New Birth
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IT'S A GIFT!



JOHN 3:6&7
Flesh gives birth to flesh but Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, "You must be born again."

Now, obviously, if you are reading this, you have already experienced the first birth...the natural birth. Flesh gave birth to flesh which gained you entrance into the natural world. But Jesus was speaking here of another birth...a spiritual birth that one must experience in order to gain access into the Kingdom of God which is a spiritual kingdom.

JOHN 3:3
Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he (or she) is born again.(in other words: born from above)

An interesting point is that Jesus said this to a high ranking, devout religious leader of his time thereby revealing that religion -of itself- does not give us entrance into the Kingdom of God.

Just as we entered this world by being born into it (the natural birth), likewise, to enter the Kingdom of God we must be born into it (the spiritual birth). Although we had no choice concerning the matter of our first birth, it is most certainly up to us to make the choice to be born again.

JOHN 4:24 states:
God is a spirit...

God is the Spirit that gives birth to spirit (John 3:6). To have the spirit of God born within you is what it means to be born again.

This spiritual birth brings us into God's family as sons and daughters, giving us access to HIM as our heavenly Father. This new birth is a gift made available to us by the grace of God through the perfect obedience of His son Jesus the Christ (Messiah). This gift is received by us through faith.

EPHESIANS 2:8&9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.

Grace means undeserved or unearned kindness. Through our faith in what Jesus Christ did for us we receive this grace...this FREE gift. We cannot save ourselves for if we could have, then that would mean that Christ died in vain.(Galatians 2:21) But he did not die in vain. He, by faith, took on our identity and in our place carried our sin and suffered it's consequences for us (death being the final consequence of sin), so that we, through faith in what he did for us would identify with him and become partakers of his righteousness and experience it's benefits. A very uneven exchange indeed but that is why we love him so!

2 CORINTHIANS 5:21
For God made Jesus to be sin for us, one who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

This gift of righteousness gives us a right standing before God. It is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. We are thereby justified freely by this grace. (Romans 3:22&24)

To be justified means to be made innocent before God. This righteous standing before God is a gift received through faith. (Romans 5:17)

ROMANS 3:23
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

ROMANS 6:23
...the wages of sin is death (see Revelation 20:11-15) but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Messiah)

JOHN 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that WHOSOEVER believes in him would not perish but obtain everlasting life.

God is merciful. He had compassion on our hopeless condition. We were all lost, "sold down the river" by Adam (see Romans 5:15-19). Originally, God had made Adam the ruler over all of His creation on earth. (Genesis 1:28) But Adam handed that rulership over to satan (Luke 4:5-7) who is now called the "god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:3&4). All who have been born into this world since Adam handed it's rulership over are now in satan's domain and subject to his rule. But God, in His great compassion for us, sent His Son-the Sinless One-to do what only He could do, redeem us from the slavery we were sold into. Christ saved us from this cursed world and it's ruler by offering himself up as the Lamb without blemish. The one and only sacrifice for sin. The Prophet Isaiah foretold this when he said that God would lay upon him (the Messiah) the sin of us all. (see Isaiah 53:4-6)

1 CORINTHIANS 15:22 says:
...as in Adam (the natural birth) all die, so in Christ (the spiritual birth) will all be made alive.

Jesus, by His resurrection from the dead, His ascension into heaven, and His seating at God's right hand, has opened up the door to a new realm...the Kingdom of God. And all those who put their faith in the power of God that raised Jesus from the dead will, by that same power, be themselves lifted. (see 1 Corinthians 6:14, and 2 Corinthians 4:14)

ROMANS 10:9&10 says:
If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord" (meaning: Ruler), and believe in your heart that God raised him (Jesus) from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and obtain righteousness, and with your mouth you confess and obtain salvation.

1 JOHN 3:2
Beloved now are we the children of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

1 THESSALONIANS 4:16-18
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the chief angel, with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ will come to life first; then we who are still living will be taken up together with them into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so will we be for ever with the Lord. So then, give comfort to one another with these words.




Christ is the Rock