Monday, June 27, 2016

You Must Be BORN AGAIN Not Just Believe





 It is not enough just to believe in Jesus Christ to have salvation. We have to be BORN AGAIN. Most people do not understand this. They do not understand what it means to be born again. They think that you only need to believe. They read the Bible without understanding.

I want to explain to you from the Scriptures what Jesus meant by being BORN AGAIN. I read from John 3:1

"Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 3Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

This pharisee came to Jesus. He expected the Messiah to come. He knew the scriptures well but he did not believe that Jesus was He. He did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah whom they expected and therefor he came to Him at night and he inquired of Jesus: How is it that this teacher, Jesus Christ, can do all these miracles? So he had to be from God. He came to Him because he could not understand this. Jesus replied to him that he needed to be BORN AGAIN before he could understand this, before he could understand the kingdom of God.

Verse 4 "Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7“Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8“The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

      9Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?

Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus was talking about, he did not believe that Jesus was indeed Messiah that they were expecting, God in the Flesh. And so Jesus goes on and He says to him: Verse 11

“Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. 12“If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13“No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. 14“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life."

Nicodemus did not believe that Jesus was God. He just believed that He was a teacher. Most professing Christians do not believe that Jesus is God. They just believe that He is the Son of God. They do not obey Him, they do not take Him seriously and because they do not believe in Him they are not born again. They are not renewed inside because they do not understand that they are talking to God. They just think that Jesus is a messenger, they do not believe and therefor they do not see the kingdom of God.

I read from verse 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20“For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21“But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Those who believe in Jesus, who believe that He is indeed God, they OBEY Him. They COME to Him, they LISTEN to Him and they ACCEPT Him. They DO what He commands because they BELIEVE that He is indeed God Almighty. They REPENT of their sins and they accept Him. They accept Him as their Master, as their God, as their King, as their Ruler and they submit to Him. They invite Him into their lives and they commit to follow Him, MEANING it, because they BELIEVE that He is indeed their Savior. Therefor they OBEY Him and He comes into their heart, He changes them. They are transformed, they are born again and IMMEDIATELY  they have the desire to please Him.

Jesus commanded that we be BAPTIZED IN WATER. He Himself was baptized in water. We have to be BORN OF WATER and of the SPIRIT OF GOD.

After Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit descended on Him. Jesus Christ promised the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, His own Spirit  to come and dwell in those who accept Him, those who believe in Him, who obey Him, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ will indwell them. That Holy Spirit was given on the day of Pentecost. Those who believed and who were baptized in water, those who truly accepted Jesus Christ were born again of water and then of the Spirit of God.

The Spirit of God descended on them. They were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2). The Spirit of Christ came and dwelled in them as Jesus promised. He said in John 14: "The one who obeys My commands is the one who loves Me and Me and My father will come and dwell with him." The Spirit of God will come and dwell in you. You will be born again of WATER, through water baptism, and of the Spirit of God, through the Holy Spirit that will come on you. You will be baptized in the Holy Spirit and if you stay with Jesus, IF you CONTINUE with Him, submit yourself to Him, the  Holy Spirit will dwell in you. He will guide you and He will teach you. Without the Holy Spirit we cannot enter the kingdom of God. The Spirit of Truth was promised to every one who is born again of water and of the Spirit of God, to teach us and to guide us into the perfect will of God.

Without the Holy Spirit we cannot see , understand, nor enter the kingdom of God. Without the Holy Spirit we cannot see the kingdom of God, we cannot serve the kingdom of God, we cannot follow Jesus Christ.

You need to be born again of water and of the Spirit of God AFTER believing Jesus Christ, ACCEPTING Him and COMMITTING to serve Him as your Lord and your Master.

Have you been born again? Have you been made NEW INSIDE? Are you a child of God? have you received the Holy Spirit, like the first followers did? They spoke in tongues and thereafter they were lead by the Holy Spirit. They did not become Pharisees and Bible teachers, they were lead by the Spirit of God and they taught others to follow Jesus Christ, to also be born again and be lead by the Spirit of God.

"Those who are lead by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Romans 8:14) Are you a son of God? Are you BORN AGAIN?

May Jesus bless you.

No comments:

Post a Comment