Jude 2

James Edwin Orr said “ The only proof of the new birth is the new life.”
Something “really” happens when a person encounters a living God; when you are set free from the slavery to sin, delivered from the dominion of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of light, liberated from the bondage of Satan and made into a child of God; washed in the blood of the Lamb, indwelt by the Holy spirit, and born from above into a whole new life. Being “saved” is more that just a feeling.
It can be argued that the ultimate “power encounter” between God and man is not divine healing, the baptism of the Spirit, the exorcism of demons, or the receiving of a prophetic message, but rather the experience of conversion.
Millions of born again believers today do not understand what they have been saved from and what they are being saved to.
Rom 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes…”
The gospel is the only legal means by which God provides guilty sinners to be made righteous through their faith in the blood of Jesus; the gospel is the power to save them as well, which means to save them from the dominion of darkness. Otherwise, it is no salvation at all.

Ephesians 1

1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

2Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

7In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

8Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;

9Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

10That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

11In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

12That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

13In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

14Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.


And the Spirit is but a down payment.

I love this..

Galations 3:29
If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (NIV)