I hope you all realize the truth and know that your first birth wasn’t up to much. I’m sure your parents rejoiced and everyone thought you were a beautiful baby, but you were born with a sinful and selfish nature, your live from the moment you were born is totally centred on your self and your needs. You do not give mum a break, you do not give anyone a break, you want what you want and you scream until you get it.
We are not acceptable to God in that natural, sinful state. It’s a selfish and unholy state and we were born that way. And I hope you all know that there is nothing you can do, no action you can perform that can tidy up this old selfish nature. It would be like putting a bandaid on a missing limb. It just isn’t enough. Your best work is like a filthy stained rag to God!
There is only one way out of this dilemma, and Jesus told us what it was so clearly and succinctly: I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God (John 3.3). You must be born again because the first birth was not good enough! You were born with the wrong nature, and now you must be born again to get the new nature! If you think there is a way around this, read what Jesus said next: The Spirit gives live, the flesh counts for nothing (John 6.63)., WIthout the new birth, you cannot even SEE God’s Kingdom, let alone live in it!
The new birth is not achieved by any ritual or ceremony, it is only achieved when a person puts all their faith in Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross taking their old nature and the penalty for all their sin. It was only through the Lamb of God taking our sin and selfishness on Himself on the cross that sin and selfishness and our old nature can be dealt with. When someone believes that, then they are born again, and their new live is one that in their spirit is marked only with righteousness, glory, power and life. Your newborn spirit is now perfect – or to again quote Jesus: the flesh gives birth to flesh, but spirit gives birth to spirit – you should not be surprised when I said you must be born again (John 3.6-7).
If you are reading this and you are a Christian, I have good news for you – you are born again. You can now not just see the Kingdom, you are part of it. Your old nature no longer dominates or controls you, you can live in the Kingdom of God and live a life that glorifies our King! You have new life, new freedom and are totally right in God’s sight. What you could never have done by any work, you just did by believing in God’s grace on the cross!
If you are not born again, believe in what Jesus did on the cross, and be born again. If you are born again, ask the Lord to show you how to live in the light of your brand new spiritual nature. That’s your real identity now. That’s who you are in Christ – as righteous as Christ, as holy as Christ, as anointed as the Anointed One. What a deal, and it was all by grace!
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