Joh 3:3-7 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (4) Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (5) Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (6) That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (7) Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
George Whitefield, the famour evangelist of the 1700’s, was once asked why he spoke so often said in his sermons, “you must be born again.” His answer was this: “Because, Sir, you must be born again.”
And this is what I want to remind all of us about in this article. YOU must be born again. This is the absolute indispensible. Without being born again, apart from being made a new creation in Christ through faith alone in Christ alone, none of us will ever see Christ in His Kingdom. We will never stand justified before Him. We will never know Him, love Him, or be loved by Him. Unless we are born again we do not belong to His flock, we cannot and will not hear His voice, and we will wander around in spiritual and eternal darkness.
This is a very dangerous thing to take for granted. You must be born again. Are you? Many people I have known for years, people who are church members, people who sit in the pews each week, many who preach and teach in their church….are still dead in their sins. Over time, you can see it. You can see the zero growth in their hearts. You can hear the very same delusions from their mouths that by now they should know are lies….IF they were born again.
Rom 8:9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
I probably take it for granted too often that the abuse victims I talk with really are born again. I still believe the majority of them are – they have been abused by the wicked because they really do belong to Christ. BUT…get this:
1Co 13:1-3 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (2) And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (3) If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Even if I deliver up my body to be burned… Do you see it? Someone can suffer and be very religious, and still not know Christ.
One of the things we should be seeing in one another is growth. Growth in Christ. The fruit of the Spirit being progressively evidenced in us. Now, coming out of and healing from the effects of deep evil like domestic abuse is not a quick cure, overnight event. And in NO way do I want to be misunderstood here and wrongly guilt anyone. We’ve all had more than enough of that ugly business. But what I do want to say is that as time rolls by, a Christian, the real article, someone who has been born again and therefore who is indwelt by the Spirit of Christ, IS going to evidence increasingly the fruit of the Spirit. They are going to find healing and joy and peace. Check it out:
Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
So what I want to do is remind us all. You must be born again. Do not be deceived by some detour. There are many “cures” out there offering to fix you. Some are helpful, but many are not and any that do not include the new birth in Christ are in fact built on a faulty foundation that will inevitable crumble.
You must be born again. Are you? If you have any doubts, it is time to run to Christ and be honest with Him. And in doing so you can be confident of this:
Rom 10:13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”