Born Again

[landscapman]

I was reading an post on this site that said that 85% of people in this country consider themselveschristia, but only 25% or less are truely born again. It got me to thinking about the origins of false christianit. Certainley there are those who consider themselves christian just becasue they live in the US. I know this because I have inlaws that have made such a statement.
But what accounts for the remainder?

I came from a family that was mostly Baptist with a few Church of Christ sprinkled in. So was raised believing that a person was called, you were baptised, thus having born again status. I was never that familiar with other denomination. My wife was raised in the Prebyterian Church. After we married thats where we had our member ship and attended. As I watched and observed, I began to become suspicious of their practices.

We have now moved to a Baptist church were I am comfortable with the doctorine.

Many denomination practice infant baptism. Of course this is in direct opposition to how I was raised to believe. Then at the age of 13-15 years they have a confirmation class.

It makes me wonder about the born again staus of many of these kids. Are they falsely led to believe they are born again. I know it is about your heart and what you believe. But it just seems as though something is left out. It concerns me that these individuals have been falsely told they have a status and have not truely been born again.

I have known people from Methodist, Prebyterian, and other churches that were such seemingly good christian people. I honestly beleive they had to be born again. In todays more lideral atmosphere I just wonder.

What do you guys think. Have the sheep been led astray and are lost.

[micah719]

It is the depravity of human hearts, dead in sin, in a fallen world hating and hateful to God, spurred on and encouraged by the devil and his fellow rebels.

On the part of the paedobaptizers, they are the legacy of the incomplete reformation of the visible church. That system was unreformable....any vestige of good in it was completely attainable by starting again, but the retentio of some of the old habits sowed a guaranteed crop of tares. As time has passed, the tares have all but choked out the wheat.

Another unwholesome thing is the easy-believism, the fruit of the heretical synergistic view of regeneration. Things like basing salvation on "giving your heart/life to Jesus", or "inviting Him in". Nowhere to be found in Biblical evangelisation, which always preached repent and believe. Dead sinners have nothing to give, we could only receive....

Remember The Lord stated quite clearly and frighteningly that at the GWT Judgementmany would appeal to Him by Name on the basis of their works, and be told they had ever been estranged from Him. It is one thing to be moral and upstanding....fine things to be sure, and certainly never something to be ashamed of or blamed for.....but one must never trust in such things. Salvation is from The Lord, wholly and completely. The crowns are thrown at His feet, we have absolutely not one thing to be proud of, not even the fact that we made a decision. If He hadn't drawn us to Him and regenerated our dead nature, we would never have come to Him. Eternal life is a gift.

The appalling lack of righteousness and holiness in preaching and teaching; ignorance of Scripture; debased and mutilated Scripture or even counterfeits; the desire for quick conversions and stable, comfortable, profitable club memberships; emasculated and discouraged and apathetic desciples; and large, loyal, edifying personal followings of impostors and wolves, are all factors in the apostacy of modern times.

Luke 18:1-14
1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

[Hannah]

God's Sheep are His no matter what. God knows His sheep and He calls each one by name.

MT 18:12 "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.

God takes the time and effort to bring all His sheep into His flock even those who wander off and get lost.

So you can rest assured no one can steal away any of God's True Sheep.

The only ones who have been led astray and have not been brought back into the flock are those who are not God's in the first place. They are the ones looking for teachers and preachers that will give them teaching and sermons they want to hear.

2TI 4:1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Not one person with a sincere heart for the Lord's Truth will be led astray. God Himself is gathering together His flock and the enemy is unable to steal them from the Lord's Hand!

LK 11:9 "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.