1st REDEMPTION SCRIPTURES
Jesus died for our sins. Ephesians
1:7, ‘In WHOM we have REDEMPTION through His BLOOD, the FORGIVENESS of sins, according to the riches of HIS GRACE.’
Colossians 1:14, ‘In WHOM we have REDEMPTION through HIS BLOOD, even the FORGIVENESS of sins.’
NOW WHAT?
"What does God require us to do AFTER we are BORN AGAIN?" you may ask.
God requires “what” He has always required, OBEDIENCE in right CHOICES in our daily walk with Him. Joshua
24:15 declares, 'CHOOSE you this day, whom ye will serve'. God provided the PERFECT SACRIFICE in HIS SON, but we must receive
it in FAITH and OBEDIENCE, by repenting and renouncing our personal sins and accepting JESUS CHRIST to live in our spirit
(soul) and temple (body) for ALL the days of our life.
We must completely SURRENDER our former life to God and
purpose to let Jesus’ RIGHTEOUSNESS live within us. All our righteous deeds cannot make us RIGHTEOUS, however, we must
NOT think as some, who claim to have the RIGHTEOUSNESS of CHRIST, yet they live for the Devil in their daily living with no
evidence of a relationship with Christ. Jesus makes it very clear that His Followers will love Him and will OBEY GOD. John
14:15 Jesus says, "If ye love Me, KEEP my commandments."
God will reward us for our righteous deeds,
but Salvation cannot be bought. It must be IMPUTED to us through the BLOOD SACRIFICE of Jesus. God wants the RIGHTEOUSNESS
of Christ to shine through the BORN AGAIN. It is a FAITH and TRUST walk, led by the HOLY SPIRIT, to a life of RIGHTEOUSNESS
in CHRIST JESUS so that we may be called a "Righteous" person.
EVIDENCE THAT WE HAVE CHRIST
I John 2:3-6 'And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth
not His commandments, is a liar, and the TRUTH is not in him. But whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the LOVE OF GOD
perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to WALK, even as HE WALKED.'
The New Living Translation says of I John 3:7-8, 'Dear children, don't let anyone deceive you about this: When people
do what is right, it is because they are righteous, even as Christ is RIGHTEOUS. But when people KEEP ON SINNING, it shows
they belong to the Devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the SON OF GOD came to destroy these works of the
Devil.'
MEASURE OF FAITH
Our FAITH is in Christ, who will keep us from falling from the GRACE
of GOD.
The Apostle Paul says in the New Living Translation in II Timothy 1:12, 'For I know the ONE in whom I
trust, and I am sure that He is able to GUARD what I have entrusted to Him until the day of His return.'
The "key"
to VICTORY IN CHRIST is FAITH. Every attack of the Devil that the BORN AGAIN experiences is an attack against his FAITH in
Christ. Even the Devil understands, if he can cause the BORN AGAIN to lose FAITH in God's Plan, then he has the battle won.
The BORN AGAIN must keep his FAITH, no matter how small it may appear to him.
Romans 12:3 tells us, 'God hath
dealt to every man the MEASURE OF FAITH.' How much is a MEASURE? Let's use a 4-ft yardstick as our measurement. Have you ever
heard of a 4-ft yardstick? As you know, a yard is only 3 feet, so if we assume we can only have faith UP to 3 feet, we may
falsely assume the fourth foot to not be relevant. Our "yardstick" is 4 ft; that is our measurement and anywhere
we want to measure on that yardstick is relevant because it is our measurement. It may only be one foot that we want to measure,
but it is still in the measurement. FAITH can be compared to this 4 ft yardstick: anywhere on that measurement is FAITH. God
sees our little FAITH as well as our big FAITH. It is not in the amount of FAITH we see in ourselves, it is IN WHOM we put
our most feeble or great FAITH: IN THE PERFECT SACRIFICE, JESUS CHRIST, the SON of GOD.
'Without FAITH, it is
impossible to please Him: For he that cometh to God must BELIEVE that HE IS, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him.' Hebrews 11:6.
WHAT A CHANGE!
God gave us the KINGDOM OF GOD in His Son, Jesus
Christ, and has sent HIS HOLY SPIRIT to live in our spirit and to completely CHANGE us by bringing about a NEW BIRTH in us.
God said in Ezekiel 36:26, 27, 'A NEW HEART also will I give you, and a NEW SPIRIT will I put within you: and
I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. AND, I will put MY SPIRIT within
you, and CAUSE YOU to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.' KJV This is the promise to those
who accept God's Sacrifice. He will LIVE within his spirit (SOUL) and change his heart and mind (BODY), so that he may live
a righteous life in Christ.
The sixth chapter of Romans explains the FREEDOM the BORN AGAIN has in CHRIST from
the power of SIN. Romans 6:4, We, 'WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE'. Romans 6:22 says, 'But now being made FREE FROM SIN, and become
servants to God, ye have your FRUIT unto holiness, and the end EVERLASTING LIFE.'
CHAPTER 5-1 Love Essential in Christ