Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
John 5:24 NASB2020
It’s Heaven we’re looking forward to, nothing more, nothing less.
We enter through faith in Jesus, nothing more, nothing less.
So how do you know if God has given you saving faith?
You have the down payment inside of you.
And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.
The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.
Ephesians 1:13-14 NLT
How do you know if you have the Holy Spirit? There are two primary indicators: you hear His voice and you bear the fruit of keeping with repentance.
There are many voices in this world. That’s why you need to compare what you’re hearing with others who hear God. Let every word from God be confirmed by two or more witnesses.
What is the fruit of keeping with repentance? The fruit of the Spirit.
If you abide in Christ and His teachings, and Christ and His Word abide in you, you will bear much fruit. It’s unmistakable.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23 NASB2020
The fruit of the Spirit is love. The love of God. The love of God towards others. Do you have that? That’s how you know you’ve been born again.
The fruit of the Spirit develops further into joy. Love is the first fruit of a bountiful harvest of righteousness.
The joy of the Lord is our strength. He endured the Cross for the joy that was set before Him. What was that joy? Returning to the Presence of His Father after completing the work He was given to do. The Son of Man returns as the Son of God, having redeemed humanity from their sins.
The fruit of the Spirit matures further into peace. The peace of God surpasses understanding. It’s not an intellectual ascent. It’s enlightenment. God breaks through and we become one with Him. No one can disturb our peace because it is not based on external circumstances, it exists because we have entered into His rest. We abide in the One who cannot die. We have entered into eternal life.
If you have the love, joy and peace of God, patience is not hard to come by. We’ve already got eternal life, we’re not in a hurry. We’re here to help, not exalt ourselves. Now, how may I pray for you?
Patience affords us the ability to be kind. Kindness leads to generosity, or the goodness of God. As we faithfully do the will of Our Father in Heaven… Who’s Father? Our Father! …we will be gentle with one another. We share a common bond. None of us are better than anyone else. God doesn’t play favorites. Practice the Christian lifestyle without prejudice or discrimination.
Finally, once we’re fully mature in Christ, we will have been given the Holy Grail of recovery, self-control. Thank You, Jesus, for rescuing me from a lifestyle of sin. I was bound and tormented by demons but now I have been set free, glory to God!
As you can see, God is still able to work miracles today. God doesn’t change. We do. Now, abide in Christ. Abide in His love, or something worse might happen to you. Go and sin no more. Get up and walk!
Walk with Christ.
Father in Heaven, sanctify Your Church. Purify Your People. Give us the faith that overcomes the world. In the Name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance; and do not assume that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you that God is able, from these stones, to raise up children for Abraham. And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.
“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Matthew 3:7-11 NASB2020
Recommended reading: John 5, Matthew 3 and Ephesians 1 & 2.
Igniter Ministries 