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Unless you understand and believe in the spiritual nature of your salvation you will always find yourself in religious ritual and traditions, you will dry up and then give up. Jesus died on the Cross so that you could have a Relationship with Him! A relationship implies two-way communication. You speak to Him, that’s called prayer. God speaks to you, that’s called personal revelation- He reveals Himself to you.

To fully appreciate what God has done we need to look at the spiritual side of our nature. Most people tend to think of themselves as soul and body, but God created you with a spirit as well as soul and body. You are three in one spirit, soul and body just as God is three in one, the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit.

If you want to overcome the disappointments and scars of the past, the habits that have kept you in bondage, restore broken relationships and have a sense of purpose and joy in life, then you must have a “mind change”. That change is to see yourself as spirit, soul and body instead of just body and soul. This is such an important change in view and it will determine your success in overcoming in this life.

There are at least 3 important bible verses that confirm our three-part nature:

• Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being (soul)”.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
• Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”.

Let’s take a closer look at the three parts of who you are, spirit, soul and body.

Looking at the diagram you will see that the overlap of Spirit, Soul and Body is where and who you are. To ignore the spiritual side of you is to live at 2/3^rd of your potential and ability. You are not just soul, or body or just spirit, but you are all three in one.

Let’s look at these three parts of who you are in terms of how each part interacts or communicates.

Body– your physical body communicates or interacts with the physical world. You communicate through your senses: touch, smell, hearing, sight, taste. Everything you know about the physical world you learned through physical experience. As a result of your experiences you have come to certain conclusions about the world we live in, of course not all those conclusions are true.

Soul– your soul is where your emotions, decision making or will, intellect and personality reside. Your mind, if you will, interprets all of the stimulus input from your physical body. The soul is also where all of your reasoning resides. Your soul communicates with the souls of other people and relationships, good and bad, are formed as a result of your soul.

Spirit- if your body communicates with the physical world, and your soul communicates with other souls… can you guess what your spirit communicates with? Yes, the spiritual realm! So, what is the spiritual realm? Briefly, there are 3 components: the spirit of God, the spirit of other people, and the spirit of the Devil.

Your past does not have to determine your future. Being a Christian means that everything is new. You may look in the mirror and see no change in your physically body- yet, you may not think differently right now in your Soul but being a believer means that your Spirit is made alive and you now are able to communicate with God. God’s love, guidance and power is made available to you by His Spirit.

Because of Jesus we can now have direct communication with God. God knows what you need and wants to help you be renewed and filled with His Holy Spirit.

Finally, in closing… Think about this expression:

“You are not a human being having a spiritual experience, but a spiritual being having a human experience”. anon.

Seeing the kingdom means to see the power and authority of the kingdom being released or manifested by those who are born-again or Believers. Romans 8:37 “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” And Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” In other words, seeing the kingdom is the present reality of a supernatural life.

Entering the kingdom means obtaining eternal life with God in heaven. John 11:25 “Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die (physically), he shall live (forever).”

Here we see the twin benefit of believing in Jesus or having salvation,
1) an “overcoming” present life, , overcoming the trials and difficulties of life,
2) and the future reward of heaven.

An important truth or doctrine about God is that He always makes the first move; He initiates. A person may think that they have “found God”, but the truth is that God has been drawing that person to Himself. Jesus says in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day”. So, as you can see when person is drawn to, or curious, or intrigued about the teachings of Jesus it is because God the Father is “drawing” that person to the Truth, found in Jesus Christ.

Let’s be clear, to be “saved” or have salvation is a transaction, that is Jesus makes the invitation (remember God always moves first), but an individual must then accept the invitation.  In Matthew 22:1-14 there is an illustration or Parable of Jesus called the Wedding Feast. A king sends his servants out to invite people to attend the wedding feast of his son. Some of those who were invited made excuses as to why they would not attend. They didn’t take the invitation seriously and did not realize the importance of the invitation. Some were too busy or had more important things to do. The king finds out about those who rejected the invitation and it is their rejection that condemned them. On the other hand, those who accepted the invitation are called the chosen. Chosen to reap the benefits of salvation. ­­­­

We use the phrase, “to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, to mean that you have accepted God’s invitation and are Born-again or a Believer.
1. To accept Jesus as Lord or King means that you will follow his teachings which are found in His Word, the Bible.
2. To accept Jesus as Savior or deliverer means that you believe that He died for your sins at the Cross of Calvary and that one day you will go to Heaven to be with Him.

You are believing or trusting that as a result of Jesus’ death on the cross you are forgiven and now part of God’s family; and you believe in the resurrection of Jesus and therefore, have assurance you will also be resurrected and spend eternity in Heaven with Him. You see, you are loved, forgiven and accepted!

So how does one actually become Born-again or a Believer? The Apostle Paul says it best in Romans 10:9-13, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness (right living), and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. …13 For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

These are the promises of God; To confess with your mouth means that you are not ashamed to declare Jesus as your Savior. Tell someone of your decision to follow Jesus.

Believing in your heart means just that, you are not just reciting words or a formula. You are accepting by faith that Jesus died for you, that your sins have been washed away and your destination is Heaven.

If you are not a Born-again Believer I encourage you to make that decision today. You can do that with a simple prayer. Simply personalize Romans 10, which we just read,  in the following way,

I am confessing with my mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in my heart that God has raised Him from the dead, I am saved. For with my heart I believe unto right living, and with my mouth I am confessing unto salvation. I am calling on the name of the Lord Jesus, therefore I am saved!

Let’s take a closer look at the word believe in the previous quote.

• On the one hand, you can believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ to mean, “I believe the teachings to be true”. The belief is an intellectual agreement. For example, I know that it is wrong to lie, but I do it anyway.
• On the other hand, you can believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ to mean, “I trust the teachings to be true and am morally compelled to apply them to my life.” For example, I know that it is wrong to lie, and I choose to be honest.

Do you see the difference? In the biblical sense believing in the teachings of Jesus Christ means that I am trusting in the teaching and applying that teaching to my life. When you do that you are applying faith to the truth. The evidence of your faith is that you are doing what you believe.

We are now ready to look the central fundamental teaching of Jesus Christ, to be a true Christian you must be “#Born-again” or [born from above]!

In chapter 3 of John’s Gospel, we see an account of Jesus meeting with a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a Pharisee was one who strictly observed the Law of Moses. Nicodemus had a genuine desire to understand Jesus’ teachings and he came secretly at night to meet with Him.

In verse 3 Jesus said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” This means seeing the spiritual kingdom in action in the present life.

4 Nicodemus then says, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” You see Nicodemus was thinking in natural/biological terms, missing the spiritual point Jesus was making.

5 Jesus answers, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” To be born of water refers to the natural birth, to be born of the spirit is obviously spiritual.

6 Jesus restates this idea when He says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.”

in verse 8 Jesus then reaffirms the spiritual nature of the new birth with a analogy, “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.”

As you can see from the words of Jesus Christ, in order to see and enter the Kingdom of God, you must be born-again. It is a spiritual experience, not merely a physical or emotional decision. There is something that takes place inside the individual. Theologians call this Regeneration and Sanctification. The Holy Spirit released in the believer to help, comfort, guide and teach the individual to become more like Jesus Christ.

Are you Born-again? If not, there is no time like the present to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior!

Say a prayer something like this from your heart, “Jesus I need help in this life and the assurance of Heaven in the next. I’ve made many mistakes and have regrets over the decisions I have made. Forgive me now and remove all my sins, wash me clean. Come into my life, let me sense your Holy Spirit in me giving me the assurance that I belong to you and you belong to me. I believe you died for me on the Cross of Calvary and this was an expression of your love for me. I believe you rose again and that I can be confident you will raise me up on that last day. I believe in you and put my trust in you. Amen.

There are 7.6 billion people on the face of the earth today. The largest religious group are the Christians. There are about 2.5 billion people, almost a third of the world’s population, who identify themselves as being Christians.

A definition of a Christian, according to Merriam-Webster, “is one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ”. I think it would be fair to say that 2.5 billion people “profess” Jesus Christ, at least intellectually or with their minds, that is they believe that Jesus existed, was a good person, and died on the cross for our sins. Let’s look at Webster’s definition again, the key words are, “profess belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ”. Frankly many “Christians” in the world don’t even know what Jesus taught and therefore have no desire to apply those teachings to their lives.

As a result of doing ministry in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean and of course the United States, I see at least four segments of the Christian population. Let’s see how they fit into the dictionary definition we have of a Christian; “professing a belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ”.

First, let me list them and then we will take a deeper look…

1. A Nominal Christian
2. A Generational Christian
3. A Syncretic Christian
4. A Born-again Christian

First A Nominal Christian, is a Christian who identifies with a particular church or a Christian denomination. That person may or may not be a church attender. Some examples of Nominal Christians are:
People who convert to Christianity in order to marry or convert because of social/cultural pressures fit into this category.

• They may have to fill out a form stating their religious affiliation and they know that they are not Jewish, Buddhist, Islamic and therefore check the category they think fits; Christian.
• They may want their children to develop Christian values and attend a Christian church for that reason.
• They don’t want their children to go to a public school and put their children in a Christian school and therefore state that they are Christians.

A Generational Christian, is one who’s Christian identity is taken from their parents or family. That person may or not be a church attender. For example:

• It is only natural that a child will adopt the religion of their parents, it is no different for Christian families. Unless a child has a personal experience with Jesus Christ, they will just continue in the traditions of the family.

A Syncretic Christian, the word syncretic or syncretism when applied to religion means that two religions are blended together to form one religion acceptable to the population (politically correct). So, a syncretic Christian is one who takes on the Christian label but practice a Christianity that is blended with other non-Christian religions or cults.

The fourth category is how Jesus defined a Christian. A #Born-Again Christian is a Christian who professes repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and understand the spiritual nature of Christianity (John 3:1-21). That person may be a church attender, or not. We will have much to say about Born-again Christians in our next post.

As we close, you can see it isn’t the fact that you go to a Christian church that makes you a Christian, although you should. Going to church does not make one a Christian, any more than going into “McDonalds makes you a hamburger”. The real issue is and always has been, do you know Jesus as personal Lord and Savior!

So, until next time ponder these thoughts, God bless!