I have spoken
on this subject several times through out my website, but have not devoted
a page to it.
There is an argument amongst different
denominations about this subject. Whether a person is saved by simple belief
in Christ or whether they need to be water baptized and/or walk in a renewed
life. Some denominations claim that water baptism by sprinkling upon an
infant produces the regenerated spirit.
Let's take a look at this subject through
scripture and not let the traditions and ideas of men hinder the process.
I first wish to discuss the difference
between the salvation of the spirit and the salvation of the soul. That
subject touches this, but this subject is not focused on such. I discuss
the salvation of the soul here:
Man and God are both triune beings and
thus man must be saved on all three levels:
1 Thess 5: MKJV 23 ¶ And may the God of peace
Himself sanctify you, and may your whole spirit and soul
and body be preserved blamelessly at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Some will claim the spirit and the soul
are the same but as seen above they are different. As well as here:
Heb 4: 12: For the word of God is quick, and
powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
To learn more about this, see the Salvation
of the Soul page, through the link above.
The question before us is at what point
is the spirit saved? This is a valid question and must be looked at through
scriptures and through the principles of God.
First let's look at how one "came to God"
in the Old Testament and see how it "shadows" the work of God today. For
we know that the Old Testament is full of examples of how the way of God
was a shadow of the New Testament and God's ways.
Heb 8: 2: A minister of the sanctuary, and
of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. 5: Who serve unto the example and shadow
of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to
make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according
to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
Lets look at this "shadow" and see if we
can parallel the truths into New Testament understanding.
The sanctuary or sometimes called the Tabernacle
of Moses consisted of a tent inside an area blocked of by curtain walls.
See the picture below:
The tent is made up of 2 rooms; The Holy
Place, and the Most Holy Place or sometimes called The Holy of Holies.
And outside is called the Outer Court. The 1st piece of furniture in the
Outer Court is the Brazen Alter, then comes the Laver. Inside the Holy
Place is the Candle Stick and the Table of Shewbread. In the Holy of Holies
is the Ark of the Covenant, the thing seen in the Indiana Jones movie.
I have created a 3D interactive Tabernacle
with insights of the Temple furniture, free to download here:
To come to God, one must go through Christ.
He is the sacrifice. One comes to God by believing in the Work Jesus did
on the Cross and who He is. This is the work of the Brazen Alter. Thus
anything besides that would be a work, and thus we know salvation is by
grace and not by works. As I describe here:
Anything beyond that in the Tabernacle,
is a work toward the salvation of the soul and sanctification, not of righteousness,
for Jesus is our Righteousness.
The 2nd piece of furniture in the Outer
Court is the Laver. It was here that the priests would wash themselves
from the sacrifice they made on the alter (the 1st piece of furniture).
It is here that we wash ourselves. As we enter into the water, we realize
that the penalty of sin is washed away by the work of Christ (a realization
of the 1st piece of furniture), and as we come out of the water we are
new creatures in Christ.
This realization of a previous work done
is in scripture:
Rom:6:11: Likewise reckon ye
also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
How are we new? How does this take place?
It is the born again experience. It is a work of faith, through reckoning
or realizing what Christ had already done.
This Laver also is symbolically represented
in our water baptism. If you have not been water baptized in full submersion,
I suggest you do so as soon as possible. This water baptism is not a requirement,
but the spiritual significance of it, is a requirement of a different matter,
not salvation but the rapture, as seen here:
So we can see that believing and being
born again are 2 separate acts shadowed through the workings of the Tabernacle
experience. Many people, but not all, do experience both in a very short
amount of time, some almost instantaneously.
We can also see this, in the nature of
natural child birth. First is the conception, secondly is the birth. Most
christians today believe abortion is wrong, because it is the killing of
a human, a baby.
The same is true spiritually, many christians
have been conceived but have not been born spiritually. Denying them their
salvation is spiritual abortion. But scripture says we cannot do this:
Rom 10: 6: But the righteousness which is of
faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into
heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) 7: Or, Who shall descend into the deep?
(that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
When we believe in Jesus and His death
for our sins, we become conceived spiritually. Jesus seals us with His
Holy Spirit and His incorruptible seed, the Word of God is implanted in
our heart. But, such people need to be born again. They are conceived,
but not born again yet.
John 1: 12: But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on his name: 13: Which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
As a person who has already believed and
probably confessed your belief in Christ, you must take the next step.
You must give your life to God. Be the sacrifice on that Brazen Alter symbolically.
Rom 12: MKJV 1 I beseech you therefore, brothers,
by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.
Then you must...
Rom 6: MKJV 11 Likewise count yourselves also to
be truly dead to sin, but alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Because:
Rom 6:6: Knowing this, that our old
man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that
henceforth we should not serve sin.
Realizing this truth:
Gal 2:20: I am crucified with Christ:
nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which
I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me, and gave himself for me.
How do you do this? Start with a prayer.
Something like this:
Dear Jesus,
I come to you, to offer my life, not only
do I believe in You; in your crucifixion, and your resurrection; but I
believe I died with you on the cross. My sin has been paid for, and I also
have the resurrected life in me. I offer myself to you, to let You live
through me. I will submit to your Holy Spirit to lead me into truth and
away from sin. Lord, You are my Shepherd, and I will trust you to lead
me to life eternal. Today, I not only call you Savior, but I make You Lord
of my life.
In your Holy name I pray,
Amen
When a believer is conceived, he has responsibility
on what he will do with the Word of God in his heart:
Math 13: NKJV 19 When anyone hears the word of the
kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches
away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.
When the Gospel is preached, demons or
their work are often present, reasoning away the Gospel message. So many
shortly after they believe, disbelieve once again. But can a fetus, deny
anything? Thus salvation is not lost. Even young children who are born,
can rebel and deny a parent, but that does not change their genetic heritage.
They still remain an offspring.
20 But he who received the seed on stony
places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with
joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For
when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately
he stumbles.
This represents many many saved believers.
At some point in their life, they accepted the truth of Jesus as dying
for their sins. It may have been as a child, in Sunday School, or older
in church, or even at an evangelical crusade. But they never fed the truth
or accepted any teachings to allow the seed to produce any fruit. These
"believers" or "christians" are pretty much fruitless, the only thing separating
them from the unbelievers is that they believed and a plant began to grow,
but it died, before bearing any fruit.
I was such a believer once. Somewhere about
the age of 8 years old, I believed in the work of Jesus. I went to a Lutheran
church which taught me alot of the Bible, but I was given no teachings
that helped my faith grow. Or I failed to see them. Eventually, my faith
became bankrupt as a teenager. You can read my story here:
2 Cor 1: MKJV 22 And He has sealed us and having
given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
Eph 1: MKJV 13 in whom also you, hearing the word
of truth, the gospel of our salvation, in whom also believing, you were
sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Let's look at another scripture here:
1 Pet 1: 21: Who by him do believe in God, that
raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope
might be in God.
That verse shows us the point we are saved,
spiritually. Let's see where this goes:
22: Seeing ye have purified your souls
in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren,
see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
Now, this is a point where the soul
is purified, in obedience. Thus obeying God in water baptism is important.
Let's go on:
23: Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
for ever.
We see here, that one gets born again by
the incorruptible seed. We see that we gain this seed as shown in Math
13. But what will those who get the seed do with it? Sometimes the seed
dies, and is thus aborted. But I do not believe this is a loss of salvation
as Jesus said He will not lose any.
Jn:6:39: And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing,
but should raise it up again at the last day.
Many will claim they were not saved in
the 1st place. This violates Rom 10 as shown earlier, and scripture says
the belief produces the seal, as well as the many scriptures saying belief
will save.
Jn 3: 16: 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.
But please note that such persons are NOT
Born Again nor are they to be found in the Kingdom:
It is not up to any person to say if another
person believes or not. I cannot deny someone's salvation nor can I claim
anyone other than myself as saved. But each person can have the security
of their own salvation.
1Jn:4:13: Hereby know we that we dwell
in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
1Jn:5:13: These things have I written
unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that
ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of
God.
----------------
I wish to briefly discuss being born again.
Since we are working by faith and scripture says we do work out our salvation,
we know there is a work process. The child has no part in his conception,
but the mother and the child work in the birth. Thus the salvation of the
spirit is by grace but the salvation of the soul is by work.
But let me clarify. It is really the Word
of God working in us, and we obeying it in submission. Again I suggest
reading my salvation of the soul page. Thus it is through faith in what
God has done for us, recognizing it, confessing it, that will produce the
born again experience and thus we then walk in it. The mother of coarse,
is the church and God is our Father.
A believer cannot know the Father until
he is born again. The same is true in the natural. Until the baby is out
of the womb, it cannot know the father. Although it can hear Him.
Once we are born again, we know the Father
by obedience to His will and walking out our faith.
Math 7: 21: Not every one that says unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the
will of my Father which is in heaven. 22: Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have
cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? 23: And then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.
Heb:12:8: But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
A bastard is a person who has no father
(does not know his father). Thus the above verse shows you also can be
saved, but not born again.
Gal 4: 1: Now I say, That the heir, as long
as he is a child, differs nothing from a servant, though he be lord of
all; 2: But is under tutors and governors
until the time appointed of the father. 6: And because you are sons, God has
sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7: Wherefore you are no more a servant,
but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
-----------------------------------------
I am painfully aware, that the believer
who has not crossed Jordan believes he has. Just as the 2 1/2 tribes
did indeed cross Jordan into the promised land to fight the enemies of
God and help the other tribes but did not live there had this problem.
If you do not know what I am speaking on check out this page of mine:
You can read about some of this in the
book of Joshua chapter 22.
Religious obedience may sometimes interfere
with our relationship to God. Religious obedience has throughout history
caused men to believe they are obeying God when they are not. This is due
to traditions of men, law, and dead works.
Here are some tips to help you decide if
you have indeed crossed Jordan and have been born again.
1. Is your faith full of merit badges?
Some people think they have something because
they are good, have done some deed or deeds, belong to a church, or have
done or been a part of something. To those who have crossed over, this
seems haughty and prideful, because our salvation has NOTHING to do with
us, and everything to do with God. If your defense on this subject deals
with the lack of good works in others, or the lack of holiness in others,
this is a problem in you. You are attempting to compare yourself with others.
2 Cor 10:12: For we dare not make ourselves
of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves:
but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among
themselves, are not wise.
Having crossed over and being born again,
does not require an obstacle coarse or test. You don't have to be better;
better than before, better than others. Christ, Himself, is our righteousness.
Works and holiness are indeed important. But these 2 things do not have
any inclusion about salvation and being born again.
2. Are you set in because of your obedience
to rules or laws?
Make no mistake, even 1 failure of any
law causes you to be a failure of all laws.
Jms:2:10: For whosoever shall keep the
whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Because...
Rom 3: 21: But now the righteousness of God
without
the law is manifested, ... 22: Even the righteousness of God which
is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for
there is no difference...
Paul said that before he was saved and
born again, he had kept all the laws and was perfect in the eyes of men.
Yet he was a failure before God.
Phil 3: 3: ... have no confidence in the flesh. 4: Though I might also have confidence
in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust
in the flesh, I more: 5: Circumcised the eighth day, of the
stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as
touching the law, a Pharisee; 6: Concerning zeal, persecuting the
church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Making a religious decision to obey God
or His laws or rules does not make you Born Again. Yes, there is a choice
involved, the choice is to accept Christ and what He has done for you.
Also involved, is choosing to walk in the truth of what He has done for
you. Remember it is the actual choice, not any percentage of success in
the matter. One may find he is unable to walk in newness of life because
he is imprisoned or immobile in a hospital bed or other reasons. The process
of salvation also is a continual work for the soul, and is a life long
work of renewing the mind, which means we will fall and sin. Being Born
Again is not a percentage of being able to walk without sin. Whether you
think that percentage is 51%, 99%, or 100%. It is a choice to believe God's
Word on these matters.
One is not more born again than another
because he is more obedient to God. This is like saying that a baby who
is 5 days old is more of a person than one who is 2 hours old. Or
like saying one is more human because he can walk 2 miles on ice without
falling than the others who can't walk 10 feet. Or saying one child is
more related to the parent than another because they obey more.
Success in one's walk does not equate to
being saved, born again, but it does equate to sanctification. But one
cannot be sanctified until after he is saved and born again. Many in the
church today, bypass the Foundations of Christ and seek to enter in the
more meaty matters. This will produce a spiritual house that will not stand.
Math 7: 21: Not every one that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that
doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22: Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast
out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23: And then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 24: Therefore whosoever heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which
built his house upon a rock: 25: And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell
not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26: And every one that heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a
foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27: And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell:
and great was the fall of it.
This sending away, Christ speaks of in
verse 23 is believed by many of those sent into hell or the Lake of Fire.
This is NOT true. This is the separation of the sheep from the sheep:
Ezek 34 NKJV 17 "And as for you, O My flock, thus
says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between
rams and goats.
2 Tim 2: (MKJV) 20 But in a great house there are not
only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and
some to honor, and some to dishonor.
Many in the church today are putting the
cart before the horse. You cannot build your sanctification or your works
for God (ministry) without 1st crossing Jordan. Jesus will NOT recognize
it and it will be burnt up, yet you will be saved.
1 Cor 3: MKJV 12 And if anyone builds on this foundation
gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, 13 each one's work shall be revealed.
For the Day shall declare it , because it shall be revealed by fire; and
the fire shall try each one's work as to what kind it is. 14 If anyone's work which he built
remains, he shall receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work shall be burned
up, he shall suffer loss. But he shall be saved, yet so as by fire.
Here is another way to see if you are Born
Again:
NKJV: John 3: 3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most
assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God." 5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly,
I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter
the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is
flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Belief in Jesus by knowledge is of the
flesh. Yet, if we believe because the Bible tells us so, this will produce
faith. (Faith comes by hearing the Word of God - Rom 10:17) One must work
the faith and walk in faith to be Born Again. let's continue in John 3:
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and
you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where
it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." 12 If I have told you earthly things
and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
These 2 verses speak of the confusion others
who are not born again have of those who are. If you do not understand
their ways or the spiritual things in scripture, it is a sign you may not
be born again.
20 For everyone practicing evil hates
the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes
to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done
in God."
When you are born again, you may still
have sins, for sin nature still abides in you, but you will no longer walk
in sin and practice it continually. Those still in the womb, are in darkness,
they must be born again to come into and live in the light. Crossing Jordan
into the Promise Land, and being satisfied with God's lot for your life
is part of the Born Again experience. The breaking of the Jordan waters,
is like the breaking of the water from the womb. It leads you into the
Promised Land.
When Paul wrote to the Galatians, he was
concerned about them returning to the law to finish their faith. I spoke
on this above. Working laws to accomplish your salvation is unacceptable
and will not get you Born Again:
Gal 4: 19: My little children, of whom I travail
in birthagain until Christ be formed in you, 20: I desire to be present with you
now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you. 21: Tell me, ye that desire to be under
the law, do ye not hear the law?
You see Paul was travailing again, to birth
them. We know they are saved, because this is written to the church in
Galatia. He doubted their Born Again experience as seen in verse 20. So
some declare that such folks were never saved in the 1st place, but these
verses show they were not Born Again, separate from salvation.
To learn about Walking in the Spirit,
click the link below:
