"Being religious is a very superficial show of piousness with no real change of heart. A relationship with God derives from a change of heart with a desire to get to know the creator more and more each day."
by Joshua Devaratnam
Lots of Christians carry the title Christian but are you truly born again? This will be an answer only the person reading this will be able to answer. This article is by no means a judgment on anyone but simply to gauge whether all of us have been truly walking with the Holy Spirit. I truly pray that your heart will be open as you read this article to receive the message the Holy Spirit has for all of us.
A person who is born again is a person that experiences new birth in Christ. It’s an actual spiritual birth: we are reborn with the life of God. Those legitimately born again are indwelt by the Holy Spirit (John 3:5). The result of a person that is born again is that the fruit of their conviction will be evident for everyone to see.
I personally experienced saying the sinner's prayer in my teenage years but my life had no changes. I smelt like the world, I spoke and cussed like the world, I served in church because I was forced to, I basically had no genuine love for Jesus. I was going through the motions just like many believers are doing these days. Monday to Saturday there is no semblance of Christ in our lifestyle but on Sunday we suddenly become very religious.
Notice I used the word religious here.
Being "religious" is a very superficial show of piousness with no real change of heart. A relationship with God derives from a change of heart with a desire to get to know the creator more and more each day. A hunger and passion to be more and more intimate with the Holy Spirit. It's progressive, and intimacy with Him increases day by day.
Lots of believers can profess to be born again but whether that is a reality in their lives is completely different story altogether.
1. We need to have a touch of the Holy Spirit.
When we say the sinner's prayer, we need to also make a conscious decision to follow God wholeheartedly. It cannot be out of emotions or euphoria but out of conviction. This is the starting point of where a disciple is shaped. Therefore, being born again requires a conviction that happens as a result of a touch of God, be it through a sermon, the gospel being shared with us or a verse from the Bible that ministered to us and so forth.
God uses whatever means necessary to touch your life if He sees real and genuine hunger in your heart to experience Him. The important point here is, we have to experience a touch of God to be truly born again.
It wasn't until I was 27 that I had an encounter with God. I personally experienced His touch when I listened to a sermon at the church I'm attending currently. That day, I decided to follow Jesus wholeheartedly and I've never turned back ever since. That was the day I truly became born again.
2. Change is progressive but inevitable.
There was a burning desire within me to leave my former lifestyle. Now it was time to take Him seriously. Play time was over. I had been a pastor's kid for 27 years but with no real change in my life. Being born again is not perfection but there has to be a progressive change in your life.
It took me almost two years to quit smoking, almost seven years to get over the baggage I had accumulated as a result of bad relationships and the nonsense I had been doing. I'm still a work in progress but have grown increasingly aware of how much we are in need of the Grace of God and why Jesus had to come and die for our sins. He paid the ultimate price so all of us could have a shot at eternal life. Oh how blessed we are folks! So so blessed, we should never take this for granted.
3. We are justified by God but sanctification is an ongoing process
Point is, when you truly accept Jesus into your heart, you have a right standing before the Father as a result of Christ's blood shed on the cross for you. This means a restoration of a relationship with God which was once broken. So, a relationship with God can only develop from a change of heart.
Christ has delivered us from sin’s reign, but the responsibility for resisting sin is ours. The process of sanctification is ongoing and it is only through a partnership with the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to put to death the deeds of the body. (Romans 8:13, Romans 15:16).
Remember that Justification is entirely God’s work but sanctification involves OUR cooperation with God. God has given us His Spirit, but the responsibility for walking by the Spirit is ours. “Pursue … sanctification” urged the writer of Hebrews (Heb. 12:14,; see also 2 Cor. 7:1). This ongoing process is to make us more and more like Jesus therefore the measure of a true born-again Christian can be seen in his/her Christlikeness.
As God sanctifies and renews our minds, we have to be progressively moving forward with Him. We will never be perfect because of our own works but as a result of His Grace upon our lives. If you understand how much God hates sin and why Jesus had to die so our sins could be forgiven, it's just impossible for anyone to take His Grace for granted and not have a real change of heart.
So my point is this, if you say you have received Christ into your life and after many years, there is no difference between you and someone that doesn't know Jesus, chances are you have not really truly experienced Christ or perhaps you have experienced him before but perhaps it's time to make a decision to follow Him wholeheartedly.
After receiving Christ into your life, the evidence of a born-again life is a PROGRESSIVE 180 -degree turn from sin. This means that change will not happen overnight but progressively.
A believer today can NEVER complain that they are not experiencing the presence of God because of LACK of resources. God gives us many chances to experience His presence by the sermons pastors are preaching weekly in church, videos on YouTube, countless number of free resources made available out there by pastors like Pastors Vlad, John and Lisa Bevere, free bible apps you can download from app stores and so forth.
4. Merely saying the sinners prayer doesn't guarantee a change of heart
Merely saying the sinner's prayer doesn't guarantee that you have been born again. You have to believe in your heart that Jesus was raised from the dead and confess with your lips that Jesus Christ is Lord.
How are you to believe in your heart when you have not been convicted of sin and see the need to repent? Scripture says in Matthew 7:13-14 - “Enter through the narrow gate... Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
The gate to eternal life is ONLY through Jesus and that is why in order to believe in Jesus there has to be conviction!
In my opinion, this is the reason why so many "believers" have not progressively turned into disciples for Christ because either they can't make a decision to follow Him wholeheartedly or they just never experienced Jesus in the first place. Cause if you have experienced Him, how is it that you haven't had a change of heart?
I was one of them so I speak from experience folks.
Remember, as the word of God says, it's either you are for Him or against Him. There is really no room for lukewarmness or being in the middle which brings me to the next point.
5. Believers have to be discipled
The gospel has to be preached to bridge the gap between people who profess to be born again and those who possess the reality.
If easy-going sermons that pleases the ear is preached weekly then how is a believer going to be convicted of their sin and see the need to repent? How are we going disciple believers to be disciples when the believer is not challenged from the pulpit to go deeper?
If as believers we never get passed the need for our needs and to be met, how are we ever going to be disciples?
The Christian walk is much more than our needs and desires being met, more than riches, wealth and prosperity.
Scripture says to Seek His Kingdom first and all these things will be added unto you. When God is prioritised, naturally your needs will be met. God knows what you need before you even ask Him.
So why are we still fixated on our needs being met when clearly our main purpose as believers is to seek God first. It is to prioritise Him in our daily lives. Our walk with Him has to be built daily.
Be always on guard and start to seek Him more if you find yourself in a place of comfort. Again, as mentioned in my earlier article, just because you are doing well in life, it doesn't mean you have an intimate walk with God. Intimacy with the Holy Spirit is walking closely with Him every single day, dying to self, picking up your cross and following Him.
6. A challenge for believers
So I urge you believers to take a stand for Christ today. If there is sin in your life, acknowledge that it is there and repent as the Holy Spirit convicts you. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you if you want to go deeper in your walk with Him. He will help you folks, trust me, I've had first hand experience.
He's an amazing Father that always cares for you and loves you deeply. Even when He disciplines, He does it out of love. So never doubt the love of Jesus for you! Go deeper folks, being closer to Christ doesn't mean your freedom is taken away but rather when you experience Christ you receive freedom. (John 8:36 - Who the Son sets free is free indeed. )
Today the question is being asked of us? Are we going to continue to be religious or are we going to take Jesus more seriously and go deeper in our walk with him? Remember the gauge of a born again Christian is when we look in the mirror, are we progressively seeing the decrease of the self to more Christlikeness or is it the other way around..
Have a great day!
-Joshua Devaratnam-
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