The New Birth

THE DAILY WORD
By Jim Seekamp

Monday June 15, 2009

Many Christians believe that the reason we are "saved" is that our sins were forgiven!!
That could not be Biblically true, since you could then go to Heaven without being born again!!

Jesus said we MUST be born again:

John 3:3 (NIV)
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, NO ONE can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. "

Paul tells us that everyone who is in Christ is a "new creation":

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

The apostle John also confirms that we are "born of God" (born again):

1 John 5:1 (NIV)
1. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is BORN OF GOD, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.

The REASON our sins are forgiven is that we have been BORN AGAIN!!!

So what is this "born again" experience that Jesus said we MUST have to enter the Kingdom Of God?
It happens at the moment we are "saved":

Titus 3:5 (NIV)
He SAVED us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He SAVED us through the washing of REBIRTH and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

According to this passage of scripture, we were SAVED by "the washing of REBIRTH and renewal by the Holy Spirit"!! According to this verse, that happens when we get "SAVED"!

Once again, HOW did we get saved??

Romans 10:9,10 (NIV)
9. 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. 10. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

The Gospel that Paul received, and the way to receive salvation through that Gospel, are crystal clear. But it is such a simple message that many have tried to complicate it over the years. The Gospel comes across as "foolishness" to many, because there is no way to earn it!

1 Corinthians 1:18-23 (NIV)
18. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."
20. Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21. For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
22. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23. but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles

The message of salvation is simple: believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, and confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord", and you will be saved. Period.

New Testament salvation is "APART FROM LAW":

Romans 3:21-24 (NIV)
21. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23. for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24. and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

We are saved because we are born again, and now have the nature of God in our born again human spirits, thereby allowing us access into God's Presence!!

Our salvation is now a FAMILY INHERITANCE!! We have it because to God we are FAMILY!!! When we got saved, we were rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the Kingdom Of God:

Colossians 1:12-14 (NIV)
12. giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the INHERITANCE of the saints in the kingdom of light.
13. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14. in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Notice that verse 14 tells us that, in Christ, we have REDEMPTION, the "forgiveness of sins"!! But we would not HAVE that forgiveness of sins if we did not get born again!!

But the reason we are saved is that we have switched allegiance from satan's dominion of darkness to God's Kingdom Of Light! When a football team wins, is the guy who sat on the bench all game still on the winning team?? Of course he is!! He was a victor because he was ON THE WINNING TEAM!!!

Jesus Christ did all the work of "winning the game", and as Christians, we are only reaping the spoils of His victory!! We are saved because we were born into the Kingdom Of God, and became His children when we got saved!!

When we were born again, we received the Spirit of SONSHIP:

Romans 8:15,16 (NIV)
15. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." 16. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.

Galatians 4:4-7 (NIV)
4. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5. to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of SONS. 6. BECAUSE you are SONS, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." 7. So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

1 John 3:1 (NIV)
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Ephesians 1:13,14 (NIV)
13. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having BELIEVED, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14. who is a deposit guaranteeing our INHERITANCE until the redemption of those who are God's possession-- to the praise of his glory.

As believers we have now become CHILDREN OF GOD!! We are in the FAMILY OF GOD!! It is our rebirth into God's family that saves us!!

PRAYER
Thank You Father for Your Word, that tells of Your plan of salvation. Help me to communicate the true Gospel in love; not ashamed of it's simplicity.
In Jesus' Name, Amen

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