Sheep and Goats, Wheat and Tares. How Do I Know the Difference (Part 4)

As I continue to look at myself and attempt to answer the question, “Am I really a Christian?”, it is the Word of God that must be my test. Last time I wrote on this topic, we saw that that one of the tests of scripture is the belief that Jesus was not simply a good man, who walked around teaching moral lessons. If one is going to say he follows Christ and is his disciple, then he must agree with the beliefs of our dear Christ. Jesus declared Himself to be God. The deity of Christ is an imperative of the Christian faith, for without it, the sacrifice on the cross would be impotent to atone for our sins.

If Jesus is God incarnate, then certainly the things He stated must be received as true. One of the most important elements or characteristics of the true, saved Christian, was clearly stated by Jesus. Let us turn to the Gospel of John, where we find Jesus responding to the questions of Nicodemus, as he seeks to discover what it means to follow Christ.

John 3:3
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus was confused as he thinks Jesus is speaking of a literal rebirthing process from the womb. Jesus explains.

John 3:5-6
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Jesus has made a clear declaration here. Unless you are born again, you will not be part of the Kingdom of God. Scripture interprets scripture. Peter explains this a little further.

1 Peter 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

There is some very important information here.

First of all, it’s God’s “great mercy” and it’s God who “causes” us to be born again. We cannot simply choose to accept Christ.

Secondly, though some insist you can “lose” your salvation, Peter states here that your hope of this inheritance is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” You cannot lose it or give it up because true saving faith, is “kept in heaven for you” by God’s power. It isn’t by our power in which we are born again, it is by His power, which is perfect power. God guards our salvation in heaven.

This information seems to introduce a new concern in those of us who say we are Christians. If it really isn’t our choice that saved us, then how do we know if we are “born again?”

The answer to this question requires we dig into the scriptures deeply. That is up to each of us to do throughout our walk as Christians and I won’t provide the complete answers in this short missive. But I will suggest that scripture will lead us into this conclusion. Before we are born again we are spiritually dead in our sins. Here is what God’s Word says about this.

Ephesians 2:1-3
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins  in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—  among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.  

Paul is clear in this. Before we become Christians, we are dead and walking in sin. What we cared about was satisfying the desires of our flesh. But when we become born again, there is a change in us.

Ephesians 2:4-6  

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—  and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

To be born again is to be resurrected from our dead nature, and now be alive with Christ.

To be born again is to be changed drastically. We must understand that this does not mean we are instantly changed into sinless perfection. At the moment of rebirth, we are immediately justified in the eyes of God and seen positionally as holy, while the process of change to becoming perfected literally is an ongoing act called sanctification. The Apostle Paul speaks of this in his letter to the Philippians.

 

Philippians 1:6
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

But the born again have had the work started. Clearly, as we examine ourselves in pursuit of testing our faith as per the command of scripture in 2 Corinthians 13:5 which says to “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?”, we see that being born again is an element of that test.

There is so much to be gained in our knowledge of this topic. As we read our Bible we must grasp what it has to say about our salvation experience of being born again. I recommend a book to be read that John Piper wrote that helps explain the Biblical teachings on the new birth of the Christian called Finally Alive.

Am I a Christian? Have you been born again? If you cannot look at your life and find any evidence of immediate change and then some substance of an ongoing work in your life that is headed towards you becoming like Christ, then no, you don’t meet the test of scripture.

What do you do if you fail the test? Get on your knees and cry out to God. The good news is that scripture is filled with what to do if we desire to be His.  

Romans 10:8-11
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.  For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

John 6:35-37
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.  "But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.  "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.

Take the test today. Your eternal destination is the most important concern in all of your life.

Next time we will we look at more Biblical proofs of our faith. God bless all of you.