BORN AGAIN BELIEVERS OUGHT . . .

I am deeply concerned that members of my family, members of my church, and members of the Church worldwide, have misunderstood what it means to be a born again believer.  Let me be clear at the outset, man is not saved by works!  Salvation is a gift to those who place their trust in Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8-9)!  However, we have been saved to live and work for the Lord (Eph. 2:10).  We ought to:

*  Work - Lk. 13:14!
*  Pray - Lk. 18:1!
*  Tithe - Mt. 23:23!
*  Be a servant to others - Jn. 13:14!
*  Obey God - Acts 5:29!
*  Be humble - Rom. 12:3!
*  Help the weak - Rom. 15:1!
*  Forgive others - 2 Cor. 2:7!
*  Leave an inheritance - 2 Cor. 12:14!
*  Love our spouse - Eph. 5:28!
*  Walk to please God - 1 Thes. 4:1!
*  Heed what we are taught - Heb. 2:1!
*  Be teachers - Heb. 5:12!
*  Add "Lord willing" to our plans - Jam. 4:15!
*  Be holy - 2 Pet. 3:11!
*  Walk like Jesus walked - 1 Jn. 2:6!
*  Willingly lay down our lives - 1 Jn. 3:16!
*  Love one another - 1 Jn. 4:1!

Those who profess to be Christians know that they are not to continue living in sin.  They know to stop getting drunk, stop lying, stop lusting, stop stealing, stop cursing, stop . . . !  But genuine believers know they, out of gratitude toward God for sacrificing His only begotten Son for us, ought to be living as close to the example set before us by Christ as we possibly can! 

We are not saved by works, but we have been saved to do good works!