How To Prove You Are A Christian - Part 4

Evidence #5 Are You Indwelt With God’s Spirit or Are You Without the Spirit Living Inside You?
A radical change of life is non-optional

“And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spiritwhom He has given us.” 1 John 3:24-4:6; 1 John 4:13-15

What Does it Mean to Have the Holy Spirit?
"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.“ John 3:8 (NKJ)

It Means He Changes What You Love“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Rom 5:5 (NKJ)

It Means He Changes What You Are Focused On“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” Rom 8:5 (NKJ)

It Means He Changes What You Hate“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Rom 8:9 (NKJ)

Hypocrites [Actors or Imposters Without the Spirit] Do Not Have Fruit“...test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets [preachers] have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1

False preachers do not have the [Holy] Spirit living inside them but a [deceiving] spirit guides them. "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. "You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” Matt 7:15-16 (NKJ)

Hypocrites Are Mixed Into the Churches“And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage)..” Galatians 2:4 AMP

“For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude 1:4 (NKJ)

The World [hypocrites included] Loves the Unsaved Preachers“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” Luke 6:26 (NKJ)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 5:22-25

Read What Happens When You Are Born Again?for a detailed description of what the Holy Spirit actually does and how He changes the follower of Jesus."A born again person is someone who has a direct connection with Almighty God by receiving the Holy Spirit inside their human spirit ..."

Evidence #6 Do You Believe or Not Believe the Bible
Accepting the Bible as absolute truth is non-optional

“They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” 1 John 4:2,3 The eye witnesses of Jesus, such as John, Matthew, Peter, etc wrote down what they saw with their own eyes, what they heard directly from Jesus, and what they actually did through God's Holy Spirit empowering them. These books are the New Testament Bible we have today and is God's absolute truth for every person.

The Evidence of Salvation!
A person who agrees with the Bible is of God. A person who listens to religious leaders in contradiction to the Bible are not saved!

How can we tell the truth?
“We are of God [John and the other disciples], He who knows God hears us [listens to their teaching from the Bible]; he who is not of God does not hear us [listen to us] . . .” 1 John 4:6 This means the New Testament portion of the Bible must be completely believed also, not just the Jewish scriptures, to prove you are really of God. Remember John along with all the original followers of Messiah were Jewish.

“… BY THIS WE KNOW THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH AND THE SPIRIT OF ERROR.”

“… it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.” 1 John 5:6b

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” 1 Corinthians 2:12-13

Evidence #7 Do You Believe or Not Believe in Jesus Christ
The Bible’s description of who Jesus is, is non-optional.

“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ [promised messiah of O.T.] is born of God” 1 John 5:1, 10-12

“He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Matthew 16:15-16

Jesus was fully a human and fully God
A person who says they are of God but teaches and believes that Jesus was not a human also is not of God.

Look in 1 John 4:2,3 for this.
"Here's how you test for the genuine Spirit of God. Everyone who confesses openly his faith in Jesus Christ — the Son of God, who came as an actual flesh-and-blood person — comes from God and belongs to God. 3 And everyone who refuses to confess faith in Jesus has nothing in common with God. This is the spirit of antichrist that you heard was coming. Well, here it is, sooner than we thought!" (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Prophecy said he would be both. Look at Isaiah 9:6:

For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Sonis given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder.

And His name will be called

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

In John 8:58 Jesus claimed to be God
“Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.’"

His disciples worshiped Him and called Him God

“And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’" John 20:28

You Cannot Be of God and Reject Jesus Christ as God and Man
“He who has the Son has life, he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1 John 5:12

"This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit." Matt 1:18 (NLT)

"And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: 23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” Matt 1:21-23 (NLT)

It is obvious by now that 1 John demands proof of salvation, not just mental belief. He learned this from the Lord Jesus as recorded in the Gospels.

Matthew 7:21-27 [21] "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven... [26] But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: [27] and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."

Review the Evidence: Are You Going to Heaven?

1. Do I love God and my neighbor, not in feelings but actions?

2. Have I turned from disobedience and sin?

3. Do I obey God’s commands?

4. Have I changed sides [my friends and associates] from God’s enemies to His friends in the church?

5. Have I had a complete change in lifestyle, from my thing, to a life of discipleship and service to God?

6. Have I changed my mind on what is true, and rejected what the world says is true?

7. Have I changed my mind about who Jesus is and what he has done for me?

REMEMBER:
What you really believe changes what you do. And when you really believe in Christ, His power changes your life to be able to do what God demands, but normal man only wishes he could change. “By grace are you saved through faith…” This is not in theory, but God’s salvation actually transforms people, that is why proof is essential, and fruit is the evidence.

The fruit of change is the character, attitudes, and actions of God coming through the lives of those who are born again. The "wanna be Christians” are actually hypocrites, and they can deceive people, but not Jesus, because some hide their sins in secret where only God sees them. But He will bring justice on judgment day.

*If this article has helped you please click "like" or follow my notes for further information. God bless you!

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