A New Creation In Christ

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Lord's Day sermon from December 29th 2024 -Biblical Text: 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 Visit our website: https://moorescornerchurch.com/ Moore's Corner Church is a Non-Denominational Christian Church. We exist to support missions and to disciple and encourage the Body of Christ through the ministries of the local church. We have a traditional worship service with something for all ages so please consider joining us Sunday morning. We also meet Wednesday evenings for Bible study & prayer. Listen on the radio Wednesdays & Thursdays at 9am and Sunday's at 7am on 97.3fm WLPV. Also listen to my podcast titled "Testing the Spirits" on YouTube or Spotify. Want to donate? send donations to our mailing address Moore's Corner Church PO Box 42 Leverett, MA 01054 Tags Regeneration Born Again Salvation

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So let's turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5. 2nd
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Corinthians chapter 5, this will be our passage today, a section from 2nd
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Corinthians 5, but we're coming up on the new year and it is my hope that in 2025 we will see many new conversions along with some rededications, where people seek to grow closer to God in 2025.
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So if somebody doesn't know Christ as their Lord and Savior, obviously today is the day to change that.
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You know how it is with New Year's resolutions, people procrastinate and they make a resolution and they don't stick with it and some people are procrastinating receiving
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Christ as their Savior. Well if you do that, if you procrastinate you know what's going to happen, next thing you know it's going to be 2026 and you're still putting it off.
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So today is the day of salvation when it comes to people receiving
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Christ as their Savior. I'll get to the text in just a moment but this just came to mind, somebody asked me yesterday, do you do altar calls at Morris Corner Church?
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Or I remember back in the day people did altar calls and I said no
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I typically don't do altar calls. And what is an altar call? This is when you preach the gospel and you invite someone to come up you know to the altar, even though technically this table is not an altar, but that's another story.
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But you invite people to come up and you tell them if you've received Christ as your
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Savior, come forward and make that known. And that's fine,
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I'm not against that necessarily, but I believe that in the Bible the way people let others know that they just came to saving faith was was baptism.
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So to me baptism is that public statement of faith. So I do believe and pray and hope that in 2025 there will be people who will come to know
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Christ who will be baptized and maybe you already know Christ but your faith has grown somewhat stagnant.
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Maybe for 2025 what you need is a rededication of your faith.
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You know whatever it is this is a time where we can expand our faith, a step out in some new area.
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You can stretch your faith by volunteering. You maybe can stretch your faith. Maybe you've never been a giver.
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You can start giving. You can start tithing. Whatever it is,
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God always rewards faithfulness. But I do pray that we will see a great work.
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How do you know though? How do you know if someone has come to saving faith? Or the person who has believed, they've said
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I've been a Christian for years but how do you really know? Well that's partially what this message is about.
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So it's going to revolve around this one verse. Look at 2nd Corinthians 5 17.
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We're going to read a passage but this verse is sort of the highlight. 2nd
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Corinthians 5 17 Paul says, therefore if anyone is in Christ he is what?
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A new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold all things have become new.
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So whether it's coming to saving faith or rededicating your life to Christ.
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Honestly sometimes you can't tell the difference because someone has been a professing Christian for many many years.
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Maybe they've even been in the church for many years but then all of a sudden this happened to me about 20 years ago.
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It was right around New Year's, the winter of 2004 -2005. I had been a professing
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Christian my entire life but then I at the time I thought
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I was rededicating my life but I realized later on that I got saved during that period of time.
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Sometimes you don't really know but this is a message hopefully where we can see what salvation looks like.
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But let's read 2nd Corinthians 5 14 through 20. The Apostle Paul writes, for the love of Christ compels us because we judge thus that if one died for all then all died and he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and rose again.
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Therefore from now on we regard no one according to the flesh even though we have known
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Christ according to the flesh yet now we know him thus no longer.
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Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. Old things have passed away behold all things have become new.
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Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
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That is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself not imputing their trespasses to them and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
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Now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading through us we implore you on Christ's behalf be reconciled to God.
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Let me ask you something who is Paul talking to? Who's he writing to? He's writing to the church at Corinth right?
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Well he's writing to the church these people all know Christ as their Savior don't they? I mean this is this is an apostolic church these people already know
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Jesus don't they? Well the reality is some did and some didn't and Paul here in a sense he is evangelizing
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Christians he is calling to Christians some are saved some think they're saved and they're not others maybe we're just visiting who knows but he says to Christians be reconciled to God.
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What does that tell you? Well it tells you that some people need to be saved some people need to rededicate their lives but even
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Christians need to hear the gospel. So in this age how does a person come to saving faith in Christ?
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Well in this age it's through faith in the gospel believing that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again the third day.
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It's that faith in what Christ did that is what makes us a Christian although we do live in a time where you have the altar call you have something known as the sinner's prayer this is my testimony where I said you know something like the sinner's prayer when
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I was five years old and I was told if you just say these words that makes you a
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Christian so I believe I lived another 20 years or so thinking well I'm a Christian because I said those words but don't get me wrong
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I believe a person can pray to the Lord and be saved I think someone can be saved even at a young age by saying a prayer whosoever calleth upon the name of the
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Lord shall be saved but some people do they live their life thinking they're a believer but indeed they're not that was the case with me it's the case with many people and Paul is dealing with that in Corinth and I think every church deals with that so we want to get down to the root issue how do you really know whether or not you are a true follower of Christ well he says it like I said in verse 17 if anyone therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation it tells you there has to be something new going on there has to be some sort of change and then
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Paul and look look at verse 21 he summarizes the gospel with this statement verse 21 he says for he that is
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God for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him in other words
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God the Father placed the sin of all mankind on to Christ so when
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Jesus died on the cross he died in our place he died in my place and if you would have faith in him and trust in him and follow him then his righteousness that's the exchange he takes all your sin and exchange gives you all his righteousness through faith so this is the plea for people to repent and to believe the good news regarding the person and work of Christ but since Paul is writing to a church the church at Corinth he's talking to mostly people who already profess to believe and again we all need a reminder but some people need it because they really do need that born -again conversion experience if I were to ask you have you had a conversion experience some people would say yes and others would say no some people and you can't judge someone else's experience okay you can't do that some people were brought up in a church and they've never known anything else they really have known
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Christ since a very young age and maybe they don't have a radical conversion experience other people do so we need to be careful and not say well you didn't come to Christ the way
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I did so I doubt your testimony that we can't do that it's gonna look different for everyone but there is always going to be evidence in that the person in Christ is a new creation so how do you know the difference well we're gonna find out look at verse 14 let's go through these verses the end verse by verse hopefully the
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Bible opened or you know cell phones are okay if you want to read along with your cell phone that's fine but cell phones tend to make noises when you don't want them to so a
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Bible is preferable my Bible's never made any noises unexpectedly so look at verse 14
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Paul says for the love of Christ compels us because we judge thus that if one died for all then all died and I admit this statement and the following statement it is a little confusing of what
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Paul is trying to say so what does it mean that if one died for all then all died well first of all we need to die to self okay
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Jesus said in Matthew 16 24 if anyone desires to come after me let him do what deny himself and take up his cross and follow me and then another way to say verse 14 is
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Christ died for all who died in him so let me explain it this way
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Christ's death was literal he literally died on a cross and that death on the cross earned for us our eternal salvation but we need to die too right now we do need to either die physically and shed this flesh and then we will if we believe we will go to be with the
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Lord in heaven but even before then we need to die to self you need to deny self so if you are dying to self and you're putting on the new man the new creation walking in the spirit and resisting the flesh the things that maybe you want to do that you know it's not right you're dying to self if you do that that's evidence that you have died in Christ you are dead to sin you no longer want to sin now maybe you will sin you will sin it's inevitable but you don't want to sin anymore because you have that new nature so you're dying to self so Christ died for all who died in him our death therefore is metaphorical verse 14 says that if if I can summarize it with my own words if you are a partaker of the new covenant then
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Christ substitutionary death on the cross the benefits apply to you that is you have your sins atoned for so verse 15 and he died for all so the context again would be those who died in him those are in who are in Christ and he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and rose again so this is not a question but when you become a
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Christian your life belongs to who right your life belongs to Christ what are a couple titles that Christ has
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Lord okay let's talk about this thing about Lord what does the
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Lord do the Lord exercises Lordship Christ is also called a king right around Christmas time this is emphasized so Christ is a king you know what
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Kings do Kings issue decrees and their subjects do what the king says right so if you are a follower of Christ if you have trusted him as Lord and Savior and you recognize him as a king see this is where this is where people start to separate to be a
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Christian you actually do have to do what Christ tells you to do I'm saved by faith not by works and I just need to believe and then
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I can kind of live how I want no you let's go back to step number one you you fail to understand what faith is faith is trusting in God okay you believe and then the rest of your life there's going to be growth okay there's going to be that growing in grace but a
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Christian must do what Christ says I mean this is the this is the obligation this is what being a king and being a
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Lord what it's all about so as true believers we need to do what
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Christ says so again this this statement that he's talking about dying to sell for those who are dead in Christ this is a reminder for those
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Corinthians some needed the reminder some needed to actually come to that recognition that no it's not my life anymore this is the way most people live it's my life
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I'll do what I want to do but when you come to Christ you recognize my life belongs to him so in verse 15
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Paul mentions there's this just this quote those who live right verse 15 if you look at it he mentions those who live in other words they have become alive spiritually okay this is called regeneration or being born again
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I think everyone's heard this term being born again became very popular in the 1970s and 1980s where being born again to sort of broke into the the mainstream and everyone knew the term well what does it mean to be born again well this is what
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Paul is talking about being a new creation look at verse 17 therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation another way you could say that if anyone is in Christ he or she has been born again you have been born from above old things have passed away behold all things have become new what's he saying when someone converts there's a change spiritually let's turn to John chapter 3 for a moment this is in John 3 this is the passage where Jesus talks about what it means to be born again
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John chapter 3 being born again that term from what
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I from what I understand it became part of the mainstream culture when
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Jimmy Carter gave an interview and he was running for president and he gave an interview in a magazine about how he was a born -again
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Christian and that moment that interview that is really what kind of catapulted being born again that term into mainstream culture but of course you remember what magazine he did the interview for yeah he did it for a pornographic magazine so you know make of that what you will
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I don't know Jimmy I don't know if you really understand what this is about but you know
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I'm not judging the man's salvation over that it's just some some disconnect clearly but look at John chapter 3 verses 1 through 3 he says there is a man of the
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Pharisees named Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews this man came to Jesus by night and said to him rabbi we know that you are a teacher come from God for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him and Jesus answered and said to Nicodemus it's like Jesus totally ignores what
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Nicodemus said he doesn't even care what Nicodemus says he just gets right to the the core issue
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Jesus says to him most assuredly I say to you unless one is born again he what he cannot he cannot even see the kingdom of God so here is
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Nicodemus a professing believer not only is he a professing believer in Jehovah the
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God of Israel Nicodemus was likely the preeminent teacher in the Jews religion put another way
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Jesus was telling like the most famous pastor in Israel hey pal you need to be born again otherwise you cannot even see the kingdom of heaven what does that tell you well just being religious isn't enough just knowing about God or even saying
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I believe in God that's not really what it's about you have to be born again and then
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Jesus goes on to talk about the work of the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit is the special agent in regeneration no one can be saved without the work of the
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Holy Spirit but skip ahead to verse 16 we're going to see what it means to be born again verse 16 this is the most popular verse in all of the
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Bible that everyone just about everybody knows for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
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Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved what does that tell you that the world needs to be saved unlike so many churches where they think well
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God is just so merciful and God is just so loving everyone's already saved or everyone's going to be saved no matter what well that's not what
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Jesus taught look at verse 18 comes down to believing and having faith in Jesus Christ verse 18 he who believes in him
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Christ is not condemned but he who does not believe is condemned already because he is not believed in the name of the only begotten
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Son of God and this is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil for everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light lest his deeds should be exposed but he who does the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be clearly seen that they have been done in God so believing in Jesus is not just mental ascent okay make a note of this if you don't remember anything else remember this believing in Jesus believing the gospel is not just mental ascent you're not just affirming facts in your mind you trust in him you become a new creation and what does that result in according to John whether it's
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Jesus speaking here John John's writing it you're gonna walk in the light that's what John is saying and when you get to John's first epistle he defines what walking in the light means walking in the light is a consistent pattern of faithful behavior so it totally disrupts this idea that I can just you know say a prayer and do whatever
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I want I can come down to the altar you know get right with God and then get back to whatever
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I want to do in my life that's not the way it is now it is your life and you should make choices in line with you know what's right and what glorifies
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God but you know this is not a one -and -done type of the thing again walking in the light is a consistent pattern of faithful behavior now where some people take that too far some people teach this idea that you need to stop sinning in order to be saved there's a street evangelist who
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I I mean I like the guy I like listening to some of the things he has to say but what
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I hear him say he goes up to people and he goes through the Ten Commandments you've seen this have you ever done this well then you're a lying thieving adulterer set heart and this and that and listen that has its place but sometimes what it comes across as you need to stop sinning in order to be saved well if that's what some people think you have to do guess what show me that man who has stopped sinning show me that man who never sins ever you show me that man and I'll show you what
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I'll show you a liar because nobody has come to a place of sinless perfection that's not what it's about going back to what
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John said in his epistle about walking in the light he actually clarifies that he says if anyone says that they have no sin they do what they deceive themselves and he says you're deceiving yourself because nobody else is gonna buy it they know you sin because everybody sins for all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God so being saved is not about I need to stop sinning although we should stop sinning obviously but no one reaches that state of perfection but it's about a change in your life it's about that conversion being born again the new creation from that point on there's gonna be a pattern of good works walking in the light all right let's go back to 2nd
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Corinthians chapter 5 but I go through all of this and it's so simple and so basic in some regard but we live in a time where it's been you know cheap cheap grace is what some people call it and I don't blame the evangelists
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I think some of the great evangelists have done have brought a lot of people to salvation but the evangelist you know crusade where the gospel would be preached and people come forward they've done statistics of all the hundreds of thousands even millions of people who came forward and received
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Christ during for example the Crusades of Billy Graham only about I don't know was it six or seven or eight so it's less than ten percent actually got baptized and were in a church five years later
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I think even Billy Graham recognized that many of the people who came forward some people got saved many were false converts a lot of people got saved no question about it
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I don't have any doubt about that but we want to make sure that no one has that idea and again
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I'm not passing judgment on anyone else's experience I'm in some ways talking about my own where I had that idea because I said these words because I did this because I did that well
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I'm that means I'm a Christian but the question is are you a new creation have you been born again are you really trusting in the gospel look at 2nd
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Corinthians 517 again and remember the word therefore when you see it you need to look up you know what it's there for so everything he said up until this point he's making the point in verse 17 therefore based on everything
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I just told you if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation all things have passed away behold all things have become new what does that mean that all things have become new
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I'll close on this point we should be careful about this word all right the word all you don't want to interject your own expectations that if a person hasn't changed in every single area or if they don't live up to your expectations or there isn't new progress in in every area of their life then well
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I guess all things haven't really become new then you need to be careful about that because we're all a work in progress so what does it mean therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation there's going to be new behavior new patterns of faithfulness and most of all there's going to be a new desire okay a new where you actually love
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God you love Christ and you want to obey Christ you're gonna you said well am
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I still gonna sin yes you're still gonna sin but you now actually want victory over your sin let's turn to first John chapter 5 and we'll close here first John chapter 5 we want people to know that they've been born again so I just asked you you know this isn't anyone holding you up to their expectations but just I'll ask you and you can resolve this with God you and God yourselves just praying to God and resolving this in your own heart has there been that moment of conversion again maybe it happened when you were young and there wasn't some radical change where you've got off drugs and this and that and obviously those stories are powerful but you know the testimony of being faithful from a young age that's a powerful testimony too but just ask and resolve that in your heart has there been a moment where yes
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I have been born again was there a moment do or do I right now this is what matters do
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I take God seriously now do I take his word seriously right now all right first John chapter 5 you're in chapter 5 okay what does it say in verse 13 because this is the great benefit of being born again that you can actually know that you're a child of God first John 5 13 the
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Apostle writes these things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that what that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the
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Son of God so we can see here it's possible to know whether or not you are truly a
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Christian and part of being a true Christian is that you continue to believe in the name of the
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Son of God so how do you know for sure somebody had asked this was a story
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I heard a well -known theologian was asked by a woman she said you know I I came to know
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Christ many years ago and I've been struggling with doubt there's things in my life
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I haven't got victory over certain areas of my life I've been struggling with doubt and sometimes
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I really question whether or not I truly know Christ as my Savior and here's what this theologian said to this woman he said do you love
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Christ with do you love Christ perfectly do you love him with all your heart with all your soul remember a few weeks ago that message from Matthew 22 he said do you love
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Christ perfectly and she was honest and she said no
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I I do not like I do not love Christ perfectly she recognized that yes
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I do have doubts sometimes I do disobey and I feel bad about it and all the rest and then he asked her another question he said do you love
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Christ as much as you should and she said well no because I should love him perfectly but I already told you
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I don't love him perfectly and I feel bad and all the rest and then he asked a third question he said do you love
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Christ at all do you love him at all and she said yes
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I do love him and you know the whole the whole fact that she was wrestling with this what is it what did it say it says she actually cared now
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I don't think doubt is good we should walk in the full assurance of our salvation but sometimes if you're wrestling with these things it shows that you do care and this woman she did have a love for Christ you know what do we have to have a perfect faith is that what you need to have a perfect faith to be saved do you need to have a great faith greater than other people to be saved no you need to have faith like what like a mustard seed you just need to have a little little bit of faith a small amount of faith but it's faith in the right thing and the right person if you have faith the size of a mustard seed but that faith is in Christ you know you're not saved based on you you're not saved based on your own goodness you're not saved based on your own performance you are saved by grace through faith in what or in who and the person and work of Jesus Christ but again it's about being a new creation 2nd
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Corinthians 517 therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation all things have passed away behold all things have become new let's pray and father
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I thank you for your word I thank you that we can have the assurance of salvation
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Lord if there's somebody here today who can honestly say up until this point
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I haven't loved Christ it's been nothing but mental ascent I wanted his benefits
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I want blessing I want eternal life or maybe as some look to Jesus as a good luck charm is going to give me success and help me fulfill all of my dreams
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Lord if there's someone who can honestly say I have been looking at it the wrong way
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I have not really loved him because there is no change there's no obedience
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I'm the Lord of my own life Lord if there's someone like that that can all change today by simply submitting their life to the
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Lordship of Christ and believing that he died for our sins and rose again
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Lord we believe if somebody would trust trust fully in the death burial and resurrection of Christ they would be saved if they would confess with their mouth the
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Lord Jesus and believe in their heart that you have raised him from the dead that's the promise they will be saved so Lord if there's someone who needs that I pray that you would change their heart they would submit their life to Christ this morning they they would follow through with baptism and then if there's someone who knows
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Christ but they have been straying maybe there's somebody watching online it's time to get back into church maybe they're in church but whatever it is there's some area of their life they've been holding back
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I just pray that 2025 would be a year where we would grow grow in the grace and knowledge of our
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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I pray that you would bless your people with divine favor grow our faith daily as we seek to walk by faith and not by sight and we ask all this in Jesus name