07 January 2024
BEGIN WITH CHRIST IN YOUR LIFE
(Going Forward in Christ: GFIC 1)
There is a starting point before going forward. We need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and commit ourselves to Him as our Lord and Saviour. Christ said to His hearers: “This is the will of Him (God the Father) Who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40). The Apostle John also writes: “This is His commandment: that we should believe on the Name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another.” (1 John 3:23). When we believe and acknowledge Christ as Saviour and Lord, we are forgiven of all our sins and made righteous in God’s sight.
Not only that, in Christ we are born again and become God’s children through the Holy Spirit living in us: “You received the Spirit of Adoption by Whom we cry, “Abba, Father”. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together” (Rom.8:15-17). This is a great privilege which we are given – to become God’s children and call Him “Father” which are not given to the angels of God. How thankful we ought to be and be praising Him all the days of our life! Thank You, Lord!
The Holy Spirit is the Seal and Guarantee that we are assured of eternal life and the Hope of Heaven. The Bible says: “In Him (Christ) you also trusted, after you heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation; in Whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise Who is the Guarantee of our inheritance until the Redemption of the purchased possession, to the Praise of His Glory” (Eph.1:13-14).
People who are not “born again of the Spirit”, even though they may have been raised in a Christian home and are members of a Church, yet they will not have this inner witness and assurance of the Holy Spirit. Hence, they will always be unsure and afraid, always having the nagging fear that when they die, they would not be in Heaven. Christ told the religious teacher, Nicodemus, “Unless you are born again, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (John 3:3,5). One is “born again” when we repent of our sins and accept Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Jesus said, “I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one can come to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Christ is the only Way to God and Heaven and Peace in the heart. This is the peace that passes all understanding which the Holy Spirit gives.
Believing and committing ourselves to Christ is for life. We are to be faithful to Him to the end and to obey His commandments to prove that we really belong to Him. The Bible exhorts us: “If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved from the Hope of the Gospel which you heard” (Col.1:23). The devil will try to discourage us and make us doubt our salvation, especially when adversity arises. But we must, with God’s Help, hold on in faith. Phil. 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me”. Amen.
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