Harvest Daily - November 9, 2005
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
Spiritual Birthmarks
Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
—Matthew 7:17
Just as someone is born with a certain birthmark, when someone truly has been born again, there will be certain telltale signs, spiritual birthmarks, if you will, to indicate that his or her conversion was indeed genuine. The Bible tells us what people can expect to see in the life of someone who claims to be born again:
1. Confession that Jesus Christ is Lord: “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God” (1 John 4:15).
2. Obedience to the commands of Christ: “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments” (1 John 5:3).
3. A love for and obedience to the Word of God: “Whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him” (1 John 2:5).
4. Feeling unhappy or miserable when sinning: “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God” (1 John 3:9).
5. Keeping out of temptation’s way: “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him” (1 John 5:18).
6. A love for other Christians: “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him”
(1 John 5:1).
When you see these spiritual birthmarks in someone else, then you know you are dealing with a born-again Christian. Can people see them in your life as well?
Copyright © 2005 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.
