You Must be Born Again



I recently heard a disturbing statistic. The late Dr. Billy Graham said that he thinks 95% of the people who came forward in his evangelistic campaigns were never really saved. The reason he said this is because of the continuing moral decline in our country despite high numbers of people who openly confessed Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Jesus uttered the following disturbing words:
  • “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’  Matt 7:21-23
It isn’t enough to just utter the words “Jesus is Lord”. If Jesus really is Lord of our lives, then we will do the things He says. We will obey His commandments. Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that we must earn our way to Heaven by doing good works. All the good works we have ever done are not enough to make up for our sin. The only way we can be saved is to be born again, to be made a new person, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
  • Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  John 3:1-3
Nicodemus was a very religious man. He tried hard to keep the law of God and depended on his keeping of the law as his salvation. But Jesus said that wasn’t good enough. He needed to be born again by putting his faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
  • “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  John 3:16-18
Jesus died to pay the penalty for your sins and mine. He was the only one who was qualified to die for our sins because He himself was without sin.

  • For our sake he made him be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

When Jesus went to the cross, he took all the sins of the world upon himself. He literally became sin for us. Then God punished him in our place. Jesus suffered horribly and died a horrible, shameful death for our sakes. On the third day, God raised him from the dead. God was satisfied by the willing sacrifice of his son. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead gives a new life, an eternal life, to all who believe that Jesus' death was enough to pay for their sins. Jesus did all the work. All that is left for us is to believe and receive the free gift of salvation. As an old favorite hymn of mine says:

“Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe, Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.” Jesus Paid it All by Elvina M. Hall (1865).
  • Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17
Back to the subject of being born again. The verse I just read says that if we are “in Christ”, we are a new creation. The old has gone the new has come. Are you a new creation? Are you born again by the power of the Holy Spirit as you put your faith in Christ alone? Or are you the same person you have always been?

Maybe you have prayed a prayer. Maybe you have been baptized. Maybe you have gone to church and tried to live a holy life in your own strength. Maybe you have fooled others, but in your own heart, you know you have never had a life-transforming experience which we call being born again. Pray that God does the work that only He can do. Pray that He will give you a new spirit and a new heart.
  • And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.  Ezekiel 11: 19-20
The result of God giving us a new heart is that we will walk in His statutes and obey His laws. We are not saved BY obedience to God’s law. We are saved UNTO obedience. Only you know what is going on inside your heart. If the Spirit of God is prompting you to silently pray for salvation, for the forgiveness of your sin, for a new heart and a new birth so that you will become a new creation. Don’t resist His prompting. Receive His free gift right now.

Image Source: http://www.larrygrabill.com/truth/uncategorized/spiritual-metamorphosis/ 

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