You must loose your life to save it.
You must become an entirely new creature, with a new heart and new mind.
This does not happen with reading scripture, saying a prayer, getting wet, or saying Jesus is Lord.
If you are born again, your lust and desires have been crucified to death of self.
Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him;
and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. 1 John 3:9
You must have fellowship with Christ in his sufferings; 1 Pet 4:12-13
if you will reign with him, you must sufferwith him; 2 Tim 2:12
if you will live with him, you must die with him; 2 Tim 2:11
and if you die with him, you must be buried with him; Rom 6:4
and being buried with him in the true baptism, you also rise with him. Col 2:12
There must be "a coming into his death, a suffering with Christ;"
and this is of necessity to salvation;
and not temporarily, but continually: theremust be a "dying daily."
"Except a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." No, the natural and unregenerate man cannot so much as see the heavenly and spiritual kingdom of Christ,which stands not only in power, but also inrighteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit;and to be born again is not to be done imperceptibly, no more than the natural birth can be brought forth without trouble; and to pretend to be in Christ and not to be new creatures, is preposterous; and to pretend to be new creatures and yet not able to render any account how it was performed, is unreasonable; for it could not be without our knowledge; for to be born again signifies to be quickened and raised into a spiritual and new life, by which the body of the sins of the flesh is mortified and we come to live a self-denying life. Those who are crucified with Christ are crucified to their sins, that as he died for sin, we ought to die to sin. In that state we live not after the flesh, although we live, as the apostle Paul said, in the flesh; but the life which these live is through faith in the Son of God. And to supposedly have all this, and much more wrought in us, and we know nothing of it, is unaccountable.
Presumption of being born again, instead of experiential reality, is make-believe Christianity.
Such Christianity is of Babylon and the beast with horns like a lamb that the whole world follows.
If you are born again, Christ has been revealed [seen, heard, felt, experienced] in you.
Jesus is resurrected in us to be our true Lord. 2 Cor 4:14, Col 2:11-12,3:1, Eph 2:6.
Paul said: it has pleased the Father to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him. Gal 1:15-16
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me Gal 5:20.
If you are born again, your selfish nature no longer lives, it has been crucified on the inward cross of self-denial.
The single scripture verse, taken out of context, which people use to fool themselves to believe they are born again, is:
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God .. 1 John 5:1.
"See," they say - "scripture proves I am born again because I believe Jesus is the Christ."
In 1 John 5, John carefully defines what are the qualifying experiences of a believer who is born of God
a believer born of God keeps the commands of God, and they are not a burden; verses 2,3the believer born of God has overcome the world by crucifying his sinful nature, (the forbidden cravings, the passionate desires, and the lusts of it), verses 4,5the believer born of God has seen in his heartby the light that manifests all things the three witnesses in the earth: verse 8first, the spirit that bears witness in the earth, which mortifies them, which circumcises them, which leads them into all truthsecond, they come to know the water that is a witness in the earth; by which they are washed, their minds, their souls, their spirits, and in their bodies, with this pure water; andthe third witness is his blood, which blood of Jesus is sprinkled in their hearts and consciences; by which blood they are sanctified, and they are cleansed from all their dead works, to serve the living God the believer born of God has eternal life in him, which is to be restored to the spiritual image of God in true righteousness and holiness. verse 12the believer born of God does not sin and cannot sin being protected by his Father from falling to any temptation. verse 18Jesus lives in and controls the believer. The believer is in Christ. The believer lives in with Christ and the Father. verse 20
He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life, 1 John 5:12. Because of Adam's fall, we all are dead to the life of God, Gen 2:17,3:24, having been cut off from eating from the tree of life. The life this references is the life of God, which is received when you are freed from all sin, translated into the Kingdom of Heaven, and enter union with God and Christ. To have life is to have Christ, who is the life, and is to be restored to the spiritual image of God in true righteousness and holiness. To have the life is to be in thekingdom eating from the tree of life again. From the Word of the Lord within: "the new life is as radically different as a man who has lived underground his whole life, suddenly coming above ground to see the sun, the sky, the plants, the animals, the wind, the stars.
Those who say they are born-again Christiansstill living in the fleshly lusts and pleasures of the world, and so still slaves to sin, aremaligning the truth and create confusion. From the Word of the Lord within: "By their evident display of sin, Christians cause my name to be blasphemed among the people. To know you are born again is to see your salvationappear in your heart. You are a son when Jesus appears in your heart to guide you."
Another huge error is to assume a spiritual experience is to be born again - when it is only your wake up call - only God's visitation to you, giving you a hunger for more of him, andmotivating you to seek him with your whole heart - to seek to see his face and be in his presence continually.
'Except you are regenerated and born again, you cannot inherit the kingdom of God.'
This is the word of the Lord God to all people this day;
this lies not in lofty words, and in vain imagination, and whatever else it is that you deck yourselves with;
you must every particular man and woman be born again,
else you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.
This was the doctrine of Christ, in that prepared body in which he appeared in the world,
and preached to Nicodemus that standing doctrine to this moment of time,
and will be so while any man breathes upon the earth;
there is no other way, no other gate to enter into life,
but by this great work of regeneration.
Now, to enforce people to come to this great work,
and to set forward from earth to heaven,
all having been driven out of paradise by the cherubim set with a flaming sword,
there is no returning to that blessed life,
but by the loss of that life that grieved the Spirit of God, and what caused man to be driven out;
there is no other way of return again, but by this new birth.
Just as you are all driven and forced out of paradise,
and the flaming sword and the cherubims are set to guard the way of the tree of life,
so you must return into the favor of God again,by the light of Christ;
and you have line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little,
to direct your minds to the light of Christ Jesus.
As the first Adam was made a living soul, so the second Adam is a quickening spirit.
Know this for certain, no man or woman can be quickened,
and raised up into the life of the second Adam,
until the life of the first Adam is taken away from them.
So now, let every one of you deal plainly with your own hearts,
how you came to be a slain people to the life of the first Adam,
in which life there was a working of the mystery of iniquity in every part of man.
One cries "Lo, here is Christ;" another, "Lo, there is Christ;"
and every one is following his own imagination about the letter of the Scripture;
this is still but the vain spirit of man, running and striving to recover himself;
and this is the cause there is so much professionof God,
and so little of his nature appearing among the sons and daughters of men. (profession without possession)
Now, all of you that come to be regenerated,
you must come to the light of Christ; there is no other way to it.
He will search your hearts, and try your reins,
and set your sins in order before you,
and trace out the iniquities that compass you about.
Therefore you must see yourselves a lost people, a sinful people,
and so come to feel the weight of your sins upon your consciences;
there is no other way to come to life.
You will never complain of sin until you are burdened with it,
until you have a trumpet sounding in your ears, to awaken you,
that you may arise from the dead, that Christ may give you light.
There is no other way, dear people.
You must bring your deeds to the light of Christ, and abide in the sentence of condemnation;
if you save your lives, you lose them;
if you will lose your lives for Christ's sake, there is no danger of your eternal life.
John the Baptist, Christ's forerunner declared, 'I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance,
but he that comes after me is mightier than I,
the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose,
he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire;
whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor,
and will gather his wheat into his garner, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.'
What is the good of you reading Scriptures, if you don’t know this fiery baptism,
which all must know that are regenerated.
Do not deceive not yourselves. Christ will appear in flaming fire,
and take vengeance on all those that do not know God,
and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I stand here as a witness of the Lord of life this day.
There is no way for people to come to salvation,
but they must know Christ revealed in all their hearts.
What is he doing, but rendering vengeance upon the carnal mind,
self-pleasing, and all inordinate affections;—
he comes with vengeance to take away your life;
he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire.
If you have not experienced this, you are not a true Christian,
you will never look death in the face with joy, nor go down to the grave with triumph.
If you live at home in the body, and flee for your life,
and are not willing to lose your life for Christ, if you are called to it;
and if you will not have Christ to wash you,
(some for shyness, and some for self-love will refuse this),
if Christ does not wash you, you have no part in him.
You must come to Christ, to purify you in the fiery furnace.
The day of the Lord shall burn as an oven, as the prophet speaks;
this is a dreadful day, a day of vengeance,
the day of the Lord Jesus Christ, who redeems his people from their sins.
Zion is redeemed with judgment, and established with righteousness.
Do not make the way to heaven easier in your minds and imaginations than indeed it is;
and think it sufficient to live in an outward observance of the ways of God.
If your own wills are alive, and your corruptions remain un-mortified,
the judgment of God will be your portion.
Therefore, in the Lord's name, come along with me,
I have come to declare what I have heard and seen of the Father.
Come and examine your conscience. Have you brought your deeds to the light?
Then you have received condemnation upon yourself, and your haughtiness is bowed down,
and laid low, and you see yourself a poor miserable wretch, before the eternal God.
Whatever you know of the mind of God, have you reformed your ways?
Come along with me, and tell me what is the ground of your faith, and your confidence.
Is it your obedience and qualifications?
Because if your obedience is right, and your qualifications right, what use do you make of them?
Read the book of conscience; have you no ground for your faith?
You have put on the reformed faith, and live an unreformed life.
Search and try yourself, man or woman.
Do you watch over yourself, and keep in a sense of your separation from God,
despite all your qualifications and partial reformation?
Do you strive to enter in at the strait gate, and the narrow way?
Here is the lost sheep you seek, the life of your will, the life of the first Adam.
The justice of God will not allow you to make a savior of your duties and qualifications;
and to take God's jewels, and to deck yourself with them.
You cannot be saved without the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
What did your conscience say, have you been brought to this change of your mind, and of your conversation?
Are you all willing to part with your sins, with your pride and haughtiness?
Are you willing to part with your vile affections? This is the work of God's grace upon you.
Do you place your confidence in your duties and qualifications,
and take God's jewels and ornaments, and deck yourself with them?
You took my jewels, said the Lord, and did play the harlot;
if you return to the Lord, and humble yourself, and get through this difficulty, you will be happy forever.
This judgment of God, this flaming sword that turns every way,
will keep you from returning to sin, and bring you to Christ,
and cut you off from all hope of salvation but by him,
and make you to see the absolute need of a Savior,
and that your life is hidden with Christ in God.
It is God's infinite goodness to men, that he will take their pride from them, and humble them under his mighty hand.
This is the condition of poor persons that are slain by the hands of the Most High.
How can I know, when I have been slain and baptized,
and possess this death and baptism with sincerity?
They that have this baptism, enter into the heavenly life;
if you love the light of Christ Jesus, it will be the same with you.
God will make short work in the earth.
He will set your sins in order before you, and make you watchful unto prayer,
and lead you to holiness of life and conversation, and make you abhor yourself,
and despise all the pomp and pleasures and vanities of this world.
When he has adorned you with his graces, then watch for the light,
and in the light of Christ you shall see light,
and that all you have done to please God, and can do to please God, is only your duty.
All this you ought to do; you are God's creature,
and all this will not justify you in order to your eternal salvation, for these services you owe unto God.
If you diligently wait, you shall see more light;
then the sword that proceeds out of the mouthof Christ, who is called "the Word of God,"
will cut you off from all your hopes of salvation from anything you have done,
from any of your qualifications, from anything that you can do;
so that you will be a hopeless soul, nothing in your own sense and apprehension;
the power of the first Adam must die before him,
and you will cry out, "I am a dead, lost, and undone creature;"
but there is a life hidden with Christ in God for me,
but I can never have it, until I am slain into the will of God,
and have become as a little child, and be stripped of all my own excellence that I have attained;
and I must come to a sense of my own misery, and fall down at the foot of God;
when I have become as a little child, humbled and slain as to my own will, and confidence in my own righteousness,
I will not then question but I shall live a holy life,
but I will give all that life I had, for that life which is hidden with Christ in God:
Oh!—there is none that come so far, that ever miss of eternal life.
All shuffling people, that would have salvation by Christ,
and will not let him exercise his heavenly power, his princely, glorious power to baptize them into his death,
it is they that come short of salvation;
but all those that yield themselves up to Christ to be redeemed through judgment,
and are become as little children, these are in a happy state.
You know that our Lord Jesus Christ took a little child in his arms,
and said, "Whoever does not come as a little child, cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven:"
you must all of you become as little children, and depend upon the mercy and free grace of God;
you must all come to a holy resignation of your wills to God's disposal;
if you come to Christ as little children, and depend upon him, you cannot miss of salvation;
it is bestowed upon such souls that hear the voice of Christ,
"they that hear the voice of the Son of God shall live."
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