John
3:7 Marvel not that I said
unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Here is a text that is often neglected, and it is probably just as often misunderstood. We hear "come on believe on Christ and get born again. Certainly we shall not object to believing on Christ. The problem is that ever since the fall of Adam in the garden of Eden, persons have been born into this world physically alive but spiritually dead. Jesus was talking to one such person. Though he was a ruler in Israel, he needed the new birth just to be a citizen of our Lord's kingdom. He needed the new birth in order to have the divine nature in him. He needed to be born of water (fleshly birth) and of the Spirit to enter our Lord's kingdom. He could not enter that kingdom until he received the new birth or is made spiritually alive by the quickening of the Holy Spirit. He had come to Christ physically, but he needed the new birth to be able to come to Christ spiritually. Jesus said in John 6:44, "No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him..."
What is regeneration anyhow? It is an act of God that gives spiritual birth which enables the sinner to repent and believe. See John 3:8, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." It produces repentance and faith by the work of the Spirit.. The Spirit does His work through the agency of the word of God.. I do not believe one can be regenerated apart from the word of God. See 1 Pet. 1:23, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." Note also what Paul said in 1 Cor. 4:15, "For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel."
Here is a text that is often neglected, and it is probably just as often misunderstood. We hear "come on believe on Christ and get born again. Certainly we shall not object to believing on Christ. The problem is that ever since the fall of Adam in the garden of Eden, persons have been born into this world physically alive but spiritually dead. Jesus was talking to one such person. Though he was a ruler in Israel, he needed the new birth just to be a citizen of our Lord's kingdom. He needed the new birth in order to have the divine nature in him. He needed to be born of water (fleshly birth) and of the Spirit to enter our Lord's kingdom. He could not enter that kingdom until he received the new birth or is made spiritually alive by the quickening of the Holy Spirit. He had come to Christ physically, but he needed the new birth to be able to come to Christ spiritually. Jesus said in John 6:44, "No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him..."
What is regeneration anyhow? It is an act of God that gives spiritual birth which enables the sinner to repent and believe. See John 3:8, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." It produces repentance and faith by the work of the Spirit.. The Spirit does His work through the agency of the word of God.. I do not believe one can be regenerated apart from the word of God. See 1 Pet. 1:23, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." Note also what Paul said in 1 Cor. 4:15, "For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel."
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