devotion column: Erasmus Makarimayi
THE Bible is the book on the identity of the believer. I’m grateful to God the Father for our scientists, psychiatrists, sociologists, philosophers and many other scholars and researchers.
However, the true nature and reality of being born again exceed all these fields of human endeavour.
We shall study progressively, one topic at a time, so that you get time to reflect.
Oftentimes, the full enjoyment of regeneration, that is being born again or salvation, requires a total collapse or overhaul of your existing beliefs and paradigm shift that leads to true repentance.
For many of you, there will be a solidification and the reinforcement to your salvation. We shall discuss the difference between sin nature and sins.
I invite you to follow, it’s a worthy journey. Your engagement by prayer and personal Bible study will make the journey a joy.
We have, on this platform, established that you don’t get born again by confessing sins.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
There are traditional beliefs that one has to write down all the sins they committed and present them to God to be forgiven.
If you forget one sin, it will haunt you. Sins don’t send anyone to hell, but rejection of Jesus Christ does.
If you confess all your sins, including those of your forefathers, but reject Jesus, you will still head to hell.
Christ died to take away sin and acknowledgement of that is what brings salvation to you.
You need to be Christ conscious and not sin conscious. Many are told to go to the mountains, pray and fast for days or even months or bring offerings to appease God’s anger.
That’s a mockery, disrespect and the bringing into disrepute of what Christ did on the cross.
I repeat, Jesus is the answer to sin. Confession of sin is not answer to sin.
For emphasis, I repeat, forgiveness of sins comes when you confess Jesus Christ and thank Him for the remission of your sins.
When a sinner repents (changes his/her mind) and confesses Jesus Christ, she/he gets born again. You may use the term born again or believer.
Faith in Jesus Christ means that you accept His completed work and the benefits will be accredited to you.
Trusting Jesus is done when you realise your incapacity to save yourself. The invitation of Jesus allows Him to break the grip of sin over you.
He enters you and begins a new life, empowering you to serve Him and the former master, sin, packs and leaves you.
To demystify salvation, we shall immediately enquire further into what transpires when a sinner is saved.
The eternal life of Christ enters and the person is destined to heaven. Eternal life means everlasting and endless life.
We have already validated this by a study of what happened in the garden of Eden.
Before the entrance of Christ, we’re dead. At the point of confession of Jesus Christ, the sinful nature ceases and new life begins.
The Bible further clarifies in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that: “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
You have to clear any doctrinal, theological inclination, philosophical view or denominational and ecclesiastical persuasion to accept this spiritual reality.
If you’re a new creature, then we can trace your genealogy to Christ. Christ, therefore, becomes the starting point. He becomes your new foundation.
This should answer your questions on generational curses and ancestral altars.
Because of the voluminous nature of this aspect of new creation, I will pick it up in the coming weeks.
As you repent and confess the lordship of Jesus, you’re moved from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.
There are two kingdoms that you can belong to; light and darkness. You can be either in any one of them and there’s no neutral kingdom. Put another way, you can either be alive or dead.
Apostle Paul explains in Colossians 1:12-13: “[12] Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: [13] Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.”
The Father delivers you from darkness to light. He doesn’t leave you in between.
You know darkness and light cannot co-habit. With this understanding, I ask you to answer the following questions. Does a believer need to undergo deliverance?
If being born again brings in Christ to stay in me, can Christ live together with Satan inside me? Grace and peace be multiplied to you through knowledge.
