YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN |
One day
Jesus Christ said to a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the
Jews: “You must be born again” (John 3:7 - NKJV). Therefore, the new birth is
absolutely necessary according to Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came down
from heaven to speak to us what His Father had commanded Him to say. But why
is it necessary? Because, as Jesus had said to Nicodemus just a few moments
before: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter
into the |
Now let me
tell you how a man can experience the new birth in his own life. But in order
to explain it to you adequately, I first of all need to tell you something
about Adam, the first man, for it was through him that sin entered into the
world and when we speak about the new birth we need to speak about sin. |
Now, after
God created man He put him in the Garden of Eden and commanded him not to eat
from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil lest he would die, as God
told him: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not
eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”
(Genesis 2:17). However, Adam disobeyed God, and in that same day he died,
not physically but spiritually. And through him sin entered into the world
and passed upon all men, as it is written: “Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men,
for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). Therefore, all have sinned and are
spiritually dead as was Adam after he sinned (Romans |
Therefore,
since you are in this spiritual condition, you need to be quickened, that is,
to experience a spiritual resurrection which will bring to you spiritual life
and thus will bring you into fellowship with God. In other words, you need to
be born again. |
Here is
what you must do to be born again. You must repent of your sins, that is, you
must repent of your iniquities and forsake them, and believe with all your
heart that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross for our sins, that
He was buried, and that He rose again the third day for our justification,
and He appeared to the witnesses whom God had already chosen, that is, the
apostles (Acts 10:38-43; 20:21). In other words, you must believe the Gospel
of God (1 Corinthians 15:1-5), that is, the Good News that God so loved the
world that He sent His only begotten Son to be the propitiation for our sins
that we might live through Him (1 John 4:9-10). In the very moment you do
these things, you will experience a new birth and thus you will become a new
creature (2 Corinthians |
You will
be born again by the power of the Word of God (James |
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How you must conduct yourself after the new birth |
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After you have
experienced the new birth, since the Holy Spirit will bear witness with your
spirit that you are a child of God washed in the precious blood of Jesus, you
must be baptized in water because Jesus, before He was received up into
heaven, commanded to baptize those who believe in Him, as He said: “Go ye
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19). You must undergo
water baptism in order to have a good conscience toward God, for the apostle
Peter says that baptism is “an appeal to God for a good conscience” (1 Peter |
Water
baptism is therefore an act through which a believer declares that he died to
sin and to the world. Therefore look for a community of believers in Jesus
Christ immediately, and ask the pastor or the elders of that community to
baptize you (Acts |
Of course,
your new birth will be noticed by your parents, by your wife or husband, by
your sons, and by all those who know you. What should be your attitude toward
them? Tell them what happened to you, that is, how the Lord had mercy on you
forgiving your sins and how He begot you again unto new life (Luke |
That means
you must abstain from every fleshly and worldly lusts of which you were slave
before your new birth. Stop killing, sinning against nature, fornicating,
committing adultery, being effeminate, robbing, blaspheming, saying lies and
bad words, loving money, being arrogant, haughty, impolite, violent,
quick-tempered, stop wearing expensive clothes as well as tight and
provocative clothes - If you are a man stop wearing shorts and putting
yourself bare-chested in the presence of others - stop watching television, listening
to worldly music, going to dance, going to bar to play cards or wasting time
in some other ways, stop going to football, soccer, basketball, baseball and
boxing matches, going to the beach or to the swimming pool to get tanned and
to amuse yourself. - If you are a woman stop wearing trousers, miniskirts,
low-necked dresses, transparent dresses, tight dresses, expensive clothing,
necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings (1 Timothy 2:9-10), and stop wearing
make-up. In other words, whoever you are, you must abstain from every form of
evil (Titus |
You may
ask why you must abstain even from many things which are not considered any
longer evil things: well, the reason is because through the new birth one
becomes the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:18-20), that is, his body
becomes the spiritual house where God dwells, and since God is holy he must
offer the parts of his body in slavery to righteousness and holiness, and not
in slavery to impurity and vanity (Romans 6:12-23), and he must control his
own body in a way that is holy and honourable (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5). And
those things the world says you can do, are perverse
things in the sight of God. He doesn’t like them and because of these things
cometh the wrath of God from heaven. |
Be zealous
for good works, help those who are in need especially those who are of the
household of faith (Galatians 6:10), orphans, widows and the poor among the
saints; support materially the pastor and the elders who teach you the Word
of God, they are worthy of your support (Galatians 6:6; 1 Corinthians
9:7-11,14; 1 Timothy 5:17-18); read the Holy Scripture and meditate on it (2 Timothy
3:14-17), pray continually to God in the name of Jesus Christ giving thanks
to Him in everything (Colossians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:18) but pray in faith
and wait patiently for His answer. Pray for your brothers and sisters, that
their love may abound more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that
they may walk worthy of the Lord (Philippians 1:8-11; Colossians 1:9-12); and
pray also for sinners, that they may be saved (Romans 10:1 and 1 Timothy
2:1-7). Pray to God for the governing authorities, that He may keep, help and
bless them (1 Timothy 2:1-2). |
Ask God to
give you wisdom ( James 1:5-8), in order to walk in
wisdom; the baptism with the Holy Spirit, through which the believer is
endued with power from on high (Matthew 7:7; Luke |
Proclaim
the Gospel to all men: Roman Catholics, Jews, Hindu people, Buddhists, Muslims,
Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons etc.; tell them about the grace of God which is
in Christ Jesus. |
Finally,
remember that Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, who did not commit any sin and
who sought only the good of the people, was hated by the world; therefore do
not marvel if those belonging to this world will hate you and persecute you
once you have passed from death unto life (John 15:18-25; 1 John 3:13-14). |
Suffer
your afflictions as Jesus Christ suffered His own afflictions; and rejoice
that you are counted worthy to suffer shame for His Holy Name, which is
blessed for ever (Matthew 5:11-12; Acts 5:40:41). Stand fast in the faith
unto death and you will receive the crown of life. |