|
We
have an important question for you: Do you ever wonder why the
Bible seems like gobbledygook
to
you; why
its
claims
seem ludicrous and its message obscured to you?
This is because God says the natural man (the one not
born again)
-
does NOT ACCEPT the things of the Spirit of God
-
for they are FOOLISHNESS TO HIM
-
and he CANNOT UNDERSTAND them
-
because they must be spiritually
understood (1 Cor
2:14
).
Does
this sound like you?
Even if you 'tried Christianity' before (and promptly
decided it 'didn't work'), if
you
were never truly born again, please understand you have not
actually experienced true Christianity - because being born again is an
essential for it.
So
what does 'born again' mean, you might ask?
We are all born once when we enter into this world as babies… we're born of
the flesh. But we're born without being spiritually alive (to the
things of God) because
of the sin condition we inherited from Adam (the first man to
sin) which was passed down to us through our parents.
Being born sinners, we do what comes naturally to us - we
sin; this also separates
us from a right relationship with God because He is absolutely
holy. Sometimes people refuse to believe or accept they've sinned or
acknowledge Who that sin is against - God! Just the same, He says our spirits
are dead because of sin. They need to be made alive.
God Himself must make us alive spiritually, giving us a new
birth, and this happens in connection with our becoming His children by grace through
faith that He gives us to trust in Jesus' finished work on
Calvary
's cross. God's Holy
Spirit comes to live in us and He makes our once dead spirits ALIVE!!! It is
HIS LIFE in us that makes us born
again or born from
above.
Just
to reiterate... If a person is not born again...
God says that person CANNOT even SEE His kingdom
(Jn 3:3).
He further says those who are according to the flesh (the
Holy Spirit isn't dwelling in them since they are not born again)…
-
set their minds on the things of the flesh…
-
and the MIND SET ON THE FLESH IS DEATH
-
because the MIND SET ON THE FLESH IS HOSTILE TOWARD GOD
-
for it does NOT SUBJECT ITSELF TO THE LAW of God
-
for it is NOT EVEN ABLE TO DO SO
-
and THOSE WHO ARE IN THE FLESH CANNOT PLEASE GOD (Rm
8:6-9).
Yikes!!!
Without faith (which includes a trust and reliance upon God
and what He has done for us at
Calvary
's
cross) He says it's IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE Him
(Heb 11:6).
So
what do you need to do?
© 2007 John and Kim Namestnik
www.givengrace.com
Permission is granted to copy and distribute this
material - if it's kept intact and not changed in any way, if
it's given without charge, and if this copyright notice is
included with it.
|
