ARE YOU BORN AGAIN? WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB?
4 KEY SCRIPTURES:
John 1:29
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Ephesians 1:7
"7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;"
John 3:3
"3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
John 3:7
"7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."
There are actually Christians or is it pseudo-Christians who teach that Jesus Christ had to be born again... Jesus said, "...Ye must be born again" not we must be born again. He did not include himself in the statement that he made..
Mark 2:16,17
16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?
17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
We just saw that we all need to be born again... But we must see ourselves as sinners before a righteous and holy God and then he can save us when we repent and turn to him for life and salvation... So that brings us to the law...
Gal. 3:24-26
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
The law's purpose was to show our need of the Lord Jesus Christ... A person must see that he is a sinner and the law shows us that pretty well...
Let's deal with the Ten Commandments since they are a part of the law...taken from
Exodus 20:3-17...
"3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:... .
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother:...
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17 Thou shalt not covet... "
Now only a self-righteous person can think that he is keeping all of these laws in himself besides all of the other laws in the Old Testament... As I have asked before. Have you ever lusted after a woman? Or hated anyone? Or coveted something that someone else had that you didn't have? Have you ever been in the position that you didn't honour your parents instead you ignored them or made light of what they desired??? Most of all, have you put other things or desires before the one true God? In other words, was the Lord put second place or third or somewhere on down the line in your life? Were women or men whichever the case may be put first place or making money, compromising a stand for the Lord for fear of rejection... On and on we could go...
Romans 3:20-22
"20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
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:"
The law shows us that we are sinners, hence in need of a Saviour...
John 1:12
"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:"
Receiving and believing are one and the same act... If you truly believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour then you truly received him and if you truly received him and his finished work for you...
Romans 10:9,10
"9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
We must see him as Lord and Saviour since righteousness is the opposite of sin and evil...
Ephesians 2:8,9
"8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast."
Whether we are talking about the works of the law or any other works, they don't save, can't save and never could save.
Rom. 4:5,6
"5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,"
God accomplished a finished work in Jesus Christ on the cross. Don't attempt to add to that finished work or take anything from it, just believe it and he comes into your life and empowers you to live for him...
Luke 10:25-30
"25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. ..."
Mankind will do about anything to make himself look good, right on the mark, up to snuff, etc. But deep down he knows that is has a long way to go to be where he should be...
Acts 15:39
"39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses."
The law cannot justify, it never could, its purpose is to show that we are evil, corrupt and can't make it in ourselves...
Matt. 7:12
"12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets."
The law is summed up in moving in the love of God continually and that cannot be done unless you are born again, born from above...
Matt. 22:35-40
"35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
Over and over we see the need to move in God so that we can move in this type of love. Our love in ourselves is limited, fragile, easily retracted because we are limited, fragile, and easily retracted... In other words the word of God says,
"32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.
33 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same." Luke 6:32,33
It is fairly easy for us to love those who love us, are good to us, etc. but if we are going to move in the love of God and crucify the flesh then we have to be submitted to God and resisting the devil, walking the faith walk as Luke 9:23 tells us to do...
"23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."
Jesus is talking to all here, not just a few but all...
John 7:21-24
"21 Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel.
22 Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.
23 If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?
24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."
Jesus is basically saying that it is not wrong nor was it ever wrong to do good on the Sabbath since...in Mark 2:27 we read,
"27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:"
...Because the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.
The Lord Jesus Christ also said in Matt. 12:11
"11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?"
Luke 24:44
"44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me."
They are one collective book of truth...
John 1:17
"17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."
Moses wrote the first five books of the bible...
John 12:34
"34 The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?"
Psa. 119 shows us that the law is part of God's word and the word sets us free...
Thy law, thy precepts, thy testimones, are all through Psalm 119.
John 7:49 says,
"49 But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed."
To tell you the truth, those who know the law are cursed if they think that they can keep the law in themselves...because they don't really know the law nor the purpose of the law...
THE PROMISE WAS BEFORE THE LAW...
Gen. 15:5,6
"5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness."
Rom. 4:13,14
"13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:"
Gal. 3:17-23
"17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.
18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed."
God's law is written on our hearts and by the things we see we know God is here...
Jer. 31:33 --To the house of Israel...
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Rom. 1:18-20 --To a lost world...
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
II Cor. 3:3 --To the saints, Christians of the most high God...
"3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart."
THE THREE TENSES OF SALVATION...
JUSTIFICATION- PAST TENSE- I have been set free from the PENALTY of sin which is hell...
SANCTIFICATION- PRESENT TENSE-- I am being set free from the POWER of sin as I submit to God and resist the devil...
GLORIFICATION- FUTURE TENSE-- I will be set free from the very PRESENCE of sin...
BUT IN THE MIND OF GOD, IT IS ALL THE SAME SINCE HE DOESN'T LIVE IN TIME...
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