To anyone who does not understand what being born again is all about....,
I know a lot of people (including church attendees) don't understand the need or the reasons why we ALL need to be born again in order to see the Kingdom of Heaven (i.e. go to Heaven when we die) - but this is what Jesus said we MUST be. Let me explain.
I have friends who are RC (who also are members of our church - which is definitely not RC), who found out that they too needed to be "born-again". They had never heard this during their sojourn in the RC church. They received this revelation from reading John Ch. 3, where Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born-again in order to see the Kingdom of God, and to be adopted into the family of God.
In 1 Peter 1:22 we again find that this is a necessary event in the life of a believer.
From a theological perspective, the reason we must ALL be born again in order to see the Kingdom of Heaven starts back in Genesis 2:7, where Adam is first brought to life as a spiritual being when God breathed His Spirit into him. Then in Genesis 2:16-17 God gives the Adam and Eve the rule not to eat of the Tree of Good and Evil, else they will die (spiritually instantly and eventually physically).
In Genesis 3:6-8, as a result of disobedience, we see that Adam and Eve died spiritually at the instance of eating the forbidden fruit and started to die physically from that moment on.
Dying spiritually means being eternally separated from God and His Spirit - which is why Adam was straight away thrown out of the Garden of Eden (and Eve - by choice - followed him).
All this means that every man, woman and child of accountable age, born into this life is, as far as God is concerned, ALREADY eternally separated from Him (see John 3:18-19), and they need new spiritual life breathed into them (see John 20:19-22).
Being born again means having new spiritual life breathed back into you by God's Spirit, which happens when you follow the instructions in Romans 10:8-10:
"8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." [NKJV]
This is why we, in order to become spiritually alive to God again, need to be born again so that, according to 2 Cor 5:17:
...if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." [NKJV]
Note that only our "inner man" or "spirit being" is born again and becomes a new creation, our minds then need to be renewed (by us!) by reading, hearing and obeying the Word of God and our bodies need to be submitted to our spirit man and our renewed minds so that they do not fulfill the "lusts of the flesh" (= our old man's nature) - as it says in Romans 12:1-2:
"1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." [NKJV]
However, it does not stop there, because Jesus said that we need to receive "power from on high" - the baptism of the Holy Spirit - just like the first disciples did on Pentecost. (See my previous post further back on this blog.)
Being "born again and the receiving of "power from on high" are both received in the same way - by faith and by confession according to Romans 10:8-10. You just ask God to forgive your sins (the act of "missing the mark" as far as keeping God's laws), ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life, asking out loud by faith, then repeat the same process, asking God to baptize you in His Holy Spirit and give you this power from on high.
Hoping that this does not offend anyone, but leads you to a greater, deeper knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
John
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10 comments:
Hi John,
I cannot remember what night it was, but last week I had the dream. First, let me preface this by telling you we are heading north for a vacation this summer. We will be spending 1 week on a mountain top starting July 22. Then we were going to camp at Letchworth State park. Our plans were to take a day trip into Niagra Falls.
In my dream a very loud voice said, "Do not go to Niagra Falls." I asked why and then suddenly I was kind of hovering over Niagra Falls. I could specifically see the land between the US and Horseshoe Falls. Suddenly the land began to crumble and fall into the crevice. It was happening so rapidly I barely had enough time to look around. But all the surrounding land was falling into the same crevice. And then I noticed the bridge began to collapse. That's when I woke up.
A week ago today, I asked my sister if she's had any unusual dreams. We have had "interesting dreams in the past." Her response was immediate. She said she had the most unusual dream about Niagra Falls, crumbling and the bridge collapsing.
Of course, in the meantime, Wilma had posted her dream.
I'm still praying, but we have canceled our trip to Letchworth and Niagra. We'll be closer to Broome County from which I hail.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to email me: campsmore@gmail.com
Blessings and Shalom,
Lori
Boatman909 - John,
I found an interesting article today that I think makes the discussion that we had back some time ago regarding apostasia very clear.
Thought you might like to add it to your notes, if you haven't already.
http://www.pre-trib.org/article-view.php?id=165
Excuse me for putting this comment here, but I didn't know where to put it where you would see it right away.
Keep on keeping on.
John,
Thank you for the Church reference in Amsterdam. We are saying near amstel park at the novatel(sp?), as you've lived there is there anything you'd recommend as a must see? The hotel site said I could take the #4 tram from the airport, is it resonable to take a tram hauling luggage?
Again that you for all your help. We do plan on attending Sunday morn..
Have a blessed day..
Mike
John,
How about a teaching, on Joel's Blog, about the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and that it is a seperate experience after salvation? And how to receive, etc.
Pray about it, okay? And act as the Holy Spirit leads :)
May God continue to bless your comments at Joel's, too!
John,
I went back to Joel's, and saw where you had already covered my concern. PTL! However, you may also want to write something at Joel's. Pray about it, okay?
And thanks!
John,
I left a message, on my Blog for you :) I guess I should have left it here? Oh well.
And thanks!
John, I found something I wondered if you would enjoy reading. I know you have probably heard some of us talk about Bill Cloud before and it is his web site that I am directing you to. I have read this about 3 or 4 times and I just keep going back to read it again. I have had you on my heart lately and I know that God has done some mighty work in your area that you don't know about yet. Keep the prayers and praises going because He has heard and is moving.
Now back to Bill. This young man served with Perry Stone for a long time and is very dedicated to the study of God's word in depth just like you. He has great Hebrew knowledge and I can't recommend him enough. I don't know your age but this young man I would assume is about the same as you.
Give it a look see and let me know what you think of it. OK! Brother, you are a wonderful blessing to the body of Christ and I so enjoy and learn from your postings. I wanted you to know that and you have a permanent place in my prayer life. I pray for you as the Thessalonian believers prayed for Paul.
http://billcloud.com/Winternews.pdf
Hope you enjoy this site as much as I do.
Your sister in Christ,
Wilma
John, that you for all the teaching you have provided on Joel's blog.
I am defiantly born again, but I've always felt like I'm missing something. I've certainly read of the gifts of the Holy Spirit but haven't ever experienced speaking in tongues, prophecy, etc. and it makes me feel.. well incomplete in my walk with the Lord.
I read the Word daily (ok almost daily) and have given my life to the Lord, but I struggle with faith as I'm constantly reminding myself that I don't even have the faith of a mustard seed, as I haven't been able to throw any mountains into the sea(ha). Tell me when you received the gift of tongues did it strengthen you faith?
Did the gift of tongues just come upon you, any help our suggestions you might have I'd appreciate.
Maranatha
Mike
John
Thank you for your response on Joel's blog to my question about blaspheming (sp?) the Holy Spirit. I guess I've only ever heard the short-version explanation because yours made perfect sense. And you are absolutely right about scripture explaining itself. Believe it or not, I'm only just now discovering that after over 5 1/2 years!
You had mentioned in a comment on my blog last month about praying in tongues. At the time, I wasn't hearing much from the Holy Spirit (I moved, God didn't), but when I started hearing from the Spirit again, I prayed about it.
I'm hearing from the Spirit more than ever, but don't seem to be getting a clear answer. I have to say that I've had very little experience with tongues. It's not spoken of at the church (Baptist) I go to. And way back when, when I was a child, I wasn't exposed to it either (Methodist church). I have, though, been exposed to it twice.
When I visit my friends on the opposite coast, I go to their church, and someone there speaks in tongues. In fact, the second time, she was singing in tongues and translating.
I don't know if the Spirit is trying to let me know the time isn't right or if my mind is somehow shying away from the idea.
I'm interested in knowing more, in either case.
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John,
I to have been very busy lately, and rarly get a chance to check the blogs on the weekends. This week is busy as well with bible studies Monday and Wednesday, my daughters surgery (removing a halo from her leg after bone surgery in July),on tuesday and her birthday on thursday.
I say this because I might not respond quickly but am still very interested as I see Angie is as well. I hope your week is fruitful..
thanks Mike
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