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Have You Been
Translated?
 As
strange as that question may sound, being "translated" refers to something
essential in order for us to spend eternity in Heaven with God.
God must convert us into people capable of even wanting to be around Him
forever. Unless He does that, we will want to flee from Him.
That is because GOD is
something we are not. He is HOLY. He is righteous.
He hates sin and those who practice it. He hates false
worship. He hates those who take His name in vain. His
hatred is a godly hatred. As the lawgiver and sovereign ruler of the
universe and all who live in it, He has every right to demand perfect
obedience to His laws. He also has every right to punish lawbreakers
for violating His laws. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ gives
us a graphic picture of God's hatred for sin. God's only begotten
Son - Jesus Christ - voluntarily came into this world, setting aside His
power and glory and authority to allow sinful mankind to kill their
Creator. This was all part of God's plan so that God could have a
people for Himself. Only the perfect, sinless Son of God was
capable of paying man's sin debt:
taking the punishment that sinners deserve for violating God's laws.
When God TRANSLATES a sinner, He puts His spirit in that person and they
receive from God, an understanding of the depth and seriousness of their
sin and they receive an understanding of how holy and righteous God
is. This translation process causes a sinner to agree with God
that they deserve the punishment for their sins that God says they deserve.
This translation process is often called being
BORN AGAIN or being "born
from above". Nowadays, many people make the claim that they have been
BORN AGAIN,
not realizing that it takes a supernatural act of God, not
an act of the
person's will. Just as you cannot give birth to yourself physically,
you cannot give birth to yourself spiritually. A person cannot
get themselves "born again" by being water baptized, by reciting some
prayer, by believing some facts about Jesus and the Bible, by walking down
some aisle, by coming forward at a crusade or by simply "turning over a new
leaf" or by joining a church and starting to hang out with religious
people. |
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"Giving thanks
unto the Father, which hath made us meet [fit] to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power
of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of
sins" [Colossians 1:12-14] |
People who have been truly translated by God will live lives of thankful
service to Him. That means they will do their best to live their lives in
obedience to what God says is good and right and just in the Holy Bible.
It means they will no longer live for themselves but for God and others.
God will give them a great concern for the eternal spiritual welfare of others.
So if a person is truly translated by God, his or her friends and family will
notice a definite change. They may not like the change. They may
want the old sinful friend or relative to come back, especially if the
translated person was someone who liked to hang around with them and drink and
smoke and curse and waste time and money on themselves and on things that have
no eternal value. Most likely, they will not like this translated person
to care about their souls or to talk to them about sin,
hell, holiness, Jesus or
the Bible.
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"Jesus answered
and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." [John 3:3] |
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