In my last column, we discussed the high stakes involved in getting spiritual salvation right. So, how can I know where I stand with God?
In Romans 8: 9-11, the Apostle Paul emphasized the difference between the two kinds of persons, as being either “in the flesh” (in Adam) or “in the spirit” (in Christ) this way:
“However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
The person who has not been born again is said to be “in the flesh” and the person who has been born again is said to be “in the spirit.”
If you are in the flesh (your default birth position) you are still in Adam’s family tree, and therefore spiritually separated from God.
Alternatively, those who are in the spirit have been transferred into the family tree of Jesus Christ (by a divine act subsequent to your physical birth).
You either have the Holy Spirit, or you do not. And it is upon that single selection criteria that your eternal destiny depends.
Same Spiritual ‘Boat’
So, does the foregoing assessment of mankind’s condition apply to everyone who has ever lived? What about “nice” people, or “religious” people? Isn’t it unfair to blame us for Adam’s sin?
Although we didn’t sin in the exact way Adam did, we did our part later to add to humanity’s appalling record of godless deeds.
The Epistle to the Romans leaves no room for ambiguity. Here are some of the “inconvenient truths” that we all must face, from Romans 3:10-20:
“These things I have written unto you … that you may know that you have eternal life.”
1 John 5:13
“As it is written: There is no righteous person, not even one;
There is no one who understands,
There is no one who seeks out God;
They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good,
There is not even one.”
Divine Reclassification
Yet in the face of the above devastating divine assessment of mankind’s unaided condition, there is a bright silver lining amid those menacing storm clouds.
The Bible promises us eternal life, strength to face life’s challenges, peace and joy here, and unimaginable bliss in the hereafter.
As written in 1 Corinthians 2:9,“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Further, we don’t have to wait to die to commence this heavenly life but, upon being born again, we experience inner spiritual transformation that immediately revolutionizes our lives in the here and now.
2 Questions
The Christian ministry, Evangelism Explosion International, insightfully proposes the following two questions to ponder:
- Have you reached the point in your spiritual life where you know for certain that if you were to die tonight you would go to heaven?
- If you were to die tonight and God were to ask you, “Why should I let you into My heaven,” how would you answer?
If you would like to be able to positively answer these questions with the authority of scripture to back you up, then consider the following passages:
“These things I have written unto you … that you may know that you have eternal life …” — 1 John 5:13
“For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” — Ephesians 2:8-9
“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” — Romans 3:23
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity (sin) of us all.” — Isaiah 53:6
More on this later in the series.
How About You?
“God is recruiting volunteers now to join him as family members and partners in the loving fellowship of those taking part in a tremendously creative project, under unimaginably splendid leadership, on an inconceivably vast scale, with ever increasing cycles of fruitfulness and enjoyment,” as the late Christian philosopher Dallas Willard put it.
But before you can step into the blessings of joining God in His family, you must be transferred from being “in the flesh” to being “in the spirit” through the divine act of being “born again.”
Interested?
4-1-1
Click here for a fascinating AI-generated audio overview of this essay.