when I began to try and determine where God would have us to go this week. I know we have been in the Gospel of John for a while now and actually was feeling as though initially that that's not where we were going to go today. But the Lord actually backed us right back into the Gospel of John with another thought that He gave and we ended up right back where we left off last week. So we do want to ask you to turn with us to the eighth chapter of the Gospel of John. As you're turning there, just a few words Throughout the Gospel of John, we are confronted with people who are said to be believers, but who clearly, by the context and by what we read, were not saved. It's an unusual thought for us to think about, but it's right there in the Scripture. When we left off last time, it talked about a group of Jews who said that they believed what Jesus was saying. And yet what we're going to read here today, it's evident that they were not saved. So there was certainly a measure of belief, but there was not salvation. John and his gospel makes this point again and again. He distinguishes a saving faith that endures from a mere marginal belief that passes with time. And he makes that point over and over. And he writes about it many times in the Gospel. And he also writes about it in the letters, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. Much of it is given to how is one to know whether or not they are a child of God. And the Bible is over and over again expressing truth about how one can know the answer to that question. It's an uncomfortable topic for some. But the Bible speaks about it so often that for a preacher to not address it or to not call it out when we come across scripture that speaks that way would be for him to forsake and to not be faithful to the word that he's been given to preach and the God that he's been called to obey. And so we find here again a reality of the difference between believing and being saved, and the difference between saving faith and a faith and a belief that is something else, a faith that is based on something other than a relationship with Jesus Christ, a faith that is based perhaps on Christianity's traditions, but not the Christ of Christianity. And John again is bringing this to our attention. We've read where Jesus did not entrust himself to those who merely believed, but did not believe in him, did not place their faith and trust in him. Many were disappointed because Jesus chose not to become the earthly king that they wanted him to be. Many were disappointed in the way that he went about his ministry. His own brothers who did not believe at all during his life would give him counsel about how they would live if they were the son of God. And sometimes I think we're all guilty of trying to tell Jesus how to do his work. But there is a great difference between this believing that these Jews did and coming to a place of salvation. Continuing this conversation with the Pharisees in chapter eight, Jesus is going to tell these people that no, indeed, you're not children of God. You are not saved. You're not free. Things that they did not believe about themselves, but things that were yet true. And when God reveals truth to us, it is ours to simply submit to that truth. It isn't ours to overly question, or to reject, or to argue, or to debate. It is ours to believe and to trust, and to do as we've already heard this morning. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. And if you look up in the original Hebrew of that verse, the word duty is not there. And so that verse reads, it is the whole of man. It is what it is to be man. And that's why you feel off and disconnected from life without God is because without God, you are not what you were designed to be. And many times Satan has worked to convince people that religion is salvation. And I know this is a subject that has been discussed many times and that this book of John has hit many times. But God knows what he's doing. And I trust his word. And so we'll we'll hit it again today. But what I want to talk about specifically is freedom in Christ. There's freedom in Christ. There's only freedom in Christ. There's freedom in no other place, no other activity, no other work, no other person, no other relationship, no other job, no other anything. There is freedom in Christ and in Christ alone. And so let's continue this conversation, and we're going to read a little bit longer than we typically do, down through the 47th verse, beginning in verse 31 of John chapter 8, beginning where we left off last time. You remember this scene. We won't take too much time to set it. It's the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Booths. eight day festival whereby Israel remembers the wilderness wanderings for 40 years and God's deliverance of his people from Egypt and his promised deliverance into the promised land. They're celebrating that. That's the scene. And Jesus has used that scene multiple times to teach the people about himself from being the water of life to being the light of the world. And this conversation between Pharisees, the Pharisees and Christ continues. And it says, backing up just one verse, as he was saying these things, as he was speaking to them about himself, many believed in him. And were we to stop there, we would think that these people perhaps were saved. But let's continue. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him. If you abide in my word, and are truly my disciples. Excuse me. If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. They answered him. These are they. These are those who said that they believed this is what they said. We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say you will become free? Jesus answered them, truly, truly, one of the Lord's verily, verily, as I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever. The son remains forever. So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham, yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my father and you do what you have heard from your father. They answered him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, if you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did. but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God." This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did. They said to him, we were not born of sexual immorality. We have one father, even God. Jesus said to them, if God were your father, you would love me for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God. That last phrase of that final verse in our reading has stuck with me throughout my preparation and study to come here to have thought to think what it must have felt like. If one has any appreciation or knowledge of who just said that to you, to be told unequivocally that you are not of God. These people who, in the 30th verse, were said to believe, and yet here they find themselves being told by none other than God himself and the Son, you're not of God. Freedom in Christ is found And when freedom in Christ is found, that one in the individual understands and knows in their heart that they have found it. How can one know? How is it that we know that we are of Christ? Jesus answers this question. And it is a difficult answer for some to consider or for us to fully even wrestle with because of the error that we can go in one of two directions. But let us just look at what Jesus said and look at it simply. And upon its surface, what Jesus said, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples. That word abide is in the errorist tense in the Greek, and that tense is a unique tense in the Greek language that speaks of an activity that is continuous. It's ongoing. It's not just past tense. We're familiar with that, a past tense of describing something that happened in the past. And it's not just a future tense. Something that we expect will happen in the future. When Jesus answers the question, how can I know if I'm one of his? How can I know if I'm a disciple? Jesus uses the errorist tense in answering it, and he simply says it this way. In fact, the King James and the New American Standard and the American Standard before it uses the word, if you continue, if you abide in my word, if you continue in my word. The answer is if there's a continuing reality of the presence of God. It's not merely that one time years ago I was saved and that now there's no impact or there's nothing in my heart about it anymore. It's not something that just happened that we did years ago and or that we think one day we're going to go to heaven. Our attachment to Christ is something that continues. It's alive today. Now, what some will do and they will error as they do this is simply say, well, then those who sin are not gods and they will take this teaching of Christ and say that in order to say that one is saved, one must say that they don't sin. I've shared many times the story of the lady in Ghana, as I was sitting with her in the hotel that we were staying at in Kamasi, Ghana, and I asked her about her soul. I asked her if she was saved, and she said, yes, and I no longer sin. I wondered, and I asked her, how do you manage that? How do you do that? And the reality is we know that we do continue to sin. So the reality and the presence of sin in our life is not on its own a discounting or a reason for us to say that we are not saved. What is the difference is Jesus saying, if my words abide in you. And what does the abiding Word of God do when we sin? Those of us that know Him, it convicts. It draws us to Him in repentance. We know better as it is said. And there's a test then that we can apply to our hearts. And I want you to apply it to yours. If you could sin without any embarrassment, without any repercussion, without anyone knowing, without anyone seeing, if you could do it, you could live your life in that manner. And you could go on day after day after day living your life in sin. And if you could do that with no cultural or family repercussions, would you choose that way of life? Or would you, because the word of God abides in you, be convicted over that sin and broken over it? The presence of repentance and the need for repentance in a person's life is not evidence that they're lost, it's evidence that they're saved. because they know that they've broken the law of God, and the call of God, and they've not been obedient to Him. It's when there is an absence of that, that one needs to be concerned. But if there is no continuing in the Word, it's difficult to escape the simple truth of what Jesus says here. If you abide in My Word, you're truly My disciples. If again, the distinction and the difference between a passing belief spurred by something, an intellectual agreement or an emotional experience, but that does not last and does not go with you through even to today. And there's cause for concern. You're truly my disciples, if you abide in my word. But the logic here is continuing. If you abide in my word, then, and the word then is not there, but it is an if then statement. If you abide in my word, then you are truly my disciples. And that's going to end up with a couple of other attributes that you can look for in your own life. Because if you abide in my word, then you are my disciples and you will know the truth. and the truth will set you free. There's one thing, and that is Jesus, as we have said, that will set you free, free from the bondage of sin. free from the bondage of your own self-will, free from the meaninglessness of life without Christ. There's one thing that will free you from that, and it is Christ. And Jesus says, if you are My disciples, you will continue in My Word, and you will find the truth, and the truth will set you free. So I ask you, are you free? Are you free? Have you been set free by the working of the Spirit of God in your heart that breaks the power of sin and causes you to long to serve God today and every day thereafter? And when you fail, it breaks your heart because you know it has broken His? Do you desire and long to be what God would have you to be? Have you experienced the freedom that comes with the forgiveness of Christ? Or are you as these believers, people who did not know this truth, did not know this freedom, this freedom that is found in Christ? How can we then know? How can you know this truth and how can you know this freedom? Well, Jesus answers that question, too. You shall know the truth. and the truth shall set you free. There's a great irony today. Many university buildings have that inscription. You may have seen it. Knowledge or you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. And that speaking there of sinking the great, the more one knows, the more educated they become, the more free they become. And that's not really at all the context of where this comes from. What this is talking about is knowing Christ, not merely facts about this world. So do you? This is talking much more deeply than just gaining facts or increasing education. And many times under a Christian banner, and it is good and it is right in its place, but often under your Christian banner, people will desire that education would be instilled and you follow the church throughout history and you will follow and find that it is a people who is given and who are given to great education and study and the discovery of the world around us. There's no denying that fact. And you find those who are not following the Christian worldview and a biblical worldview. And very often you will find the people not interested in education and learning about this world. But this is going deeper than just learning the facts about this world. It's going deeper than just learning how to manage your money and get along with your spouse. It's going deeper than learning chemistry and science and math. All of those things, they end up with a place. And I won't get on my soapbox or at least try not to. They end up in a place of more questions than answers without God. You'll know the truth. And who was he talking about and what was he talking about? He answered that question, too, didn't he? He said, I am the truth. So to know the truth then is to know Christ. To know Christ is to know the truth and to know these things is to be free, free from the sin that that fetters that chains and that keeps us from the life that God would have us to live. Oh, that we would get an inkling of an idea of how sin separates us from the life that God wants us to live, wants you to live. He loves you and he loves you so much. He sent his son to die for you so that you might have life and then that you might have the opportunity to live this life in obedience to him who loved you so much. He laid his life down for you. And there, there is freedom. When you lay your head on your pillow at night and what you are concerned about is serving God first and foremost, and knowing that to know the truth and to be set free is speaking far more deeply than just knowing answers to certain questions. And of course, we also know that is speaking not only of knowing who Christ was and is, but knowing Him, knowing Him, not just knowing. Bible answers to Sunday school questions. Knowing him in the darkest moments of your life. In the most trying hour of your life. He bend upon your knee. And you cry out to this one that you know. And in those moments of your life, you're not crying out for answers to Bible questions or Sunday school questions. You're you're crying out for a person. One who 2000 years ago, which is just a snap in eternity, 2000 years ago, laid his life down. For you. You know him. If all I had was theological understanding, I'd be a miserable man. But I know Christ. And may I lay hold every day more and more on the reality that to know Christ is to know the truth, and to know the truth is to be free. Free from this world. Free from my own sin. Free from the condemnation. Free from separation. Free from anxiety. At least I ought to be. speaking so much more deeply than just having a knowledge of who Christ was and what he claimed to be. I fear that there are a great many, this is not news to anyone here, but I fear there are a great many people who claim Christianity, do not know Christ. Satan is so good at hiding the truth right in front of us. Jesus says the truth is found when you find me, and when you find these things, you will find freedom. Why? Why wouldn't we all find this? Why don't we want to find this? Why? Why do so many seem to not find the truth in Christ? This is not an automatic thing. Do you see that? It's not automatic that you're going to find this truth that sets you free. You are not going to find it because you were born in the United States of America and you've been raised in a Christian church. You're not going to find it because in your eyes, you're a pretty good person. In fact, these things can not only not be a help, they can be a hindrance. If you're going to find it, it's going to be because you found Christ. And there are obstacles in the way. There are obstacles that are shown right here for us to see in these people. What did they say after Jesus told them this marvelous promise, the truth will set you free? And they answered him, we are the children of Abraham. We've never been enslaved to anyone. Isn't it shocking? how quickly we start to believe our own lies. What do you mean, Pharisee and Jewish friend, that you've never been enslaved to anyone? Remember the setting. It's the Feast of Tabernacles. What were they celebrating? Deliverance from bondage. Deliverance from enslavement to a pharaoh for hundreds of years. What about that? They began to believe their own lie that they would never been enslaved to anyone. And you know what I'm afraid of? I'm afraid a lot of us, you and I, and many others in this country, don't believe we're slaves either. Don't see it. Don't see the shackles of sin that hold us from a life of blessing in following God. Don't see the sin that shackles us to this world and its efforts and its endeavors that end in frustration and emptiness. We don't see it. These people didn't see it. They say to Christ they have the audacity here to say we've never been a slave to anyone. That's silly. It's not even true on the surface. Remember Egypt. without whom from whom deliverance this whole feast and festival that we're observing right now will have no meaning. Never mind the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians and the Romans under whom they at this very moment in time were subjugated to. We've never been a slave to anyone, they say. And we think and I look at that and I think that's just untrue on the surface. And then I back up and I ask myself the question, what other lies do we tell ourselves that we believe? What lies do we tell ourselves and perhaps that you tell yourself that it's OK when it's not? The freedom that you seek, that you want to have so badly, maybe that you say you do, but do you know Christ? Because that is the truth is to know Christ. We are the offspring of Abraham. believing their own lies, that somehow that is going to matter more than the condition of their own heart. Paul picks this thought up of this bondage to sin, and that's what Jesus said. Whoever is a servant of sin is a slave to sin. By the way, any of you that are honest with yourself, is there a particular sin in your life that you've tried again and again and again to get rid of? Whatever that it is, I don't know. We all have them. Ever tried to get rid of that on your own? Have you found it to be the master that Jesus speaks about if we don't give it to Him? Whoever serves sin is a slave to sin. They did not see their own bondage. And there are many people who do not come to God and do not know Him, do not know Christ, because they too either have not or refuse to see their bondage to sin. And these Pharisees, of course, had a great deal of an obstacle here because they saw themselves as such righteous people. That prayer of the Pharisee is so instructive. God, I thank you that I'm not like the rest of the world. I'm a good person. Blind to their own sin. Paul picks this up in Romans chapter three, verse nine. Wanna read down through the 18th verse. Now then, he says, he's built this case against the Gentiles, that they're sinners. Then he brings in the Jew, just in case they think for a minute that because they're Jews, that they're off the hook. What then, Paul says, are we Jews any better off? We can almost substitute this today by saying it this way, are we Christians better off? because sometimes people think that they're Christian just because they're in a Christian family or a Christian nation or a Christian home or whatever that it might be, a Christian school. What then? Are we Jews any better off? Do we have some advantage? Are we not too sinners? No, not at all, Paul says, for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks are under sin. And then he begins to quote several Old Testament passages that make this unavoidably true, that even the Jews of the Old Testament, which means that even these Pharisees who Jesus was speaking with on this day, should have known the truth of the matter. He says, he begins to quote Old Testament. He says, none is righteous. No, not one. No one understands. No one seeks for God. All have turned aside together. They have become worthless. No one does good, not even one. Can he be more obvious? Can the scriptures be more plain? But there's no exception to this rule. You aren't and I'm not and not the best person who ever lived on the planet is an exception to this rule. We're all slaves to sin. Until Jesus frees us. All have turned aside. Together they have become worthless. No one does good. Not even one. Their throat is an open grave. They use their tongues to deceive. You know what we're thinking, you and I? We're thinking that the Bible is talking about somebody else. That's one of the biggest obstacles we have to understanding the scripture. It's talking about us. You and me. Without Christ. No matter how pristine the outside may be, no matter how well things might appear to be going, if down in your heart you don't know Christ, then you are a slave to sin, because the only one who can loose those chains is Jesus Christ. Their throat is an open grave, they use their tongues to deceive, the venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood in their paths are ruin and misery. Surely he's talking about someone else. When we're young. We have an idea and a vision of our lives, and I don't want to be a curmudgeon and discourage anyone, but I can tell you that very likely. Those of you who are young, your life will not transpire and will not turn out the way you have in your mind right now. Because you might be thinking my life will never come to ruin or misery. I don't want that. I don't want my life to be ruined and miserable. I tell you today, unless Jesus breaks your slavery to sin, that's exactly where it's going to lead. That's right where it's going. I don't tell you this to stomp on you. I tell you this because I love you. As hard as that might be to believe in the person you're looking at today, I don't tell you this to beat you up. I tell you this because it's true. It's true. And it breaks our heart. And it breaks God's heart, I believe. When he tells us the truth and he looks at these Pharisees, Jesus does and he says, why won't you believe me? And he knows the answer. I don't want my life to end in pain and misery. And so it won't. I tell you, not unless Jesus breaks your chains of sin, it will. It will. And the way of peace, they have not known. What must the life be like to never know peace? When I was 11 years old and God convicted me, it was not a moment of peace. But peace came. After I repented. Believed it was not a great act of religion. I didn't jump up and down. I didn't do a lot of what people would expect. But I remember that moment peace came. And freedom. The bonds of sin had been broken. And where I to choose. I now have the ability through the strength of Christ to have victory over it, whereas before there's no hope for such a thing. The way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. We lament. That our nation no longer fears God. And we should. The haughtiness. of our nation, the pride that drips from Facebook message boards, the self assured lies of popular culture, the complete lack of shame for sin and fear of God. It's a tragedy today. But it's not a tragedy because of the way in which those things are manifested. It's a tragedy because there simply is no fear of God. And guess what? If there's no fear of God, there is also no peace with God. The fear of God, ironically, leads to peace with Him as we surrender our hearts to His will. So the first obstacle, and we'll hasten along, is just the lack of our ability to see our bondage. But all are there without Christ. There's another cause for people to not feel the freedom in Christ and to know freedom in Christ. And it is a sad case, too. It is a willful choosing to not submit to him. It is a willful choosing to reject him and numbers chapter 14 verse four. Shortly after the Israelites had been delivered from Egyptian bondage, in a tremendous and miraculous working of God across the Red Sea, and He destroys the armies of Pharaoh, and He blesses them with water from a rock, and He blesses them with all the things that they need, but things get a little difficult, and things get a little trying, and what do some of them do? According to Numbers chapter 14 verse 4, they say, let us appoint a captain and go back to Egypt. rather live in bondage than freedom. Doesn't that sound strange to you? It sounds strange to me that a people who knew nothing but slavery would choose to go back to slavery once they had an opportunity at freedom. And maybe you would say, that's silly. I would never do such a thing. I would never choose bondage over freedom. I would never choose slavery to sin over freedom in Christ. And I say to you, yes, you would. And yes, many have. Because I can tell you this, if you want the path of least resistance in your life. Then you will choose the path of slavery every time. Our nation is seeing this just in a natural reality of the truth of this. Did you know it's easier to live as a slave than it is to live as a free person in many ways? You're responsible for yourself. You've got to go out and do the things. And many times people will choose slavery to their sin over freedom in Christ because it's easier. The normalcy bias begins to implant itself in our minds and hearts. And we look around at the world around us and we say, look at all these people living in rebellion against God. And this is just normal. And this is the way we should go. And that's exactly why Jesus said that the way that leads to destruction is a broad way. But rather than choose the narrow way of obedience to Christ to find freedom in him, Many choose this and they say, I'm just going to appoint a captain over my life. I'm going to go back into bondage. I'm not teaching you can lose your salvation. You know that. But at the moment when God reveals to you your sin. There must be a coming to him and a forsaking of all other things. And asking him to forgive and to free you. We find as well that they were blind to who they really were. It's another obstacle. Blind to who they really were. They had an idea of who they were. They thought they were children of God and Jesus says to them, you are children of the devil. Well, that's offensive, isn't it? Those are offensive words. Preachers aren't allowed to say things like that anymore. But if you've not been freed from your sin by Christ. You are a child of the devil. I don't say that to hurt. I pray I don't say it in pride. Because I one day was as well. These Pharisees didn't even know who they were. They didn't even know who they were. These learned men spent their life studying the Old Testament, measured their footsteps carefully on the Sabbath, just so they make sure they don't take one too many. Spent their life dedicated to a religion, and they didn't even know who they were. I tell you, I've met some folks that I believe are in a very similar situation, spend their life living a Christian life, and they don't even know who they are. Their identity is wrapped up in who they think they are rather than their identity being found in Christ and the freedom that he gives. Terribly offensive, but it's proof. There's proof. Jesus does not say this without providing proof to them. In the 39th verse, Jesus answered, or they answered him after he speaks to them. He says, Abraham is our father. And Jesus said to them, if you were Abraham's children, you would be doing what Abraham did. So if you are a child of God, we can say then you'd be doing what God would have you to do. And yes, that includes at times repentance for sin in the life. But if you're God's child, you'd be doing what he wants you to do. You'd be doing, if you were Abraham's child, you'd be doing what he did, which, what did he do? Paul tells us, or whoever the writer of Hebrews was, says it very clearly. He sought a city whose builder and maker was God. He followed God by faith, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. If you were Abraham's children, you'd do what he did. Verse 42. If you're who you think you are, Jesus said to them, if God were your father who you and you think he is, then you would love me. Because I came from him. More and more and more in my ministry, as I study the scripture and try to share the word of God with people, there is a brighter and brighter light and a spotlight that ought to be put upon the person of Jesus Christ. If you love God, you love him. And there's not enough of him that you can get in that song that we often sing more about Jesus. What I know more of his grace to others show more of him and less of me. If you are who you say you are, Jesus says, then you would love me, but you don't. And so you're not who you say you are. You're not children of Abraham because you don't do what he is. Your father told you to do in verse 44. You are of your father the devil and your will is to do your father's desires. And he goes on and says he was a murderer and he is a liar and you do these things. And then in verse 47. Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God. You've not been set free. The word has not penetrated and unlocked the bondage, the chains that keep you from knowing freedom. And you'll remain that way. So long as you do not submit to Christ and these people, this was offensive to them. There was a time and maybe we romanticize days gone by. It's probably true. History is a tricky thing. because we see it in the eyes of those who recorded it. I believe we can get an accurate view of history, but it's tricky. We can sometimes think of the past better than it was, but there was a time, I do understand and believe, that we could say hard things to one another and not be so personally offended that we would not consider what was said. Who do you think's behind that? Because this is a hard thing to hear. This was a hard thing for these Pharisees to hear. What did many of them do? Most of them, they doubled down on their desire to kill him. But I believe some of them, no doubt some of them became believers because they heard the hard truth that they needed to hear. But through this mislabeling of compassion, people are no longer confronted with these difficult truths. But I'll tell you this, you'll be confronted with it sooner or later. You're going to be confronted with it sooner or later. I'd rather you be prepared. I want to close. I just want to read to you a conclusion. I want you to pray. I want you to examine yourself. The Bible tells us to do that, to examine ourselves. We ought not question silly things and Satan often gets into the heart of the true believer and beats them up and says, look how worthless you are. I struggle with that as much as anyone. So we do not want you to unnecessarily question, but the Bible encourages us to examine our heart. But I want to leave you with these words. The truth can be known. Freedom can be found. But to find it, you must overcome the obstacles that we've discussed today. You must know who you truly are. You must know your true need of forgiveness in Christ. You must realize that apart from Christ, you are lost and a slave to sin and self. You must acknowledge your imprisonment to your own sin and your need of the Redeemer who died on the cross to pay your ransom. You must choose the difficult and narrow path to life and forsake the easy and broad path to destruction. You must choose to live as a child of God in a world that has set itself in rebellion against him. You must abide continually in his word. But none of these things are possible without the help of God. You can no more simply choose to be born again on your own than you were, than you chose to be born in the first place. God chose to form you in your mother's womb. God called you forth into this life and God must do the same in the new birth. He must call before you can ever answer. But the difference in the spiritual birth is that God calls to you and through a power that He alone possesses, He speaks to the dead and you hear. He calls to us in our sin and trespasses and tells us to lay down our weapons of rebellion against Him. He points out that the sins we think so much of are chains that enslave us. He points us to His Son, who alone can truly set us free. I pray that you will heed the call of God if he is calling to you. Why will you remain in your sins? Why will you remain a slave to that which is destroying you? Why would you not choose Christ and begin today to abide in his word and find forgiveness, find the truth, find life, find hope, find meaning, find purpose and find freedom? Come to Christ and you will find all of these things and more. So long as you resist, you are simply turning from the One who can give you freedom. I beg you to follow Him, to choose today if He's dealing with you, to find Him and to seek Him and to know Him and to begin today to abide with Him and His Word.