How We May Know We Are Born Again Of God
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And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Note the two if’s in this bible reading; one by the father of the child and one by Jesus.
Deity can use “if thou canst” just as much as man.
So if man can quit his eternal questionings and satanic unbelief concerning God’s will and power, “all things” will be possible for the believer
Quote:
We know what we are, but know not what we may be...
The Hitchhiker
Doubt is not unbelief, but it is not faith either.
It wavers between faith and unbelief, unable to make up its mind what it wants to be.
It is like the hitchhiker who was thumbing a ride with his hand in one direction–and thumbing a ride with his other hand in the other direction.
He wasn’t sure which way he wanted to go.
How We May Know We Are Born Again Of God
How We May Know We Are Born Again Of God
We Know by the Indwelling Spirit
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
We have before us something that is quite unique in the experience of the believer.
The father, in an earthly family, may instruct his son; he may set a splendid example before him; indeed he may do many things to aid him in a true life; but he cannot "indwell" him.
The Heavenly Father goes far beyond the possibilities of an earthly father.
He not only tells us how to walk, and how to live; but He places within us His Spirit, that we may be empowered, to walk and to live.
He puts the "enabling" in us.
1. This indwelling Spirit is given only to sons.
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
When the Holy Spirit dwells within the believer's heart, he knows he is a child of God, because the Holy Spirit is God's gift to the saved alone.
2. This indwelling Spirit cries "Abba, Father.
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
The man of the world may talk of the "all-father," but he knows nothing about this spirit of worship, this cry of the heart, this fellowship, this appeal of the soul expressed by, "Abba, Father."
When Jesus Christ hung upon Calvary's Cross, in the sinner's stead, He cried: "My God, My God," — this is the cry of the sinner, when he is yet in his sins.
The cry of the saint is, "Father, Father."
The redeemed have a response of soul, an upward leap, a Divine affiance toward the Father, that the world cannot feel.
3. This indwelling Spirit shows us Christ.
We know we are born again when the Spirit of God, who dwells within us, testifies of Christ, glorifying Him, and takes of the things of Christ, showing them unto us.
The mission of the Holy Spirit is to transform the believer into the image of the Son of God. In doing this, He continually magnifies Christ.
Hold Thou the Christ,
Before my opened eyes,
Lead on to Him,
And point us to the skies. — ( Arranged).
As the Lord Jesus, therefore, becomes more precious because of the Spirit; and as the heart and life more and more reach out toward Him; as we learn, the more, to love Him Whom we have not seen, and to rejoice in Him Whom we have not known, face to face — we know that we are born of God.
We Know by Our Victory Over the World
"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" ( I John 5:4, 5 ).
"He that is born of God overcometh the world."
We do not mean that all Christians live a life of absolute separation, or of absolute victory. All too many Christians stumble and follow the world.
What we do mean is this: Every believer, because he is born of God, has within his reach a victory, supreme and complete, if he, by faith, will claim it. This much is sure — all overcomers may know they are born of God.
This life of victory is altogether impossible to the unregenerate; they cannot, under any condition, overcome the world. They are of the world; yea, they are the world.
In these days, when so many are walking arm in arm with the world, it will prove helpful to consider, once more, the believer's attitude, Scripturally, to the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life — the things which dominate the men of the world.
1. The believer is called out of the world, and is commanded to "love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
2. The believer is not of the world; his citizenship is not of the world; his treasures are not of the world.
He is in the world, but the world must not be in him.
He may possess things that worldly men possess, but these things do not possess him; they must not form the pulse and purpose of his life.
3. The believer should crucify the world; this is his glory:
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
In truth, those who are in Christ, walking in Him.
And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
4. The believer is promised victory over the world.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
Jesus Christ met satan and vanquished him:
He spoiled him and all of his principalities and powers; therefore, He assures His victory to His born-again ones.
When this victory is realized in a believer's life, he knows that he is born of God.