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Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3 NIV). Have you been spiritually reborn?
I tell my story in "Andy’s Corner" at the following site:
http://bartimaeus.us/andy/index.html You will find it in my Blogs From
2007 under the title, "Happy Birthday To Me." My fear of hell brought me
to Christ.
But perhaps you may know what "born again" means and may even remember
that once you accepted by faith Jesus Christ as your Savior . . . but now
you think you have lost your salvation and are afraid of hell because your
life doesn’t show Christ.
Let me assure you that you need not be afraid of hell--but loss you will
suffer. Let me explain.
One loss you may suffer is the loss of your life. The Apostle John tells
us that there is "sin unto death"--physical death (1 Jn. 5:16-17). This
is the penalty for your persistence in sin, not the loss of salvation.
Another loss is a loss of reward. The Apostle Paul warns against this.
Those of us who have accepted Christ as Savior are expected by God’s power
to build on that foundation good works (gold, silver, precious stones),
not bad works (wood, hay, straw). In the day we meet God our works will
be tested by fire. He whose works are burned will suffer loss though "he
himself shall be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames"
(1 Cor. 3:11-15 (NIV).
No, we cannot lose our salvation. Our security is assured by the words of
Jesus Himself:
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish;
no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has
given them to me is greater than all; no one can snatch
them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one”
(Jn. 10:27-30 NIV).
The word "perish" in the Greek NT is the word apollumi. It means, "to
loose from someone’s grip." This is why Jesus says that we can’t be
"snatched" from the Father’s hand! God’s hand is powerful!
If you can read this it’s not too late to come back to Jesus:
If we confess our sins, he [God] will forgive us our sins and
purify us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:9).
To "confess" means to say that what we have thought or done is what God
calls it--SIN. Before it’s too late, confess and come back!
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