“You must be born again.” —John 3:7
“The answer to Nicodemus’ question, “How can a man be born
when he is old?” is: Only when he is willing to die to everything in his life,
including his rights, his virtues, and his religion, and becomes willing to
receive into himself a new life that he has never before experienced (John
3:4). [..,] Is my knowledge of Jesus the result of my own internal spiritual
perception, or is it only what I have learned through listening to others? […] Am I seeking only for the evidence of
God’s kingdom, or am I actually recognizing His absolute sovereign control? […]
Am I seeking to stop sinning or have I actually stopped? To be born of God
means that I have His supernatural power to stop sinning. […] 1 John 3:9 does
not mean that we cannot sin— it simply means that if we will obey the life of
God in us, that we do not have to sin.” CHAMBERS
(1 John 3:9-10) “No one who is born of God will continue
to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because
they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and
who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not
God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.”
Anyone can claim to be a Christian. Anyone can think they are a Christian. But the
proof is in the life they live. One of
the hallmarks of true conversion is an insatiable hunger for the Word and spiritual
things. The new birth creates a hunger
for spiritual things. But, if you leave
a baby alone, without care, it will suffer.
The baby cannot feed itself. And
if it does find something to eat, it may not be healthy. I have known too many people who have started
well, but turned back to the world. JeYou
may know someone like that, who prayed to receive Christ, maybe was baptized,
and today there is not even the slightest indication that they are a Christian.
So today, someone would never guess that
they were people of faith. Their faith
has been buried under a pile of bad life choices and unfulfilled dreams. They have forsaken the One who saved
them. Some might question whether they
were ever born again. That is a fair
question. That is something between them
and the One who saves. So what do we do?
Do not judge, but encourage, pray, let them see Jesus in you by being faithful
to the Lord yourself .. don’t nag, and most of all love them, just like God
loves you. ELGIN
(1 Corinthians 13: 4-8) “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not
envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not
self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does
not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always
trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
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