THE IMPORTANCE OF RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

    By A. W. Tozer

   The Spirit itself beareth witness with our Spirit,
    that we are children of God.          -- Romans 8:16

         Many men and women are seeking counsellors to aid
    them with their confessed feelings of emptiness and
    inadequacy.  Each seems to have a plea about becoming
    a "whole person."

       The importance of coming back into right relationship
    with God cannot be overestimated as we seriously think
    and study and pray.

        By the mysterious operation of the Spirit of God in
    the new birth, that which is called by Peter "the divine
    nature" enters the deep-in core of the believer's heart
    and establishes residence there. "If any man have not
    the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his," for "the Spirit
    itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
    children of God" (Rom. 8:9, 16).

        Such a one is a true Christian, and only such. Baptism,
    confirmation, the receiving of the sacraments, church
    membership---these mean nothing unless the supreme
    act of God in regeneration also takes place!

        Religious externals may have a meaning for the God-
    inhabited soul; for any others they are not only useless,
    but may actually become snares, deceiving them into a
    false and perilous sense of security.

        "Keep thy heart with all diligence" is more than a wise
    saying; it is a solemn charge laid upon us by the One who
    cares most about us!    
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   Yours in Christ,
   Paul N. F.