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Being born again
© Copyright 2007-2010 surefaithministries.com All rights reserved
Jesus said in John 3:3, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
It is clear that we must be born again, but why?
Job 15:14-16 “What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? Behold,
he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. How much more abominable and filthy is man,
which drinketh iniquity like water?”
We are far from being in right standing with God, and nothing we do can bring us any closer to Him, because even our righteous
works are like filthy rags in His sight. We are born in sin and completely separated from God, because of our sinful condition.
Paul said in Ephesians 2:3 that until we are born again, we are by nature the children of wrath. When you are born, it is your
nature to commit sin. You are born in the flesh, you lust after the things of the flesh. Your desires, your dreams, the things that
you do, they are sinful by nature. This is why we must be born again into a new nature of righteousness in order to go to heaven.
Ezekiel 36:26 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your
flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”
Before you are saved, your heart is hardened toward God. You love sin and despise righteousness, because your heart is
wicked according to Jeremiah 17:9. When you are born again, God takes out your heart and gives you a new heart that loves
righteousness and hates sin.
Ezekiel 36:27 “And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do
them.”
God places His Spirit within you and you will walk according to His ways. You will no longer struggle to keep God’s commands,
because it is the Spirit of God within you that causes you to walk in His statutes. It is not by your own ability to do works, it is by
the power of God within you.
Romans 8:10 “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”
I cannot live in righteousness, but Jesus can. I cannot have pure desires, but Jesus can. I cannot feel a love for you that is so
strong that I would give up my life to save you, but Jesus can. Jesus living inside me is the cause of my new way of living. I have
died of myself and now Jesus lives in me.
Romans 6:6-7 “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we
should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.”
In Galatians 2:20 Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”
Paul said in Romans 3:21-22 that the righteousness of God is manifested unto and upon all them that believe, meaning that it is
made apparent to others that God is working inside you. You will not have to try to abide by the word of God, you will naturally
abide by the word of God, because the word of God abides in you.
1 Peter 1:23 “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
1 John 4:17 “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in
this world.”
Living a righteous life is not just something you do to look like all the other Christians. It is not something you work hard at in
order to have assurance that you’re saved. If you are born again, you will naturally live in righteousness, because Jesus lives
inside of you. He is not just a part of your life; He is your life. You abide in Him, because He abides in you.
Someone might ask you, “So if I start doing good works, then I will have evidence of being saved?” Your answer will be,
“Salvation is not a process were you make a decision to follow Christ, start going to church, start reading the Bible, and begin to
live according to what you learn and what you read. Salvation is a work of God whereby you become a new creature.”
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new.”
If you have been born again, you are a new creature and the old sinful nature has been put to death. Your old life is passed away
and all things become new. New music, new movies, new cloths, new activities, new attitude, a completely new style of life that
comes by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. You are set free from sin, and all of the unrighteousness in your life is replaced with
righteousness.
Jesus said in John 8:36, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
Romans 6:18 “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”
If you are free from sin and have become a servant of righteousness, then you will not be living a life of sin anymore, because
you have died to sin. In Romans 6:2 Paul asks how can we who have died to sin live any longer in it?” Can a man who has died
continue to live? When one is born again, their old sinful nature is dead, and your new nature desires to be righteous. Proverbs
11:23 says the desire of the righteous is only good. If you are born again, you will no longer desire the sinful things of this world,
but you will follow Christ and love His commands.
Psalm 1:2 “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”
Psalm 40:8 “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.”
1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”
If you are born again, not only do you have a desire for righteousness and a love for God’s commands, but you also have a
hatred toward sin. Proverbs 8:13 says that the fear of the LORD is to hate evil and the evil way. This is not by choice, this is by
nature, because you are a new creature. Your old nature of sin is put to death and now Jesus Christ is alive inside of you. Your
worldly lifestyle is done away with, because your old man was crucified. Everything becomes new, because God gives you a
new heart and puts His Spirit within you which causes you to walk in His ways. You will not follow after the things of this world,
because you will now hate the world and only desire good. These things do not come through your own works, it is the work of
God inside of you.
Philippians 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
After preaching regeneration, a person might ask, “So, those who are born again are perfect?” Your answer will be, “They are
perfect only in Spirit, because they are one Spirit with God according to 1 Corinthians 6:17, but their spirit still lives in a body of
sinful flesh. They will not have a perfect body until the resurrection of those in Christ. At that time, their mortal body will be
changed into immortality and able to enter into heaven.
1 Corinthians 15:50-53 “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption
inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
Philippians 3:20-21 “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who
shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able
even to subdue all things unto himself.”
It is clear that we must be born again, but why?
Job 15:14-16 “What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? Behold,
he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. How much more abominable and filthy is man,
which drinketh iniquity like water?”
We are far from being in right standing with God, and nothing we do can bring us any closer to Him, because even our righteous
works are like filthy rags in His sight. We are born in sin and completely separated from God, because of our sinful condition.
Paul said in Ephesians 2:3 that until we are born again, we are by nature the children of wrath. When you are born, it is your
nature to commit sin. You are born in the flesh, you lust after the things of the flesh. Your desires, your dreams, the things that
you do, they are sinful by nature. This is why we must be born again into a new nature of righteousness in order to go to heaven.
Ezekiel 36:26 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your
flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”
Before you are saved, your heart is hardened toward God. You love sin and despise righteousness, because your heart is
wicked according to Jeremiah 17:9. When you are born again, God takes out your heart and gives you a new heart that loves
righteousness and hates sin.
Ezekiel 36:27 “And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do
them.”
God places His Spirit within you and you will walk according to His ways. You will no longer struggle to keep God’s commands,
because it is the Spirit of God within you that causes you to walk in His statutes. It is not by your own ability to do works, it is by
the power of God within you.
Romans 8:10 “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”
I cannot live in righteousness, but Jesus can. I cannot have pure desires, but Jesus can. I cannot feel a love for you that is so
strong that I would give up my life to save you, but Jesus can. Jesus living inside me is the cause of my new way of living. I have
died of myself and now Jesus lives in me.
Romans 6:6-7 “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we
should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.”
In Galatians 2:20 Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”
Paul said in Romans 3:21-22 that the righteousness of God is manifested unto and upon all them that believe, meaning that it is
made apparent to others that God is working inside you. You will not have to try to abide by the word of God, you will naturally
abide by the word of God, because the word of God abides in you.
1 Peter 1:23 “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
1 John 4:17 “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in
this world.”
Living a righteous life is not just something you do to look like all the other Christians. It is not something you work hard at in
order to have assurance that you’re saved. If you are born again, you will naturally live in righteousness, because Jesus lives
inside of you. He is not just a part of your life; He is your life. You abide in Him, because He abides in you.
Someone might ask you, “So if I start doing good works, then I will have evidence of being saved?” Your answer will be,
“Salvation is not a process were you make a decision to follow Christ, start going to church, start reading the Bible, and begin to
live according to what you learn and what you read. Salvation is a work of God whereby you become a new creature.”
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new.”
If you have been born again, you are a new creature and the old sinful nature has been put to death. Your old life is passed away
and all things become new. New music, new movies, new cloths, new activities, new attitude, a completely new style of life that
comes by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. You are set free from sin, and all of the unrighteousness in your life is replaced with
righteousness.
Jesus said in John 8:36, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
Romans 6:18 “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”
If you are free from sin and have become a servant of righteousness, then you will not be living a life of sin anymore, because
you have died to sin. In Romans 6:2 Paul asks how can we who have died to sin live any longer in it?” Can a man who has died
continue to live? When one is born again, their old sinful nature is dead, and your new nature desires to be righteous. Proverbs
11:23 says the desire of the righteous is only good. If you are born again, you will no longer desire the sinful things of this world,
but you will follow Christ and love His commands.
Psalm 1:2 “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”
Psalm 40:8 “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.”
1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”
If you are born again, not only do you have a desire for righteousness and a love for God’s commands, but you also have a
hatred toward sin. Proverbs 8:13 says that the fear of the LORD is to hate evil and the evil way. This is not by choice, this is by
nature, because you are a new creature. Your old nature of sin is put to death and now Jesus Christ is alive inside of you. Your
worldly lifestyle is done away with, because your old man was crucified. Everything becomes new, because God gives you a
new heart and puts His Spirit within you which causes you to walk in His ways. You will not follow after the things of this world,
because you will now hate the world and only desire good. These things do not come through your own works, it is the work of
God inside of you.
Philippians 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
After preaching regeneration, a person might ask, “So, those who are born again are perfect?” Your answer will be, “They are
perfect only in Spirit, because they are one Spirit with God according to 1 Corinthians 6:17, but their spirit still lives in a body of
sinful flesh. They will not have a perfect body until the resurrection of those in Christ. At that time, their mortal body will be
changed into immortality and able to enter into heaven.
1 Corinthians 15:50-53 “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption
inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
Philippians 3:20-21 “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who
shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able
even to subdue all things unto himself.”