An Unforgettable Witness

I don*t doubt their salvation if they show a lot of evidence that they are saved but I am somewhat troubled about individuals who say that they have always been Christians.

Matthew 7:16: Ye shall know them by their fruits.

John 13:35: By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

When individuals say that they have always been Christians but do not love other Christians or bear visible fruit I am more troubled about them.

Romans 8:16: The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

When I received Jesus the Holy Spirit wordlessly bore unforgettable witness within me that I had become a child of God. I don*t remember it 24/7 but I do remember it often. I also have evidence that I am a child of God when I notice the Holy Spirit bearing His fruit in me and in my life in ways that did not happen before I received Jesus.

There are entire religions built upon events that their members cannot remember and have not proven. They baptize them as babies. Someone else has told them that they were baptized.

Jeremiah 17:5: Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

We need to hear the witness of the Holy Spirit of God to our spirit that we are children of God. If we have had that witness, we do not need any mortal man to tell us we are the children of God. If all we have is the witness of men, we must not trust it. When individuals tell me that they became children of God when they were baptized as babies, they do not love other believers and there is no visible evidence that the Holy Spirit is bearing fruit in them, I do not understand how they themselves can believe that they are saved.

Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

I don*t see all of an individual*s life and I cannot look upon his heart so I cannot know for certain if men are saved or lost. I can have an opinion but my opinion may not be correct. But they are commanded to examine themselves and prove themselves. If they are unwilling to prove themselves, my doubts about their salvation are their fault, even though they might resent my opinion.

2 Corinthians 13:5: Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Have you heard the witness of the Holy Spirit in an unforgettable way? Do you love others more than you used to? Are you more joyful than you used to be? Do you have more peace than you used to? Are you more patient than you used to be? Are you gentler than you used to be? Are you better than you used to be? Are you meek? Are you more temperate than you used to be? Have you proven to yourself and others that you are saved? If you have never experienced at least some of the above you need to receive Jesus and surrender your heart and life to Him.

Care to discuss An Unforgettable Witness with Ron?

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