| Ye Must Be Born-Again George Poulo 11/29/06 Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh My salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved. Ps62:1-2 Jesus tells Nicodemus in John chapter three, "Ye must be born-again". Why does a ruler of the Jews, someone steeped in religion and the law, need to be born-again? The answer to that question lies in the fact that we cannot save ourselves. We cannot keep the law perfectly or love perfectly or walk in uprightness of heart. If righteousness were in keeping the law then grace would no more be grace and our faith made void. God has concluded all under sin that he might be merciful to all. The law entered that the offence might abound. By the law is the knowledge of sin and the awareness of sin brings with it condemnation...but we are saved by grace through faith. What that means is that it is God that saves us by Christ shedding his blood on the cross and our faith and confession of that act of righteousness. Faith tells us to wait on God. The law tells us to either trust in our own powers and ability or live in condemnation. Faith leads to life. The law leads to death. It is not by works of righteousness that we have done but according to his mercy he saved us (Titus3:5) and so long as we think that we can save ourselves we do not please God but elevate ourselves, because without faith it is impossible to please God. "Ye must be born-again� means that only the blood of Christ has the power to remit sin and without the remission of sin we cannot enter the presence of a holy God because, like oil and water, sin and God do not mix. If you wish to be born-again tell God you are powerless to save yourself. Tell him that your sin separates you from Him a holy God and that Jesus shed his blood that he might bring you to Him, and that from this point on, Jesus will be Savior and Lord of your life. The law made nothing perfect but Jesus does. If you said this from your heart then wait on God, for from God comes your salvation. To confess and believe, to wait and expect, to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things is the love that never fails. What does it mean, "ye must be born again"? It means corruption cannot inherit incorruption. We are born of corruptible seed. We must be born-again of incorruptible seed. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. Unless we are born of water and the Spirit and unless we are washed in regeneration by the blood of Christ and renewed by the Holy Spirit, we will not enter through heaven�s gate. To be born-again means that the Holy Spirit has been planted in our spirit as a seed and our sin nature has been circumcised by the blood of Christ. Then the task is to work out what God has worked in. We become justified in God's saving us by living a life of faith working by love. If we do this we will become useful to God and beneficial to the church. Be born-again, not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to the mercy of God. Amen. |
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