. I did all my repenting at the moment I was born again.
But were they born again? The thousands at a Billy Graham revival that were "saved" and never thought another thing about it after they left the event. Their life and pattern of sin didnt change, were they born again?
Assume one is a thief. Friend gets him in church one day and by golly he sees the light. Does the Alter Call. Continues to rob from you and me. Never says a prayer. Never reads the Word. Looks like the same man, nothing changes. Has no inclination to stop and has no inclination to return our stuff (repent). Is he born again?
The new birth is just that, one does not resemble their old self. Paul clearly spells out the test.
I completely agree about a total change being necessary. That's the whole point of born again. You are not the same at all. We need to change our definition of saved to mean "changed" rather than "guilted into repeating a prayer". Christians need to learn however that change comes first on the inside and as it's cultivated,it just naturally shows on the outside for everyone to see. What a lot of Christians do is to make a show on the outside by proclaiming all the rules that must be followed,and you must do this,or act in this way only,and that's how you get your inside changed. God changes the inside,and then gives you the grace to change the outside. You are saved when the inside changes, but the more the outside looks the same the more you will suffer from whatever sins still have you in bondage.
When you have this "wanting to do what's right" inside you, you don't need to constantly look for answers by racking your brain to find scripture that leads or guides or comforts.Just by submitting to "doing what's right" you open yourself up to total self examination.You won't need the rule book to tell you what you need to do in your life. You will find that just by seeking to do what's right and looking for as much real TRUTH as you can learn about any situation, you will KNOW what to do.
It's infinitely better to be lead by the Spirit OF Truth who can advise you about the specifics of your life just like he advised Paul about the specifics of his life. The scriptures are incredibly valuable but they don't need to be read as if every word is God speaking to you. God can certainly speak through them,but the reason Jesus died was so he could speak directly to you,and much more than that also.
