THREE VITAL QUESTIONS

Tableview,7/12/97, 3am.

Three of the most important questions you will ever have to answer are based on three commands given to us all in the Word of God, the Bible :

1. Are you born again ?

2. With which Baptism have you been baptised ?

3. Have you received the Holy Spirit ?

Your reply to these three questions will not only determine the quality of your earthly life and relationships, but also affect your eternal future, for better or for worse.  If you cannot answer affirmatively "Yes!" to all three questions, then the devil or ignorance or stubborn rebellion or false teaching  or blind religious traditions have kept you from the truth.  When you know the truth and believe the truth, the truth shall set you free.  Jesus Christ said of Himself :"I am the Way , the Truth and the Life, no man comes to the father but by me." (John 14:6)

Let us test the waters of truth in your life .  Perhaps you have taken the first step into truth, but you need to go on to greater spiritual realities.  Perhaps this is your opportunity you have been waiting for.  The time on God's clock always reads "Now".  "Now when you hear his voice, do not harden your heart."  Give God the Holy Spirit an opportunity to speak to you right now. Don't put this tract down without reading it and answering these three vital questions for yourself, TODAY!  This is your moment, this is your time, heaven and hell are taking note of your decisions right now.  On the one hand heaven is urging you on to obey the truth, on the other hand hell is begging you to stop and ignore the still small voice of God the Holy Spirit.  Which one will it be ?  Whom will you obey ?  Who will be your Lord ?  Jesus Christ or Satan ?  Choose this day whom you will serve.  Make a decision, right now: I will answer these three vital questions right now.

1. Are you born again ? (Your answer : yes/no)

2. With which Baptism have you been baptised ? ( Your answer:____________)

3. Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed ? (Your answer: yes/no)

Perhaps you need a bit of clarification on these subjects before you could reply.

The Bible says in John 3:16 :"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believes on Him would not perish, but have everlasting life."

Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, was born of a virgin called Mary and dwelt among people. He was anointed of God and went around doing good, healing the sick.  Then the Jews who rejected him, had him crucified and cried out, "Let his blood be upon us and upon our children."(Matthew 27:25 & John 18:28,35) Soon afterward Jerusalem was destroyed and throughout history the Jews have suffered immensely as a result of that particular curse.

Yet, salvation through Jesus Christ , is offered to both Jew and Greek, by placing your faith on Christ's redemptive work on the cross of Calvary.  He took the curse of sin upon himself, becoming a curse for us, because "cursed is the man who hangs on a tree."  When he became the curse and died on the cross, the powerful effect of the curse passed away too.  Now, by believing in him , the curse no longer has any effect on us.  God offers eternal life to anyone who would believe on Jesus Christ.

Jesus explained to Nicodemus in John 3:7 :"You must be born again."  Unless you are born again  he cannot see the kingdom of God and unless you are born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."

It does matter which church you go to, for unless you hear the truth being preached, you will never come to the hearing of the truth of God's Word, the only vehicle for faith in God.  Many well meaning people have been going to dead churches all their lives and are still not in the kingdom of God.  They have been deceived.  Religion cannot save you.  Only Jesus can.  Dead religious rituals cannot save.  Only the blood of Jesus can wash away your sins.  Being confirmed in a church does not save you from hell, in fact in most cases it immunises young people against the truth , because it was forced onto them for ten years or more and they do not want anything to do with church again, for the rest of their lives.  Church to them is an unnatural place full of unrealistic people who parade in a charade that has no relation with normal life.  But Jesus Christ said of Himself : "I am the Life ".  If it is life you want, Christ is that life you are looking for.

You see, the devil has only come to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came that you might have life and have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

How do you get born again ?  Nicodemus was a teacher of Israel and did not know the answer to this question.  He thought you have to go back into your mother's womb to be born again, but Jesus explained to him, you have to be born of water (which speaks of natural birth) and of spirit- you need to experience a spiritual rebirth. Your spirit must be born again.  You are a spirit, you possess a soul and you live in a body, but all three are one.  That's how we were made in the image of God.  Three in one.  Just like God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are One.  So are we : spirit , soul and body.

Paul explained in detail what takes place a spiritual birth in Romans 10:8-10.  If you believe in your heart that God raise Christ form the dead and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you shall be saved.  For with the heart you believe unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  You need to cry out with the man who was blind from birth whom Jesus gave new eyes :"Lord, I believe !" (John 9:38)

The reason why God had to raise Jesus Christ from the dead was because he died for all our sins, innocently.  He made him who knew no sin to become sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ. (II Corinthians 5:21)   When you realize that Christ died for your sin, you realize that he died in your place.  For the penalty of sin is death.

Romans 6:23 :"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

To get rid of sin and the effects of sin in your life, there is a way of escape, through faith in Jesus Christ. I John 1:9 :"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us from all unrighteousness."

Romans 3:23 :"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

I John 1:10:"If we say that we have not sinned , we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us."

The only way out is through Jesus who promised: "I am the Way."

The moment you admit that you are a sinner, doomed for hell, forever, and acknowledge your need of a saviour by calling on the Name of Jesus for salvation and deliverance, you shall be saved.

Romans 10:13 :"For whoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved."

Why don't you acknowledge your need of a Saviour today and call upon His Name right now ?

Say : "Jesus, I realise that I am a sinner and that you died for my sins. Please forgive me.  I accept you as my Lord and Saviour today, for I believe that God raised you from the dead."

John 1:12 :" But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become children of God, even to those who believe on His Name."

Romans 8:16:"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God,"

The Holy Spirit will bear witness with your born again spirit that you are a child of God.  And if anyone should sin, we have an advocate with God the Father , even Jesus Christ the righteous, and if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 2:1, I John 1:9)

Acts 4:12:"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

II Corinthians 5:17 :"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new."  Hallelujah.  If you are in Christ, old things pass away and all things become NEW.