If God Lives Inside, It Will Be EVIDENT!

2/2/2004

“He has … altered the whole turn of our minds. He has changed all our ideas of things, given us a new set of Hopes and Fears…” (William Law, 1726)

This relates to something we were discussing the other day. We know a lot of professing Christians who are nonetheless in abysmal life situations-chronic poverty, abusive homes, legal probation, etc. They would all tell you that they know Jesus died for their sins and hope to go to heaven when they die BUT they are absolutely held in bondage by their old ways of seeing life. Their expectations are without hope. Their ideas of what’s okay and what’s important are skewed toward the world of their past. They are content far short of His best will for them and fear things that show weak faith, which in turn drives poor decisions. Is this just indicative of the importance of taking every thought captive and reshaping our minds to the mind of Christ… Otherwise we may be saved from the ultimate penalty of sin, but we will continue to live in bondage to it?? Your thoughts?

Hi… I would say your description here raises a further, LARGER question: ARE they TRULY saved from the penalty of sin? Granted there is such a thing as an “immature” Christian, but there is NO such thing as a TRULY converted, Saved person that does not have the TANGIBLE MIRACLE OF THE CREATOR AND GODHEAD LIVING INSIDE OF THEM. No Miracle, no “Downpayment guaranteeing the Inheritance,” no “tasting the powers of the coming age,” no “rivers of Alive water gushing from the inner man for ALL who Believe”…….. then GOD said that they are “none of His” (Rom.8, Gal.3, Eph.1, 1John 1-3). Jesus Himself PROMISED us that there would be “MANY” counterfeits who claim Him and even His answers to prayer, etc, but He “NEVER knew them.” The road is broad, JESUS said, of “cultural christians” who are unsaved, as evidence by the fact that they do NOT “love the Light” (Jn.3) or “love the Truth, and so are Saved” (2Thes.2:10), and do not turn from sin (1Jn.2:3-8, 3:3-10). Such are NOT Saved, and therefore MUST not be permitted to think that they are, or that they are “members of His Church” - because they are not. That’s what the BIBLE teaches. In the New Covenant, “they will ALL know Me, from the least to the greatest” and because of the Deposit of the Spirit, He will “cause them to keep His Commands and Decrees” and their “hearts of stone will become soft” and “no longer will a man have to plead with his neighbor, ‘Know the Lord, know the Lord!’” GOD LIVING INSIDE A PERSON is either EVIDENT, or it’s a “lie” -- according to the apostle John. I’d have to agree. :)