“Our Daily Bread” http://odb.org/
The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie
http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht
“Homily Grits Devotional” http://www.homilygrits.com/
2 Corinthians 1:12… For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godlysincerity, not with fleshly wisdom butby the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you. (NKJV)
This morning in Bible study (yesterday for you), we were discussing what apostasy really meant… Our discussion stemmed from the following piece of scripture we read, in…Hebrews 10:26… For if we sinwillfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, (NKJV)
I believe this group of mature Christian men in our Bible study, all trust that once a person is saved…they cannot loose their salvation… It was discussed, that these apostates must be people who have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ…and who understand that they must submit their lives to Christ, in order to receive salvation… But these people flatly reject Jesus’ offer to obey the gospel of Christ in faith, and are therefore rejecting the only means by which their sins may be forgiven by God…
Judas Iscariot, Jesus’ disciple that turned against Him…is a prime example of an apostate… Judas walked with Jesus for over 3 years, and had surely heard the truth; and yet lacked the saving faith needed to be saved, as he rejected Christ…
The question came up, about all those young children one hears about, who had godly parents…and went to Sunday school and church their whole pre-adult life; and yet they never became “a Christian in God’s eyes”… I use this term all the time, because I believe that there are many people who believe they are Christians, for any number of false reasons…who have not been given the Holy Spirit by God…
Some believe they are Christians, because they go to the same church their parents and grandparents went too…and they have done all that their church puts before them as a requirement, to have sins forgiven by God…
Friends, I am here to tell you, that the Bible reveals that any self-righteous works based salvation, is not going to get one past those pearly white gates of heaven… All one has to do, is read…Matthew 7:21-23…to see Jesus warning us about this false belief… Jesus warns us that self-righteous works done in the name of the Lord, will have unredeemed sinners being rejected by the Lord, at the gates of heaven…and separated from God for an eternity… http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mat7:21-23&version=NKJV
There are other people who believe they are Christians, because of the prayer they made way back when, in Sunday school or youth group… I post an attachment all the time, written about how God’s grace is received through obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ… But I have proof, that it is not the praying of the “Salvation Prayer” (or the “Sinners Prayer”), as it is often called…that will automatically allow God to forgive someone of their lifetime of sins…
A Christian should have absolutely no doubt that they have been filled with the Holy Spirit… I say this not only because of the following scripture…I say this because of my own life experience… The Apostle Paul pens this, in…
Romans 8:14-16… For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these aresons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The SpiritHimself bears witness with our spirit that we arechildren of God, (NKJV)
My personal testimony reveals that I understood the truth about the need to repent of my sins…and to seek Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, by asking Him with a repentant heart, to come into my life to save me… I made this “Salvation Prayer” after hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ… Did the Holy Spirit fill my heart, as God forgave my lifetime of sins ?? Obviously not…or I wouldn’t have made this prayer at least 30 more times over a 15 month period…
God decides if and when He will grace the unredeemed sinner with salvation… I relate this period of 30+ times of hearing and responding to the gospel of Christ, to the third soil, in Jesus’ teaching about the “Parable of the Sower”; where the seed fell among the thorns and grew, but which was choked out by the worries of the world and the love for wealth… Here is the link for this teaching parable by Jesus… http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mat13:1-23&version=NKJV
What if I had stopped making this prayer, seeking Christ to become my personal Lord and Savior, after the first time…because I was told that if I had made this prayer, I would be a Christian ?? I believe many people believe they are Christians in their own minds, because they made this prayer, way back when… But becoming a Christian in one’s own mind, doesn’t make someone a Christian in God’s eyes…
If you read this Parable of the Sower”, and follow Jesus’ teaching about the 4th seed that fell on the good fertile ground, and then yielded a crop…you will find the proof that someone is indeed a Christian… Jesus describes this seed, which eventually becomes a Christian, through God’s pure grace through saving faith alone in Jesus Christ…Ephesians 2:8-9…
Jesus explains this 4th seed this way, in…Matthew 13:23… “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it,who indeedbearsfruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” (NKJV)
There is much in the Bible about the need to bear fruit (or to produce good works after salvation…James 2:14-26), as proof that one is truly a child of God… For scripture about the disciple of Christ bearing fruit, also read…John 15:8…&…Matthew 7:15-20… I find it interesting, that Jesus teaches us about the true Christian’s need to bear fruit, in Matthew 7…right between 2 pieces of warning scripture I often quote…about the difficulty of finding “the narrow gate”, and about “works based salvation” being false… Here is the link for all 3… http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mat%207:13-29&version=NKJV
Here is a link to Greg Laurie’s teaching on this subject, titled…“Disciples of Jesus Are Known by Their Fruit”…
Don’t be deceived into believing you are a Christian through philosophy, false promises, or any other self-imposed teaching…Colossians 2:1-23… http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=col2:1-23&version=NKJV
It’s God’s perfect timing, and God’s grace…that will fill the true Christian with the Holy Spirit… And this lifelong Helper that God gives to all of His children (John 14:26), will urge the Christian to bear good fruit, as they grow and mature, being conformed into the image of Christ Himself…Romans 8:29…
Heavenly Father, I pray that Your Word today, would be used by You to draw those You don’t know as Your children, to Yourself…John 6:44… I pray Lord, that those people falsely believing that they are Christians, would be awakened by You to the reality that they have not yet (in saving faith alone), believed in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior… I pray for hearts to be regenerated by You, as lives are changed for an eternity…in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…
written by bruce r mills
God's group 