Front:

Once upon a time, a horse lived on a beach. To live on the beach, he was required to follow a set of rules. Daily he was commanded to swim, stay wet, and eat bugs. The horse worked hard at obeying the rules, but found it very difficult. The lifestyle he was ordered to live was very unnatural and uncomfortable for him. In truth, he often failed to fully obey the commands as instructed. His failure to fully follow the commands made him feel awfully guilty, but he decided that he was doing the best he could, and everything would be okay, in the end. However, often in the cool of the evening he would dwell on his failure to keep the rules, worrying that things might not actually be okay. He really didn’t know what to do, and in the end he would always justify his failure to obey the rules. Thinking once again, “I am doing the best I can, God will surely accept that!” One day, while walking on the beach, a strange thing happened…he was suddenly changed, or re-born, into a fish! He quickly flopped into the water, and was very happy spending all his days swimming around, staying wet, and regularly eating bugs. In fact, he found the bugs to be quite tasty, and his new life as a fish was very fulfilling. He thought, “How much happier I am now that I am a fish!” Now the rules he was given made perfect sense to him, and were no longer difficult to obey, now that he was a new creature with a new nature. His life as a horse was over. However, every once in a while he would flop up on the beach, to see if he would enjoy his old horse activities, but he found them very unfulfilling. His old ways made him feel very uneasy and guilty. Furthermore, he realized that living on the beach would kill him, so he quickly flip-flopped back into the water. As time went by, he learned more fish ways, and really enjoyed being a fish. After a while, he forgot all about once being a horse. Being a fish and doing fish things was far more satisfying. He was one happy fish!

Back:

The moral of the story is that doing fish activities didn’t change the horse into a fish. He was simply a wet horse, tired of eating bugs. What changed the horse into a fish was being re-born. You must be re-born to be acceptable to God (John 3:3, 7). You must be supernaturally transformed by God to be a new creature (a fish) fit to dwell with God in His kingdom (2 Cor 5:17). Lots of people profess to be a Christian and they base this on keeping a set of rules, such as, striving to be a good person, doing good things, keeping the Ten Commandments, or the Golden Rule. Such rule keeping will never transform you from being a lost person (a horse) in to being a genuine Christian (a fish). Are you one of the people who strives to justify themselves before God based on doing good things, or keep a set of rules? Are you striving to live a moral life, to make you a Christian? Neither will attending church make you a Christian. Being a “better you” will not make things OK on judgment day. Furthermore, if you are comfortable with sin in your life (old horse activities), then rest assured you have not been born again into a new creature (a fish). There is only one way to be genuinely saved, you must come to Jesus Christ on the terms He demands! (see Mark 1:15) Trying to approach Jesus in any other way will only lead you to eternal damnation and separation from God for all eternity. Thus, Jesus makes two specific demands of every person desiring to be a Christian. First, in faith you must trust the Lord Jesus to forgive your sins. He is able to do this not by just dismissing your guilt, but because He paid the penalty for your crimes. Second, you must repent (turn away from) all sin in your life, now that you recognize the horrible price Christ paid for your sins. When you become a true Christian, our Lord will supernaturally transform you into a new creature, thus changing your life here, and giving you eternal life in the hereafter.  Are you actually a fish, or are you trying to become one on your own?

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