HAVE YOU GOT THE 6 MARKS? (2) There is a great beauty in rhetorical questions which I have grown to like. These type of questions trigger a very deep inner reflection in us. Very often, rhetorical questions help us discover the truth by an inner assessment and since we are not required to answer these questions to anyone but ourselves, we tell ourselves the truth for we cannot deceive ourselves. It is such a question that I wish for us to answer here. There is a question that we must all have to answer for ourselves and it is so very important that we get the answer right. Last week I started off on this all important question, and I did share with you two of the six marks that will help you make a correct evaluation, please check through this group page for last week’s(Monday or Tuesday) publication; HAVE YOU GOT THE 6 MARKS? (1). I shall be sharing with you two other marks this week and I ask you to please join me again on Monday or Tuesday next week for the concluding part of this publication. The greatest question for which we all must give a right answer to is this question “ARE YOU BORN AGAIN?” This is very important because Jesus Christ said “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). We must have to understand what it means to be born again to be able to answer this question. Bishop J. C. Ryle explained the six marks that will be indicators if we indeed are born again in a tract published by Faith, Prayer and Tract League, Grand Rapids –Michigan. We noted last week from the first letter of Apostle John( 1 John 3:9 and 5:1,8), that the first two marks we must have if we are born again are (1) We do not commit sin. We hate sin and whole-heartedly yearn to be free from its control and (2) We believe in Jesus Christ as the savior for which our souls could be pardoned of all our sinful deeds and a surrendering of our lives to His Lordship. We shall now consider the third and fourth marks as presented by Bishop J. C. Ryle in the tract I mentioned earlier. Apostle John says “Every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him(God)” – 1 John 2:29. The third mark of a man born again or regenerate, is that he is a holy man. He endeavors to live according to God’s will, to do the things that please God, to avoid the things that God hates. His aim and desire is to love God with heart, and soul and mind and strength, and to love his neighbor as himself. His wish is to be continually looking to Christ as his example as well as his savior, and to show himself Christ’s friend by doing whatsoever Christ commands. No doubt he is not perfect. None will tell you that sooner than himself. He groans under the burden of indwelling corruption cleaving to him. He finds an evil principle within him constantly warring against Grace, and trying to draw him away from God. But he does not consent to it, though he cannot prevent its presence. In spite of all of all shortcomings, the average bent and bias of his way is holy – his doings are holy, his tastes holy, and his habits holy. In spite of all his swerving and turning aside, like a ship beating up against a contrary wind, the general course of his life is in one direction – toward God and for God. And though he may sometimes feel so low that he questions whether he is a Christian at all, he will generally be able to say with old John Newton, “I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be. I am not what I hope to be in another world, but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the Grace of God I am what I am.” I place this mark also before you. What will the Apostle say about you? Are you born again? (I recommend that you get a copy of the book “Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots” by J. C. Ryle, for a fuller exposition on how we may live a holy life. You can download a free e-copy of this book as I did, just Google search the title and choose an appropriate option that offers a free downloadable copy). Fourthly, John says, “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren” – (1 John 3:14). A man born again, or regenerate, then, has a special love for all true disciples of Christ. Like his Father in heaven, he loves all men with a great general love, but he has a special love for those who are of one mind with himself. Like his Lord and Saviour, he loves the worst sinners, and could weep over them; but he has a peculiar love for those who are believers. He is never so much at home as when he is in their company. He is never so happy as when he is among the saints and the excellent of the earth. Others may value learning, or cleverness, or agreeableness, or riches or rank, in the society they choose. The regenerate man or woman values grace. Those who have most Grace, and are most like Christ are those he loves most. He feels that they are members of the same family with himself. He feels that they are his fellow-soldiers, warring against the same enemy. He feels that they are his fellow travelers, journeying along the same road. He understands them, and they understand him. He and they may be different in many ways – in rank, in station, in wealth. What matter? They are Jesus Christ’s people. They are His Father’s sons and daughters. Then he cannot help loving them. I place this mark also before you. What would the Apostle say about you? Are you born again? Friend, do you have these marks? It may be possible that you lack some of these marks or the whole of it, I charge you therefore, that you be born again today by repenting and turning away from sin, believe Jesus Christ as your Saviour and totally surrender to Him. Live a holy life henceforth and seek out the company of Christian brothers and sisters. God bless you and please keep a date once again next week at about this time for the concluding part of this discuss.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 17:43:19 +0000
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