did not even know that there was a "Holy Ghost as they were only versed in John's message of the coming Messiah- they were even rebaptized and the Holy Ghost fell on them- but we cannot say that they were not living a holy life prior to this moment- they just had not witnessed the special manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
ReplyDeleteI will disagree with you on one point that you made, that is the level of faith at conversion...since we are all called from darkness into the light at the time of our conversion, I don't think that anyone has greater faith than others. God gifts us with the ability to believe (See John 6:44) so that all of us are devoid of faith prior to God calling us out of darkness. I agree that at that particular moment we may or may not receive the "bapstism" of the Holy Spirit however I still believe that the Holy Spirit begins his work in us.
I totally agree with you that the sign of one that walks by the Spirit and not by the flesh is holiness. Perfection, no, but holiness and constantly being transformed by the renewing of the mind...yes, absolutely. We all need grace constantly, whether seasoned or not because the old man does not completely die (See Rom 7; Eph 4)- therefore we remain sinners although we do not/may not wilfully sin, until the day we die. We sin every day in word, thought or deed so we need God's grace. Those "christians" that live in willful sin, I would argue have not truly been born again as opposed to not being baptized in the Spirit. A person that is born again receives the Spirit as a seal (Ephesians 1, Ephesians 4)-
So we agree that Baptism in the Spirit is a separate event from actual salvation-- where I think the disconnect is is that Baptism in the Spirit is an event unto itself that is different from actually being born again, regenerated, renewed (choose a word here, lol) which also occurs through the work of the Holy Spirit. Even with all of that being said, you have given me a great desire to study the Word and to gain a deeper understanding of the "baptism in the Holy Spirit".