Reference: II Corinthians5:17, and Ephesians 2:8-9
My friend, do you have any idea as to whatit means to say that a person is truly saved? Can you truthfully say that youare saved? I want you to notice very closely what the above verse of scripturesays in reguards to what it means to be "in Christ". Pleasenote that the word of God says that if any man be in Christ then he is a newcreation wherein old things are passed away and all things are become new. Nowcan you truthfully examine yourself and say that you have become an entirelynew and different creature not manifesting the same habits of the old naturalway of life?
The apostle Paul tells us that if any manbe in Christ then the old things have passed away. These old things thatPaul is referring to are the things that you did while you were in the fleshbeing prone to its ways and desires. The things that have become new is thevery life of Christ being manifested in and through your mortal body.
To besaved simply means that you have become this new creature wherein the oldthings have passed away and all things have become new. The average persontoday is totally ignorant of consciously knowing exactly what it means to besaved. The average confessing christian in the world today only has a headknowledge of believing that they are saved without having been truly convincedin their hearts by the saving power of the Holy Ghost. Is it not a fact thatconfessing christians today only accepts what a verse or two of scripture saysand they base their salvation on this? A confessing christian today will tellyou that they have accepted the fact that Christ died for them on the cross.They will tell you that they have accepted him as their personal Lord andSaviour.
By this confession they think they havebecome this new creature in Christ that Paul speaks of in our text of II Corinthians 5:17.If this be true, why then do they yet manifest many of the very same attributesof the sinful life? Since the very word of Almighty God tells us that"if" any man be in Christ then the old things are passed away and allthings are become new, how then can the average confessing christian today be atruly saved individual when they yet manifest many of the "old things"that is suppose to have passed away?
Have you ever seen people who confess tobe a christian, but yet manifest the same old things they did before theyconfessed to be a christian? There are utterly millions of people today whoconfess to be saved when actually they are not. These people are among thosewho have been deceived by the many false prophets that has risen as Jesus spokeabout in Matthew 24:4, 11,24.
Most people who confess to be saved todayare only basing this confession on what the Bible says in one or two places.These places that they refer to are found in Acts16:31 and in John 3:16. Thesescriptures says that if we believe on Christ then we shall be saved, but whatthe average person is totally ignorant of is exactly what it means to believeon Christ. They think that to believe on Christ simply means to believe in himas having been the one who came to this earth and died for them. This is verytrue, but just to believe this is not what saves you and makes you a newcreature in Christ. I say this simply because of the fact that you do notbecome this new creation in a split moment by just saying that you believe onChrist. Please understand this one thing. You absolutely must believe in Christand that he died and rose again from the dead, but these things you mustbelieve before you can get anywhere with God. We are told in Hebrews 11:6 that they whocome to God "MUST" believe that he is and that he is a rewarder ofthem that diligently seek for him.
This scripture plainly tells us that wemust beleive in God and that he exists. If we do not believe in God then wecertainly can't be saved. To believe in God is one thing, but to believe to theposition of being saved is an entirely different thing altogether. The manyfalse prophets that would rise and deceive many as Jesus spoke of are teachingthe people that in order to be saved all that one has to do is confess beliefin Christ and just to say you accept him as your own personal Saviour.
To accept Christ as your Saviour is onlyto acknowledge the fact that he did die for you. The word of God tells us thatGod is the Saviour of "all men" and specially of those thatbelieve. (I Timothy 4:10) What this scripture simply means is that Christ died forall men making him an automatic Saviour. His death on the cross was for eachand every person born from the womb of a woman. To accept this fact will proveyou to be a believer, but to be saved is done by your believing the revealedtruth that the Bible contains.
God has a way of saving a person, but eachand every individual absolutely must submit themselves unto God's plan ofredeeming salvation or else they cannot be saved. To be saved means that wemust be made into an entirely new creature. This new creature is the forming ofChrist in our whole being. The making of this new creature is brought aboutthrough and by the power of God's holy and righteous word of truth. The truthwill have a transforming effect on the whole man that consists of body, soul,and spirit. To accept the Lord Jesus as your Saviour is only excersising themental ability of your mind to recognize this fact that he did die for you. Ofcourse he died for you taking your place on the cross. His death paid the pricefor our redemption. Christ had to die for all mankind simply because there hadto be blood shed for the remission of sins.
The person that died for the remission ofsins had to be perfect and spotless. Jesus Christ was the only person who couldhave done this. God would only accept the blood of a perfect sinless sacrifice.To believe and to accept the fact that Christ died for you, this will place youin a position where you can be saved and become this new creation that the wordof God speaks about. God's plan of salvation starts out by repentance from sin.To repent means to change yor mind about a life of sin and desire to go God'sway.
Repentance itself is a gift from God. Thegrace of God that brings salvation has appeared unto all men as so stated in Titus 2:11. This simplymeans that God has provided a way of redemption for all. God's word says that"whosoever will" let him take the water of life freely. It isa very simple thing to do to be saved. All that is necessary is our belief andobedience to the revealed word of truth. The false teachings in the world todayjust says to believe on Christ and you are already saved by this simple act.
This false teaching will cut you off fromthe revelation of truth contained in the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you believethat you are saved on a mere confession of Christ as Lord and Saviour then yourmind has been closed and your conscience will become seared as with a hot iron.Only truth will leave your mind open so that it can receive more truth. Thetruth is what will set you free from the strong power of sin....