SPIRITUAL CONVERSION
Confusion reigns under the INTERPRETATION of scripture by the human mind and formation of religious structure. Once we are BORN AGAIN (JOHN 3) we are a NEW CREATURE, one that desires to please God and shuns the ways of the world. We are LED by the Spirit and not the flesh if so be that we have received His Spirit into our hearts. Beginning at the moment of Spiritual baptism into Christ, WE ARE SAVED FOREVER. For by one offering he hath perfected FOREVER them that are sanctified. HEBREWS 10:14
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall NEVER perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. JOHN 10:28
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. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 FOR WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED. ROMANS 10:9-13
We are BAPTIZED into the SPIRIT of CHRIST at that moment. IT IS NOT A PROCESS, IT IS INSTANTANEOUS. There is nothing else required to be baptized in His Spirit but to believe in your heart and confess Him as YOUR LORD.
Sanctify them through thy truth: THY WORD is truth. JOHN 17:17
The process of sanctification begins as the new believer learns to apply the Word of God to his life. He is now immersed in the Spirit of God and begins to conform his mind to the will of God.
THIS IS SPIRITUAL BAPTISM - RECEIVING THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST
Once a person is BAPTIZED into the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, JESUS, into their heart, he begins his journey to the FORMATION of CHRIST through the SPIRIT. His mind begins to conform to the Word of God because he is being led by the Spirit. He is a NEW CREATURE. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a NEW CREATURE: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17
He is NO LONGER born ONLY of the FLESH but he has been BORN AGAIN in the SPIRIT of the LIVING GOD.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. JOHN 3:6
The new believer is not BORN AGAIN by any HUMAN organization or religious system that can be SEEN with the naked eye. He is born in the Spirit. Following commandments becomes a huge issue in his new spiritual journey because he struggles between the old man who must EARN JUSTIFICATION and the NEW MAN who is JUSTIFIED by CHRIST ALONE and he begins to respond to the WILL of GOD out of love. Following the commandments of God is no longer necessary to be accepted by God because He has already been made acceptable by the Life, Death and Resurrection of Christ. The new believer DESIRES to PLEASE GOD. And it is his REASONABLE SERVICE.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a LIVING SACRIFICE, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your REASONABLE SERVICE. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, WILL OF GOD. ROMANS 12:1-2
The new believer is on his way to a fulfilling life with our savior through the Spirit of God. He studies the Word of God because he is hungry to know his Lord. He tells everyone he can about his new life because he is so excited to know his savior. He sacrifices the deeds of the flesh because he now knows that they are destructive to him and others and that they do not fulfill the will of God. He understands who the enemy is and resists him after submitting to God. The devil tempts him while he is weak to deny Christ and obey his own desires but the Spirit of God wells up inside of him and delivers him. When he fails he repents to God in the name of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for remission of his sin.
THERE IS NO LONGER A NEED TO FOLLOW COMMANDMENTS BECAUSE THE COMMANDMENTS ARE WRITTEN ON THE NEW BELIEVER'S HEART. ONCE A PERSON HAS BEEN BORN AGAIN THERE IS NO LONGER A NEED TO PRESSURE HIM CARNALLY TO OBEY THE WILL OF GOD BECAUSE HE IS NOW A CREATURE THAT DESIRES TO PLEASE GOD. HE NEEDS DISCIPLESHIP IN THE SCRIPTURE, ADMONISHMENT, FELLOWSHIP AND INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF GOD. MOST OF ALL HE SHOULD BE GIVEN GRACE AND LOVE SO THAT HE CAN GROW SPIRITUALLY BY THE WORD OF GOD AND BECOME A CANDLE THAT LIGHTS THE WORLD WITH THE LOVE OF CHRIST.
We are BAPTIZED into the SPIRIT of CHRIST at that moment. IT IS NOT A PROCESS, IT IS INSTANTANEOUS. There is nothing else required to be baptized in His Spirit but to believe in your heart and confess Him as YOUR LORD.
Sanctify them through thy truth: THY WORD is truth. JOHN 17:17
The process of sanctification begins as the new believer learns to apply the Word of God to his life. He is now immersed in the Spirit of God and begins to conform his mind to the will of God.
THIS IS SPIRITUAL BAPTISM - RECEIVING THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST
Once a person is BAPTIZED into the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, JESUS, into their heart, he begins his journey to the FORMATION of CHRIST through the SPIRIT. His mind begins to conform to the Word of God because he is being led by the Spirit. He is a NEW CREATURE. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a NEW CREATURE: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17
He is NO LONGER born ONLY of the FLESH but he has been BORN AGAIN in the SPIRIT of the LIVING GOD.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. JOHN 3:6
The new believer is not BORN AGAIN by any HUMAN organization or religious system that can be SEEN with the naked eye. He is born in the Spirit. Following commandments becomes a huge issue in his new spiritual journey because he struggles between the old man who must EARN JUSTIFICATION and the NEW MAN who is JUSTIFIED by CHRIST ALONE and he begins to respond to the WILL of GOD out of love. Following the commandments of God is no longer necessary to be accepted by God because He has already been made acceptable by the Life, Death and Resurrection of Christ. The new believer DESIRES to PLEASE GOD. And it is his REASONABLE SERVICE.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a LIVING SACRIFICE, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your REASONABLE SERVICE. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, WILL OF GOD. ROMANS 12:1-2
The new believer is on his way to a fulfilling life with our savior through the Spirit of God. He studies the Word of God because he is hungry to know his Lord. He tells everyone he can about his new life because he is so excited to know his savior. He sacrifices the deeds of the flesh because he now knows that they are destructive to him and others and that they do not fulfill the will of God. He understands who the enemy is and resists him after submitting to God. The devil tempts him while he is weak to deny Christ and obey his own desires but the Spirit of God wells up inside of him and delivers him. When he fails he repents to God in the name of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for remission of his sin.
THERE IS NO LONGER A NEED TO FOLLOW COMMANDMENTS BECAUSE THE COMMANDMENTS ARE WRITTEN ON THE NEW BELIEVER'S HEART. ONCE A PERSON HAS BEEN BORN AGAIN THERE IS NO LONGER A NEED TO PRESSURE HIM CARNALLY TO OBEY THE WILL OF GOD BECAUSE HE IS NOW A CREATURE THAT DESIRES TO PLEASE GOD. HE NEEDS DISCIPLESHIP IN THE SCRIPTURE, ADMONISHMENT, FELLOWSHIP AND INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF GOD. MOST OF ALL HE SHOULD BE GIVEN GRACE AND LOVE SO THAT HE CAN GROW SPIRITUALLY BY THE WORD OF GOD AND BECOME A CANDLE THAT LIGHTS THE WORLD WITH THE LOVE OF CHRIST.
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