Who Am I? Part 3

Part 1
Part 2

Now, the discussion of seed brings up another point. Mainly, the point of whether it is possible to lose one’s salvation after being born again. Looking at the verses already discussed comparing seeds from God and man, the answer is quite clear. Can a man, through any device lose his father’s corruptible seed? Does a man ever stop being the son of his earthly father? The answer is clearly, “No.” No matter how hard we try, we will always have that old sin nature passed down for generations. Thus, logically, God’s incorruptible seed planted in us must have the same finality. The verses in 1 Peter 1 and Romans 5-6 show that each seed is the complete opposite of each other; therefore, they must also have the same finality. No where in the verses stated before does it ever say, “Death came by Adam but through Jesus Christ life came only if certain conditions are met.” No, it says death came through Adam and life through Jesus Christ.

Okay, so we’ve looked at the how involved with becoming a Christian, but what about the original question, “Why am I a Christian?” Well, God through His Word has even given us help in answering that question. Of course we all have personal reasons for becoming a Christian and the time always is right to share your personal reasons with people. In addition to your personal experiences, God’s Word provides us with a lot of evidence to why life as His children is better than life without Him.

A good place to start would be Ephesians 2:1-10:

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Just in this one passage we can see a myriad of reasons to be born again of God’s seed. First one we see is that we are alive after being dead in trespasses and sins. This is the death which Adam bestowed upon all of us when he originally sinned. As Christians, we are given a different fate then that of natural humanity. Our fate is eternal life as was discussed earlier in Romans 6:23. The second reason to become a Christian is that we are seated with Christ in heavenly places. We are no longer just seated in the lowly parts of the earth as we were as natural men but, we are joint heirs with Christ as it says in Romans 8:17.

A third observation as to why life is better with God then without Him, is the fact that God has shown his exceeding grace toward us just because we have believed on Him and His Son. His matchless grace begins with the sacrifice of His Son for us and culminates in the forgiveness of sins. How glorious that we are able to be forgiven! Colossians 1:14, “in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Last but certainly not least is that we are no longer under the devil’s control. Before we were saved we could only walk according to the current of the world which is laid down by the devil. Now that we have been saved, we are free from that bondage to follow and grow in God.

Another reason why we should follow God is outlined in 1 Thessalonians 9-10, “For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” We are saved from the wrath to come through Jesus Christ. Now the book of Revelation talks about much wrath which is to come in the last days. An example of this wrath is in Revelation 14:9-11:

Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.  And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

Through our salvation in Christ Jesus, we do not have to endure this torment which will befall those with the mark of the beast. I don’t know about you but I am surely thankful that I don’t have to be eternally tormented with fire and brimstone.