My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. (John 10:27-30)
I knew as soon as I read those words of Jesus that I was in the wrong church. I never had any desire to go back but rejoice that there are many local Christian churches that teach the true gospel and I am free to fellowship where ever the Lord leads me.
Good testimony. Basically, a person will be born again when the Holy Spirit convicts him, and your conviction/conversion came as a result of that particular passage in John. It’s always interesting to hear how people realize that salvation is by grace alone — not “vain repetitions”, i.e., “Hail Marys”, and adhering to extreme legalism.
Our good friends are R.C., and live a frantic lifestyle being over involved in charitable events; they truly believe that doing good deeds will make Heaven more likely for them. When I mentioned Isaiah 64:6, that “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” in God’s sight, their eyes glazed over.
You’re right that it’s good to be free to fellowship where the Lord leads, and not be connected to a denomination. I’m basically Baptist (Baptist P.K.), but if a non-Baptist church in our area preaches The Word better than a foar-out Baptist church in the area, I’ll attend that other church. Being a born-again Christian is what’s important, not being part of a particular denomination.