THE NEW BIRTH My first birth into my human family was January 14, 1932. My new birth into the family of God was February 15, 1942. I thank God for a godly mother and Dad who led me into a saving knowledge of Christ Jesus and giving me a testimony for Him and a wonderful hope for the future.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" Jesus said, "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."(2 Corinthians 5:17)
To know Jesus personally is to have eternal life and to have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.WHAT DOES BORN AGAIN REALLY MEAN?
"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
Jesus declared,"I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things?"
The question remains! Have you been born again into God’s family?
This term "Born again" is used carelessly at times but it is charged with significance. Jesus said, you MUST be born again "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit."
In the Bible water is often a symbol of the Word of God. Peter said, "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." (1 Peter 1:23)
The Holy Spirit is the agent of the new birth. If the new birth comes through the Word of God through the power of the Holy Spirit then it also tells us how to experience this new birth.
John 3:16-18 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."
Here are a few steps into the new birth.
1. Confess that you are a sinner by nature and by choice.
The Bible says, "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:22,23);
"Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one." (Isa. 53:3)
If we compare ourselves with ourselves we have a fallacious standard. But when we compare ourselves with God’s glory the standard is perfect and places us in sin.
To be born again one must be convicted of sin. Then we must confess to God that we are sinners and cannot save ourselves. There is no other way. All of us are infected with the disease of the soul, called sin..
However, there is a remedy. God will forgive you of all sin and make you a new creation in Christ Jesus. All what one must do is to accept the remedy.
2. Accept by faith the remedy for you sin.
We become Christians through God’s unmerited grace. The remedy for the disease is yours by grace through faith. Paul said, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast."
"He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." (John 1:10-13)
When someone gives you a gift how do you respond? Do you say, O what a remarkable gift, now how much do I owe you? Of course not, the appropriate response is, thank you for the gift ?
A man is climbing a mountain, at the top of which he hopes to find God. By ascending the heights, the seeker expects to leave all the cares and miseries of life behind in the valley. But while he climbs, God is coming down the mountain into the toil and grief. In the mists of the mountain God and the man pass one another. When the man reaches the mountaintop, he will find nothing. God is not there.
What then will he do? He knows the climbing was a mistake, but in agony of that recognition, will he fall down and despair? Or will he turn to retrace his path through the mists and into the valley to where God has gone seeking him?
Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. We find him because he finds us. All the climbing in the world through self-effort will not save anyone.
A young fellow came forward in a Gospel meeting, earnestly asking, "What can I do to be saved?" Knowing the man thought he had to accomplish something by his own efforts to gain redemption,
The Christian worker responded to the anxious inquirer, "You're too late!"
"Oh, don't say that," exclaimed the distressed seeker, "I really want salvation; I'd do anything or go anywhere to obtain it."
"I'm sorry," replied the other, "you're too late for that. Your salvation was completed many hundreds of years ago at Calvary. It's finished work! All you have to do is simply receive Christ. Then the divine gift He offers will become yours through His merits."
Realising his great debt was paid, the young man found peace by looking to the Saviour and resting his all upon the grace of God.
The New birth is applied by grace as a gift from God not of our own works. Isaiah tells us that "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." (Isa. 64:6)
3. Ask God to save and forgive you and bring you into His family and to give you the new birth.
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame. For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
(Romans 10:9-13)
Just ask God to save your soul. Pray something like this.
Dear Saviour,
I know I am a sinner by nature and by choice. I know I can’t save myself by my good works. Please come into my life now and save me for Jesus sake.
If you pray this sinner’s prayer God will make you His child. The Bible says, "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him." (1 John 5:11-15)
If you accept Christ’s free gift you will know that you have eternal life. Thank God for His gift of salvation and the New Birth. Believe you are born of God and that he has forgiven you all your sin.
Now, you have assurance of your salvation. The promise is a glorious future in glory with Jesus. Remember that God has wonderful plans for you and your life. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jer. 29:11)
(May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Rom 15:13)
All the best to you in Christ Jesus
Pastor Bob
Baptism
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