·          It is HE, God, who first loved us. It is He who, by His grace and mercy, brought us to repentance.  “. . .  the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance” Romans 2:4

·         It is He who by His grace reveals to us the sinfulness of our hearts and our need of the Saviour. “They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Romans 3:12

·         To be saved is to have repented of your sin; to have ‘turned your life around’ and to believe God’s Word. “. . . repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Mark 1:15 

·         The word ‘repent’ means to have a change of mind and a change of heart; you may even be unrecognizable to those close to you. The word ‘convert’ means to turn around.

·         It is not possible to be saved and to be comfortable in your old life of sin. Sin will harden your heart but a life born of the Spirit of God will become sin-conscious and desire to be free of all sin. “Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.” John 5:14 

·         True salvation brings freedom from sin. “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32 

·         True salvation is like a flag on top of a mountain: the flag is left as a marker by those who climbed to the summit. When you meet the risen Christ, you will be able to set a marker down in your life and know that on that day, your eyes were opened; you met the living God. “He [the blind man]answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.” John 9:25 

One of the Greatest Delusions
One of the saddest delusions in “Christianity” or “neo-Christianity” today, is the abundance of the unsaved who think that they are saved, and they have been given reason to think that they are saved because they have been told that they are when they have repeated a little prayer or raised their hand and have professed to believe when really their hearts are not changed; their life is not changed. This delusion is most obvious in America where over 80% of Americans believe that they are going to Heaven. This is a sad delusion! One can only go to Heaven if one has been saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and there will be fruit of salvation as the seed of Christ  in a born-again man or woman will bring forth the fruit of God's Holy Spirit. The fruit of true conversion is not evident in over 80% of Americans for if this was accurate, it would not be a nation so deeply weighed down in sins. Whilst it is most obvious in America, it is prevalent in all churches world-wide. Pews are warmed by men and women who leave the threshold of the church and go out to live exactly like a lost sinner. Great effort is being made to make the church more and more “friendly” and entertaining to the lost sinner because churches are filled with exactly that: lost, unsaved sinners. A real blood-washed, born-again Believer will not need to be entertained. 

                        A professor is not always a possessor!

True conversion is precious and memorable. True conversion bears fruit: “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:” Matthew 3:8 

Like the woman at the well, have you MET the Lord Jesus Christ, or have you just heard about Him? Do you worship what you do not know? (verse 22)  Has He said to you, “I AM”? (verse 26) The evidence of an answer in the positive, is that you too, like the woman at the well, would seek to tell others; you would tell others that Jesus was indeed man and indeed Christ.

John 4:7  “A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give me to drink. (9) Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, How do you, being a Jew, ask a drink of me, who am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews do not associate with Samaritans. (10)  Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, Give Me to drink, you would have asked of Him, and He would have given you living water. (11)The woman said to Him, Sir, you have no vessel, and the well is deep. From where then do you have that living water? (12)  Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, and his children and his cattle? (13)  Jesus answered and said to her, Whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again, (19) The woman said to Him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. (20)  Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. (21)  Jesus said to her. . .  (22) You worship what you do not know, we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. (23)  But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him. (24)  God is a spirit, and they who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. (25)  The woman said to Him, I know that Messiah is coming, who is called Christ. When He has come, He will tell us all things. (26)  Jesus said to her, I AM, the One speaking to you.  (28)  The woman then left her waterpot and went into the city and said to the men, (29) Come see a man who told me all things that I ever did. Is this One not the Christ?"

Like the Disciples on the road to Emmaus, have you been to church for years and heard of all the things God has done; have you been to countless meetings and heard Him revealed but your eyes have not yet seen Him?

Luke 24:13 – 31: “And behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, it being about sixty stadia from Jerusalem. And they talked to each other of all these things which had happened. And while they talked and reasoned, it happened that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were held so that they could not know Him. And He said to them, What words are these that you have with one another as you walk, and are so sad? And one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered and said to Him, Are you only a stranger in Jerusalem and have not known the things which have occurred there in these days? And He said to them, What things? And they said to Him, The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a man, a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the judgment of death, and have crucified Him. But we had trusted that He was the One who was about to redeem Israel. And besides all this, today is the third day since these things were done. Yes, and also some of our women astounded us, having been early at the tomb; and when they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that He was alive. And some of those with us went to the tomb and found it even as the women had said. But they did not see Him. And He said to them, O fools and slow of heart to believe all things that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. And they drew near the village where they were going. And He appeared to be going further. But they constrained Him, saying, Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is far spent. And He went in to stay with them. And it happened as He reclined with them, taking the loaf, He blessed it, and breaking it, He gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him.”

Like Simon the Sorcerer, do you believe you have power with God? Do you spend most of your time with Believers, believing you are a Believer too, but the motive of your heart is to use the Kingdom of God for your own benefit? You may even have gone through the waters of baptism (like Simon below) but what is the current condition of your heart? Do you need to repent?

Acts 8:9 – 13 “But a certain man called Simon had long been conjuring in the city, and amazing the nation of Samaria, claiming himself to be some great one. All gave heed to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, This one is the great power of God. And they were paying attention to him, because for a long time he had amazed them with conjuring. But when they believed Philip preaching the gospel, the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also, and being baptized, he continued with Philip. And seeing miracles and mighty works happening, he was amazed.”

Acts 8:18 – 24 “And when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, Give me this power also, that on whomever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit. But Peter said to him, May your silver perish with you, because you have thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. And answering Simon said, You pray to the Lord for me that none of these things which you have spoken may come on me.”

If you have been saved by grace and want to live for the Lord Jesus Christ, your first need is to have fellowship with the Living God through His written Word, the Bible, and through prayer. Work on a regular Bible reading schedule that will get you through the Bible at least once in a year. We recommend the R. M. McCheyne daily reading schedule (available online) which will take you through the whole Bible in a year plus the New Testament and Psalms twice in a year. Reading regularly builds “line upon line, line upon line”; it is like building a house with stones — each stone is vital. Avoid the temptation of pinning your hopes upon “a word that jumps out at you”; there are indeed ‘Rhema’ words (revelations from God) and passages that God will use to speak to you specifically about a situation you may be in from time to time, but in general, the reading of His Word produces unseen fruit; the fruit of righteousness.    

It was once said to me, “I only read as I am led to read the Bible. . .”. My answer was this: “You eat regularly every day to keep your physical being alive; likewise the spiritual, inner man will only survive and grow when you feed on God’s Word, then water it with prayer, daily.”

Julie’s Story. . .

When I asked Julie, what it was that has kept her from going back to a life of drink and drugs as so often occurs with addicts, she responded that when God told her in that police cell that the TRUTH would make her free, she has held on to this and has sought out and searched the TRUTH by reading and memorizing God’s Word: the TRUTH.

Although she may have failed* at times over the years, Julie has ‘gotten-up and gone on’ by reading God’s Word, and by living by it. Julie has found strength against temptations in the Word of God. She has found strength for daily living in the Word of God. Julie has found that her “anchor holds in times of storm” because she knows the Word of God – Jesus Christ. John 1:1 “ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”