Articles
EVIDENCES OF ETERNAL LIFE - PARIS REIDHEAD
(introduction to God's So Great Salvation teaching program)
Evidences of Eternal Life is the result of teaching on the First Epistle of John, which points to the unmistakable hallmarks to be found in the life of a genuine Christian.
To use the term “genuine” suggests its opposite, counterfeit. Indeed, I have felt it necessary in recent years to warn those who will listen that there are people practiced in the art of feigning true Christianity mingling every day with the company of true believers in our churches. Some of these are messengers of Satan, but the majority of them have been misinformed.
Much of my ministry, especially in these later years, have been to churches, because I have sensed that people have joined congregations without a clear understanding of biblical salvation. Overzealous “soul winners” have, with the best of intentions, reduced to a formula what should be an ongoing conversation between the human heart and the Holy Spirit.
They encouraged those seeking to know God to repeat words comprising a “plan of salvation,” and then they told those people that they had been saved. It happened to me as a young boy. From my personal experience I know that simply repeating words, belonging to a church, and even the act of baptism are not enough to impart the Christ life to a dying soul.
Christian workers have presumed to know what they cannot know, that which is taking place in a person’s’ spirit. To tell a person that he is saved when he is, perhaps, only awakened causes confusion. It leads the seeking heart into a false sense of security because the person erroneously believes a spiritual transformation has taken place when in fact it might not have taken place at all!
That person, believing that she is now a member of God’s family, is set up for failure because one cannot live according to the principles of Christ without the power of the Holy Spirit, and He only dwells in the regenerated heart. It is no wonder that the church is so ineffectual. Therefore the appeal that comes so clearly through John’s first letter has to be directed to evangelical congregations.
I have been spreading everywhere the message that only God who created you has the right to tell you that you have been born of again. Many of this generation of church-goers have been raised with a wrong concept of what it means to worship a Holy God.
Are we saying that God is demanding changes in church people? Yes, indeed! The Lord Jesus made His last appeal to the churches. He is seen, in the Book of Revelation, standing outside the Church, knocking on its door. “If any man hear My voice…,” says the Lord of Glory (Revelation 3:20).
The call, through God’s So Great Salvation is for God’s people to examine their hearts and to ask the Lord to show them anything and everything in their lives that may be keeping them from enjoying His fullness.
Those of us who call ourselves Christian are obligated to look into the Word of God and cleanse the temples of our hearts. If we would do that we could make a house for Him, a place of prayer, where the Holy One will abide. This is the first step toward becoming a praying people, and it will kindle revival fire, for we know that nothing is wrought in the life of a Christian except through prayer.
Have you questions concerning your relationship to God the Father through Jesus the Son? Does the Holy Spirit direct and empower your life? The principles set forth in the book of 1 John are examined in the pages that follow, presenting a clear picture of the evidences of eternal life that must be present in the lives of God’s children.
It is my prayer that by careful examination seeking people may become sure of their standing before a Holy God.