YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN
Job 22:22 Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.
Have you ever been around children that had the bad habit of telling their parents no in a kind of a defiant tone of voice? Maybe they picked it up from the way the parents told them no, or maybe it was just the carnal nature coming out in them. The carnal nature is that nature that we inherited from Adam and Eve after they told God no we will do what we want not what you want. With each generation it was passed down to the next generation and will continue to be until there are no further generations.
While we can try to control it with outward resolve and disciplined behavior modifications, we can not get rid of the inherited urge within us to rebell that rages within our heart. The only way we can get rid of it is by becoming born again. We see this in Romans 7:1-8:27, and the main points being 7:5,6 & 8:5-11.
Jesus told Nicodemus that unless a man is born again, he can not see the kingdom of God. This is certainly a defining statement if a person is planning on going to heaven when they die. It is obvious that this is not a request on Jesus’ part, but rather a demand.
What is being born again, and how do we do it? Well, it all starts with asking Jesus to forgive us of our sins and to come into our heart. This is crucial in that we can’t find reconciliation with God without receiving the atonement of Jesus. This takes place by an act of our putting faith in the grace offered by Jesus’ atonement for us on Calvary’s cross. Next comes with the purifying us of our sins is the setting us free the the carnal nature that wants our will rather than God’s will in our life. A sure sign of a person being born again is a passion within them for God’s will to be done in their life. If the carnal nature remains, and that person continues to purposefully rebell from God they may have just become religious and not truly born again. A born again person will grieve when they not only have sinned (Christians sin, because of the weakness of our humanity), but when they purposefully sin. You see God will always respect or free will even when we are in heaven. God has committed himself to respecting our free will, so we will be able to love him as he loves us. So while God will set us free of our carnal nature, we can take it back any time we chose to do it.
Along with setting us free of our carnal nature and free from our obligation of our sinfulness (going to hell), our new birth will help us to become more Christ-like by filling us with the fruit of the Holy Spirit. This takes the image of God that we were all created in and begins to perfect it in ever increasing waves of glory (II Cor 3:18), until at last we go to be with Jesus in heaven where we come into full perfection like Jesus (I Cor 15:49). With each day we become more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, gentle, faithful and having more self-control than we had the day before.
The next blessing we get when we are born again is the second blessing or as some call it the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is where the Holy Spirit endows a person with power to serve Jesus helping the church to be all it needs to glorify Jesus. The Holy Spirit will give us abilities as he chooses for the good of the church. In I Cor 12 - 14 are listed many of the gifts, but I believe for every need the Holy Spirit will give someone the ability to fill that need. No one will have all the gifts, although a person can have several. Paul even uses a person’s body as an illustration of how in the body there are many parts and all are important.
If a person is not born again they will never accept the instruction of the Lord, because the spirit of rebellion (the carnal nature) is still motivating them to want their will rather than God’s. Only with the cleansing of our heart can our heart be laid up with God’s instruction and presence. But like with our salvation it is a matter of setting our free will in motion (faith) and asking God for it. Sometimes it is just the surrender of our heart that brings this about, and then other times we need to literally ask for it. The reason some people have to ask for it is they have not totally surrendered their heart to Jesus, other times it may be a matter of just not knowing about it or what to do. (Examples: Acts 2:1-13 & 10:44-48 & 19:1-7)
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for dying for us, so we could be forgiven and born again. Holy Spirit, thank you for coming into us to transform and empower us, so we could become more like Jesus and empowered to serve him and help the church be all we need to be for him. How we love you Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus and Holy Spirit!
