"Born Again" Series - Part 1

I am going to do a few series on the topics on "Spiritual Rebirth". I think being born again are taken too lightly by surprisingly too many Christians. From my own experience, many Christians actually misunderstood about the topic. Many people including myself (in the past) are not exactly sure what does it mean to be "born again", what initiated it, how does it feel, and how do we know.

I used to think that by saying the "Sinners' Prayer" and accepting Jesus into our lives as our Personal Saviour means that we have been "born again". Boy was I wrong! And I praise God and never stop thanking God that He taught me about "Spiritual Rebirth" before it is too late for me (aka. before I die).

Take note of this : NOTHING, NO ONE, NO DEEDS, CAN INITIATE OR SPEED UP THE SPIRITUAL REBIRTH. It is up to us individually to be willing, THEN God will let you be reborn according to His own perfect timing.

If you are not sure whether you have been reborn or why you should care about this at all, you must READ ON.

WHY MUST WE BE BORN AGAIN?

Read John 3:1-21

Imagine yourselves, went to Theology College, served in the Church faithfully, know the Bible by heart, but you end up perishing on Judgment Day. It will be sad to see those who are "hardworking" Christians but missed the critical message from Jesus.

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.            John 3:5

Do you realise and understand fully the above verse? Do you get the important, crucial message? NO ONE CAN ENTER HEAVEN IF THEY ARE NOT BORN AGAIN. Does it sound scary? YES! Very! Does that mean there will be a lot of "Christians" cannot enter the Heaven while they thought they already saved? YES!

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from         Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

        Matthew 7:21-23

What is God's will for us? Read my previous devotionals "I never knew you". The 2 verses from Matthew 7 and John 3 are not at all contradicting each other on how do we get to Heaven. In contrary, they are interlinked. The 3 steps I mentioned in "I never knew you" post are REPENT, FISH FOR PEOPLE, PRACTICE&TEACH. The Spiritual rebirth will happen at different time with different people. But I believe that generally, the Spiritual rebirth will happen in the midst of the 3 steps.

Steven J Cole (Pastor of Flagstaff Christian Fellowship) wrote the following:

"The main reason you need the new birth is so that you can see and enter God's eternal kingdom and avoid His judgement (3:3,5). Without the new birth, you're spiritually dead and cut off from God. If you die without the new birth, you will perish (3:16, 36). ... You need the new birth so that you can understand and respond to spiritual truth."

I can't agree more with him. The spiritual birth, will not only assure our eternal life in Heaven, but while we are on earth, the Holy Spirit opens up our spiritual eyes to see and understand God's law. After the spiritual rebirth, the words that you read from your Bible will somehow strike your heart at a level so deep like never before in your life. Because you finally can understand it fully and you can finally see it happening in your life. 

In conclusion, you need to be born again to enter the Kingdom of God. I think the reason why God use this as a criteria to enter the Heaven is because God does not want humans to be tempted to say that they enter the Heaven because of their good deeds, or because they can speak in tounges, or because they can heal the sick or cast out demon. The spiritual rebirth which is the only "door" to Heaven is given by God purely by His grace. There is no pastors or church leaders that can pray for you to receive the spiritual rebirth to happen right there and then. It is all up to God. 

Therefore, be always humble, never think highly of yourself if you know how to speak in tongues, or if you are active in Church. If you actually think highly of yourself and feeling prideful over your spiritual achievements, most likely you are not born-again Christians. Born again Christians have qualities that are very distinct. Which we will discuss in the next post. 

Let's Pray

Dear Lord, I want to thank you for the Bible that we can know You better. I want to thank you for the Holy Spirit that we can know you personally. Now I want to ask you Lord, if you are willing, that You will allow me to be a new creation for You. I am willing to follow You, I am willing to let go my worldly desires and materials. I want to take up Your cross instead. Why? Because I love You. I want to be with You, I want to be used by You. My soul and spirit is not mine to control anymore, I want You to take over my life. Train me, mould me, teach me until You will find me worthy to enter Your Heavenly Kingdom. I can't wait for You to fetch me home. Lord, I surrender to You! In Jesus Name I pray. Amen!


Acknowledgement :
https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-15-why-you-need-new-birth-john-36-13