There are perhaps many people who profess to be "Christians" because they attend church services, have a religious philosophy or may have even been led in a "prayer of salvation" at some time, but have not experienced a radical life change. Jesus spoke of being “born-again” as the only way that we may enter the Kingdom of God: John 3:5-7 says, “Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.” To be born again literally means to be “born of the Spirit”, speaking of the Holy Spirit. The Bible talks in so many other places of becoming a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Jesus always spoke of His followers as having a radical change in their life as a result of following Him or coming to Him. It is carried on through the writings of the Apostles, that if anyone is in Christ, than he is a new creature! The old life of sin begins to vanish by the power of God and a new life devoted to God rather than self emerges. The Apostle Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” What he is saying is that when he saw what Jesus did for him on the cross, that Jesus purchased him by His own blood, that he no longer belongs to himself but rather that his life now belongs to God who loved him and gave Himself for him---1 Corinthians 6:20, “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." In other words, if you have been truly saved by Him, then you should be showing signs in your life that you are saved by Him. You must have been born again where a brand new you will begin to come to life and the old way of sin against God should be vanishing.

Once you truly see the price that Jesus paid for your sin against God, how He suffered and died to bring atonement for your sin and that each one of your personal sins caused such suffering upon Him, then you can not possibly desire, plan and lightheartedly sin against Him anymore. To do so would actually be almost a mockery from you to Him of what He did for you on the cross.

Here's an analogy: Suppose you are out on the lake having a good old time carelessly drinking and floating on your raft. Your dear mother loves you so much and has warned you time and again about the danger of drinking out on the lake, because she is genuinely and rightfully concerned of you drowning. You however ignore her warning because you just plain like to drink and float on the lake; and after all, it is your life and you can do what you want. So this particular day you drank way too much and lose control of your facilities and your raft flips over. You are too drunk to swim and you thrash in the water for your life. You go down once than twice, than suddenly someone grabs you and pulls you to the top and begins dragging you toward shore. You finally struggle your way to safety and look around to thank the one who has saved you, and all you see is a body floating a short distance from shore. You gasp as you see it is your own sweet mother who gave all the strength she had to pull you to safety, but she herself did not make it in. She gave her life to save you, even after she had lovingly warned you repeatedly and yet you despised her warning. How horrible! You see how much she truly did love you, to give her life for yours. Oh if you would have listened to her! She gave her life to save you from something so selfish as your pursuit of your own foolish pleasure. You knew she didn’t want you out on that lake drinking - yet you did it anyway, ignoring her love and concern for you; and now she has given her life to save you. What love she has shown you and what lack of love you have shown her! Now, imagine that you have attended your dear Mother’s funeral and you are on your way home and you drive by that very spot on the lake where it all happened. Now suppose the sudden crazy urge hits you to grab your raft and a 12-pack and head back out to the lake. Are you going to follow through and go out drinking on that lake again? I would hope not. I would hope that even the thought of it would send a shock wave of horror through you. If you would do such a thing again knowing what a price your mother had paid to save you the first time, what kind of a person would you be? You would have to have a heart of stone. What would your friends and family say if they saw you on the lake again in that condition? They would think that you have no love or respect for your Mother at all and that her death for you was trivial and unimportant to you. It would show that you had no remorse or regret for ignoring the pleas of your mother and that your own pursuit of pleasure is all you really care about. Anything that you would say to the contrary about your love or devotion to her would be an obvious lie to everyone.

Now, this is what it is like with Jesus. How can anyone profess to be a saved Christian and to love Jesus and to claim His death on the cross as payment for their sins if they haven’t in their heart turned from the very sins that He suffered and died to save them from? You were out on the lake of the world enjoying the pleasures of your selfish sin against God. You know in your heart all of the times that you have gone against your conscience and hurt the God Who loves you by seeking to satisfy your own selfish desires and to please yourself instead of loving Him. God has told you of His great love for you and has warned you of the destruction that will come to you as a result of being separated from Him by your sin.

 His word has warned you over and over that you must turn to Him and seek the forgiveness that only Jesus can offer. And when you were at your worst, Jesus died for you in an attempt to rescue you from this deadly lake of sin you have been floating in. When you were totally helpless, destined for hell because of your sin and out of strength; going down for the third time - Jesus came to your rescue. Romans 5:6-8 says it like this, “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” So Jesus rescued you from the lake of sin you were drowning in and it cost Him His life. He gave His life to save you and He drowned in your place so that you could live. NOW, let me ask you – now that you have been rescued, are you going to go right back out on that lake of sin and seek your own pleasure again? Are you going to make light of what Jesus did to save you by going right back out and intentionally sinning against Him again? How could you? Are you actually going back out into that lake again knowing what it cost your precious Savior to pull you from it? If you would, isn’t there something wrong with this picture? Would you really call yourself a Christian (which means a follower of Jesus)?

I think that non-Christians who have heard the message of Jesus dying to save us from our sin would laugh at those who profess to be saved by Him and are still intentionally and willfully sinning against Him. And I must say they would be right. When you have been truly saved by Jesus, you fall in love with Him for what He has done for you and you become born again and your desire to serve Him will have power over your fleshly lusts and be greater than the desire to sin against Him.

The Holy Spirit that dwells in you has given you power over sin and broken the power that sin has had over you. You have been "freed" from the power sin had over you. Does that mean that you never mess up or sin again? Absolutely not. But what it does mean is that you can never again sin intentionally again Him and be OK with it. If the Holy Spirit dwells in you, He will quickly prick your conscience when you sin and because of your love for Him you will quickly repent (turn away from what you have done to displease Him) and be forgiven and go on. In Matthew 3:8 Jesus says, “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance”. In other words, if you have truly repented then your life should reflect it.

If you are still serving your fleshly lusts and selfish pleasures, than you have not yet repented and you are still making a mockery of what Jesus did to save you. I know this is strong, but it is true and each one of us must truly look at our own hearts and not be falsely hoping in something that may not exist. Here is what the Bible says about those who profess Jesus but continue to sin against Him. It is kind of like the story of the lake: Hebrews 10:26-31: "For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord." And again, "The LORD will judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” This is one of the most sobering scriptures in the Bible. It says if we sin willfully, then there is no forgiveness for the sin but rather that you are trampling what Jesus did for you underfoot. In other words, for you to willfully and knowingly sin against God after you have claimed that His death for you on the cross to do away with your sin has saved you, then what you are doing is insulting the Holy Spirit Himself. You are in effect saying that what Jesus did to save you from sin was no big deal and you can just go on sinning against Him. It actually says that those who profess the salvation of Jesus but willfully sin against Him afterward, not only have no forgiveness from those sins willfully committed, but are actually going to receive greater punishment. It is like going back out on the lake with the beer and the raft.

The good news is that God is merciful and will quickly forgive when you repent (turn away from your willful sin) and turn to Him with all of your heart. The Bible says in Galatians 6:7-8: "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked ; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." I heard Ray Comfort say, “Christians fall into sin, but sinners (unsaved) dive into sin”. In other words, a Christian will fall into sin “against their will”, meaning that their will and desire is not to sin against God but they may get caught up in a moment or situation and fall into sin, meanwhile the Holy Spirit pricks their heart and they quickly repent, receive forgiveness and move on. A non-Christian plans on sinning. He wakes up in the morning with plans of sin on his heart and has no repentance. He may say a quick prayer at the end of the day “God, forgive me from all my sins” and go to sleep feeling like he is OK, but there has been no forgiveness and it is almost a mockery of God. It is repentance that leads to forgiveness. Repentance doesn’t mean saying to God with your mouth that you are sorry the whole time in your heart you are planning on doing the very same thing again. Repentance means to turn away from what you are saying you are sorry about. If you don’t intend on turning from it, how can you be honestly sorry about it? The truth is you know it is wrong but you don’t want to turn from it. What is sin? It is anything that the Bible or your conscience tells you is wrong and you do it anyway knowing that you shouldn’t. This is violating and disobeying the Holy Spirit who has put His laws in your heart and in your mind (your conscience). These things grieve the Holy Spirit and prevent a true relationship from developing between you and God. Again, the good news is that God is merciful and forgiving to those who turn their hearts to Him and seek Him with all of their heart. This is serious business. We can put our complete faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross and know in our heart that we are saved and not have to walk around wondering if we are saved or not.

The Bible talks about “bearing fruit”. Does Jesus really dwell in your heart? Have you “surrendered” your life to Him? This is the great thing that God desires of us, our surrender. It is one thing to have heard the gospel and having prayed a prayer of salvation. But the deeper issue is; has that “prayer of salvation” proved to be genuine by having wrought a change in my heart and my life? I’m not talking about coldheartedly keeping a list of rules that you think pleases God, but rather a heart that has truly surrendered to Him and a life that has turned around and seeks to honor Him IN EVERYTHING. It is not enough to pray a prayer to God at night; He wants you all day long. He wants the type of relationship with you where He actually lives inside of you and you know He does.

 The Bible says that he who seeks to save his life will lose it, but he who loses it for my sake will find it. In other words, when you receive the gift of forgiveness and eternal life that Jesus offers you by His death for you on the cross, then to receive it you no longer have a life that you can call your own. It belongs to Him now, not out of obligation but out of love. Just like when you take a husband or wife in marriage, you no longer are living a separate life for yourself. Your life now is forever entwined and shared with another because you love them. Now you can’t willfully sin against Him from your heart and be OK with it because your heart belongs to Him and you love Him. All He wants is your love. If you truly love Him, then you will always want to do those things that honor and please Him. Intentional sin against Him does not honor or please Him. It hurts Him and hinders a true love relationship with Him, and in the may bring destruction.

You see, eternal life is not a thing that Jesus offers, it is Jesus Himself. Jesus said “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”. Again, eternal life is not a thing, it is a Person. If Jesus dwells inside of you, then eternal life dwells inside of you. If Jesus does not dwell inside of you, then eternal life does not dwell inside of you; no matter what you think, feel, believe or pray. His Spirit MUST dwell inside of you for you to have life, and if His Spirit dwells inside of you then you can be sure your life will radically be different. If your life hasn’t been radically changed, then I am afraid that Jesus may not truly live in you. This is something that you must be absolutely sure of. To find out on Judgment day that you were wrong is too late.

The Bible says to examine ourselves now to see if we are “in the faith”. There is a watered down form of Christianity that has risen in this century that says you can have Jesus and His salvation and continue in your life of sin against Him too. It is way too radical a thing to have God Almighty take up residence inside of you and you to remain the same sinful person. It can’t happen. God will never over-ride your free will. He has given it to you because He wants your love to Him to come from your heart, not from Him forcing you to love Him. He wants you to surrender your heart to Him like a husband or wife falls in love and surrenders their heart to their spouse. What good would love be if it was forced? He wants the voluntary surrender of your heart and life to Him. Anything less is not good enough. He has proven His love for you and for me by dying in our place. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.”( John 15:13-14). And again: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners , Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8-9)

His love has already been proven and offered to you. Now is the time for you to prove and offer your love to Him. It must not be a one-sided love affair. The ball is in your court. You can accept His love and receive the gift of His life for yours, and in turn offer Him all your love and all your life. Or you can selfishly try to take all you can from Him and withhold from Him what He wants the most from you, your love and the surrender of your heart to Him so that He can come and live inside of you. He loves you so much He wants to be one with you by indwelling you. He is not content with anything less. Here is the deal: If you haven’t done it already, it is time to surrender your heart and life to Jesus. Mere head knowledge of salvation, trust in a prayer you have prayed or lip service to God will not save you. He must be the true resident of your heart by surrendering and offering it to Him. How? First: By trusting in Jesus and Him alone as your only hope for salvation. His death on the cross to be the sacrifice for your sin is where you must place all of your hope. The sin you have already committed is more than enough to bring you judgment and an eternity in hell if it is not laid upon Jesus, the Lamb of God who came to take away your sin. Second: You must repent of your sin. Repenting doesn’t mean to simply say I’m sorry - it means to turn from it. Are you intentionally sinning against God right now and you know it because your conscience is convicting you? Then you are in a very dangerous place. If you will take a step of faith and turn from it (repent), then God will supply all the power you need to be victorious. His Holy Spirit is more than powerful enough to give you victory. Third: You must surrender your heart and your life to Jesus. There must come a day when you get before God and pour your heart out to Him. For me, it was a day in January 1999 on my garage floor and it went something like this: “Father, I love you. I see and I have received the salvation you have given me through Your Son Jesus and His suffering for me on the cross. I am so grateful that You have forgiven me of all of my horrible sins. From this day on I want to live my life for You. I give You control of my life the best I know how, and ask you to fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I want to serve You for the rest of my life and for all eternity. I want you to always live in me. I need You every moment.” I felt something change in me. From there, I crumpled up my cigarette pack and threw it away. I went into the house and dumped out all the bottles of alcohol I owned. I went into my safe and destroyed all my pornography. My love for Him became stronger than my love for my addictions. My desire to live for Him became stronger than my desire to hide from Him because of my sin against Him. He had come to live in me and it has been the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to me. I first heard the gospel of grace the night before my nephews funeral and I prayed a prayer of salvation and believed it then, however, it wasn’t until I surrendered my life on my garage floor that I called my dad up and told him that I was now a Christian. He rejoiced and cried with me. I find it interesting that even though I has “prayed a prayer” a couple of years before, that it wasn’t until I surrendered my life and repented (turned away from my sin and offered my life to God) that I had an inner witness that I was really a Christian to the point that I wanted to tell anyone. It was when I surrendered my life that things really began to happen inside of me. This is when the Holy Spirit truly entered me and I noticed such a love for God that I could hardly contain it. This is when I wrote to all my children and sent them a Bible. This is when the peace of God flooded my soul and has never left. Do I still sin? Of course, but not like I used to. Now I fall into sin (rather than planning to sin) and the Holy Spirit pricks my heart and I repent (turn from it the best I can) and go on. Living a life with a pure and clear conscience becomes one of the greatest blessings of the Christian life. If anything comes in and begins to violate the conscience, then the peace leaves because the Holy Spirit is grieved and not until it is made right will peace return. And what a blessing when it returns. This is God’s new “guidance system” system. This relationship driven obedience becomes the driving force of this new found relationship with God. Feeling His presence inside of you can not be described and there is no pleasure of sin that can compare to it. I could go on and on, but I have probably made this too long already. My greatest hope is that we will all spend eternity together.

My closing words are simply these: It is all an issue of the heart. Pursue God with all your heart. Turn to Him with all your heart. Trust Him with all your heart. Surrender to Him with all your heart. Love Him with all your heart. Because after all, it is not your obedience He is after, it is your heart that He wants. He simply wants your love. If He can win your heart, you’ll gladly offer Him your life as well. His love is unfailing and He will never let you down. You can trust Him with all that you have.

There could be nothing more horrible for any of us than to think that we are OK but find out on that day that we have convinced ourselves of something that wasn’t true. We each are told by God to search the scriptures ourselves and God Himself will show you the way to Him. Don’t take anybody’s word for any of it, only God’s. Please read your Bible diligently seeking for the truth of your salvation and God promises that if you search for him with all of your heart you will find Him. Jeremiah 29:13-14 says, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD…”