12.3.9 "Born Again"

"Born Again"

Daniel 11:1-34
I John 3:7-24
Psalm 122:1-9
Proverbs 29:1

"Oh, dear children, don't let anyone deceive you about this: if you are constantly doing what is good, it is because you are good, even as he is. But if you keep on sinning, it shows that you belong to Satan, who since he first began to sin has kept steadily at it. But the Son of God came to destroy these works of the devil. The person who has been born into God's family does not make a practice of sinning, because now God's life is in him; so he can't keep on sinning, for this new life has been born into him and controls him - he has been born again. So now we can tell who is a child of God and who belongs to Satan. Whoever is living a life of sin and doesn't love his brother shows that he is not in God's family; for the message to us from the beginning has been that we should love one another." I John 3:7-11

When I was a kid my mom worked at a store that did "iron-ons" for t-shirts. I got one that said "Born Again". It had a sunset on it... I was so cool! I felt like i was super Christian!

What does it mean to be "born again"? To often I fear that I have had the mentality that "getting saved" is like a check mark on a to-do list, and that is what it means to be born again. That the goal of everyone should be to say the sinners prayer, and that's it. We have to be very careful about that line of thinking. In essence we become a Christian so we can wear the t-shirt.

What is the purpose of the sinner's prayer? It's to restore man's relationship to God, right? Imagine that you and I were in broken relationship for say, 10 years. One day, I make a phone call to you and say, "I'm so sorry we've been so distant, I'm sorry for what separated us, let's restore our relationship," and that's it. Another 10 years go by, and not a whole lot more contact. Would you consider that a restored relationship?

There needs to be an understanding in me as a believer that the final goal of my life is not to just "be saved", it's "to be in right relationship with God." This is a process of life transformation, not a mere check-mark on a to-do list.

I want to make sure that we're careful in discussing this. There is errant theology that can take this thought process too far. It says, "Saying the sinner's prayer isn't enough. You're not really saved unless you..." That is not what I'm saying at all. To be Born Again means your born into "new life". It involves living it out. It's important that we look at the balance of scripture in dealing with our relationship with Christ.

What I'm saying is this: I MUST be PROGRESSING in my Relationship with the Lord. I am a disciple of Christ. This process of continual transformation needs to be happening in my life. To show no progress in becoming closer to him, is as dangerous as living in sin.

The "good life" is the fruit of a Godly life. It's not the good works that make us Godly, but the result of a godly life is goodness.

verse 14-15 says, "If we love other Christians it proves that we have been delivered from hell and given eternal life. But a person who doesn't have love for others is headed for eternal death. Anyone who hates his Christian brother is really a murderer at heart; and you know that no one wanting to murder has eternal life within. We know what real love is from Christ's example in dying for us. And so we also ought to lay down our lives for our Christian brothers."

Based on that portion of scripture, how important is unity to God? I was actually laughing about the first part of verse 14. "if we love other Christians it proves we have been delivered from hell" could be interpreted as, "some of them are so hard to love, you GOT to be saved to do it!" True or not, we MUST progress in this area.

When we get under pressure and under stress we can so easily forget the "love" factor. Remember I Cor 13. "Without love I am a resounding gong". Without love it is all meaningless.

Verse 17 says, "But if someone who is supposed to be a Christian has money enough to live well, and sees a brother in need, and won't help him - how can God's love be within him?" Our relationship with Christ is manifest in our concern for one another.

So, what does it mean to be "Born Again"? verse 23 says, "And this is what God says we must do: Believe on the name of his son Jesus Christ, and love one another." Guess what? I'm not done. You're not done. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts, to purify our motives, to cleanse us, to help us to know God more. The fruit of that will be Daniel 11:32, "But the people who know their God shall be strong and do great things."

Be Born Again today.


Through the Power of the Spirit,
Live the DREAM!

P Greg


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