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How
to be Born Again
And Exactly What Jesus Meant by It!
by Pastor John Hamel
Live Table of Contents
A
Sincere Pharisee's Sincere Questioning
A
Birthing Into the Spirit Realm
The
Lamb's Book of Life
Impartation
of a Brand New Nature
Death
Could Come Suddenly to You
A Sincere Pharisee's Sincere Questioning
"There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of
the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night and said unto Him, Rabbi, we know
that Thou art a Teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that
Thou doest except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God.
"Nicodemus said unto Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter
the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
"Jesus answered, Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be
born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” (John
3:1-6)
In the Bible, Jesus told a man named Nicodemus that the only
way for a human being to enter into God’s Kingdom, or to go to Heaven when
they die, is to be "Born Again.”
Nicodemus responded by asking, “So what do I do, Jesus? Do I crawl back into my
Mother’s womb and be born again?”
This good man meant no
disrespect. His natural mind was simply boggled by Jesus’ profound
statement.
Many people today are blown away by this idea of being Born
Again. I was too, until I actually experienced what Jesus was
talking about.
Although God will not long tolerate
anyone mocking the idea of being Born Again, He understands, respects and accepts sincere human
questioning.
Top
A
Birthing Into the Spirit Realm
Jesus responded to Nicodemus’ seemingly foolish, yet sincere question by
saying, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh: that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit…” (John 3:6)
I would like to
translate Jesus’ explanation to Nicodemus into more modern terms as follows.
Jesus was actually saying, “Nick, let me put it to you this
way. The first time you were born, you were born of the flesh.
You entered into the NATURAL, physical world through a natural, physical
door. That door into the natural world was your Mother’s womb.
"The second time you are
born, or Born Again, you enter into the SPIRIT world through a spiritual
door. That door into the spiritual world is Me and only Me.
It’s just that simple.”
So,
the first time a person is born they are birthed into the natural, physical
world through their Mother's womb.
The
second time they are born, or Born Again through acceptance of Christ, they
are birthed into the spiritual world - or they enter into the Kingdom of
Heaven.
This
means when they die they will spend Eternity in Heaven as opposed to the
alternative.
Jesus made this even clearer later when He told His disciples …
“I am the DOOR [into the spirit world]: by Me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved.” (John 10:9)
When
Jesus said "he shall be saved," He meant one would be saved from
Eternity in Hell.
When
one is Born Again, they are saved from the penalty and punishment of
Hell.
This
is why true Christians refer to themselves and to one another as being Born
Again or being 'saved.' The terms are synonymous.
Irregardless
of how archaic modernists insist the doctrine is, there really is a Hell
to shun and a Heaven to gain - and it is
definitely not something with which to gamble.
So, no
one should be confused about what it means to be Born Again because Jesus
made it easy to understand. And I just did my best to help Him.
Top
The
Lamb's Book of Life
Someone once asked, “When I make Christ
my Savior and am Born Again, does it mean that I have to leave my Church
or Denomination?”
Not necessarily. The Denominations of the world
have many Born Again people as members. God will show you where He
wants you to go to Church.
However, being connected with a Denomination will not save you.
Only being Born Again will save you.
You must be Born Again to experience
Eternal Life in Heaven.
God is not going to be looking for Denominational ties at the
time of your death.
God
is going to be checking the “Lamb's Book of
Life.”
If your name is not in it, you’ll be denied access to Heaven.
"And
whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake
of Fire." (Revelation 20:15)
"And
I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth ... and there shall in no wise enter into
it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh
a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's Book of Life."
(Revelation 21:1,27)
If your name is in the Lamb's Book of Life, you will
enter into Eternal Life with Jesus in Heaven.
The Bible says, “…at that time thy people
shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the Book!”
(Daniel 12:1)
The Book being referred to here is also the Lamb's Book of Life.
One's name is only recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life if they are Born Again.
The New
Birth, or
being Born Again, occurs by believing God rose Jesus from the dead and simply stating, “Jesus, I believe God rose
You from the dead once You paid the penalty for
my sins. You are now my one and only choice
as Lord and Savior.”
It’s simple, yes, yet
very
profound. God deliberately made it simple because He is not looking to
exclude anyone. He is looking to include everyone who will repent
and believe.
"For
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John
3:16)
"For
God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance in Christ." (2Peter 3:9)
God
wants to save you. God wants to forgive you.
God
is the Blesser, not the damner.
God
is always your solution. God is
never your problem.
The
God of love wants you to be Born
Again.
The
God of love desires to inscribe your name in His Lamb's Book of Life.
This
is why He sent Jesus into the Earth to do a
big thing and die for your sin. This is why all He requires is that you do a
little thing, believe it and act on it.
"If
you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that God rose Jesus
from the dead, you will be saved from the penalty and the punishment of your
sin." (Romans 10:13)
Top
Impartation
of a Brand New Nature
The very moment you call on Christ as Savior, you not only
become Born Again but God forgives and wipes
away your sinful past.
It’s also at the very same
moment you say, “Jesus, You’re my one and only choice for Savior” that you become a New Creation in Christ and the
very righteousness of God in Him.
"Therefore if
any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new and all things are of God, Who hath
reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ..." (2Corinthians 5:17-18)
"For
God has made Jesus to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him." (2Corinthians 5:21)
No
matter who you are, where you
have been or what you have done, God will forgive it all, wipe
it all away and allow you to become both a New
Creation and the righteousness of God.
Righteousness
simply means to "have right-standing" with God through Jesus
Christ.
Righteousness
is not something one earns, nor is it something one does. Righteousness is a
free gift from God and, therefore, can only be received by
faith, not
earned.
"For
by one man's (Adam) offense death reigned by one; much more they which
receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in
life by One, Jesus Christ ... the free gift comes upon all who receive it
unto justification of life." (Romans 5:17-18)
The
work of Jesus Christ at Calvary's cross far outweighs Satan's work against
Adam and humanity in the Garden of Eden.
One
man, Adam, the father of the human race, through rebellion ruined relationship with God for the entire
human race.
Another
man, Jesus, through obedience restored relationship with God for all who
will receive His substitutionary sacrifice
for Adam's original sin as their own.
This
is why in the Bible Jesus Christ is referred to as the "Last Adam"
or the "Second Adam." (1Corinthians 15:45-47)
What the first Adam
destroyed, the Second Adam restored - right-standing with God, or
"righteousness."
Before
a person becomes the righteousness of God by being Born Again, they live
life like a rebellious, disobedient, cruel brute beast, thinking primarily of themselves, their own needs
and their own fleshly desires.
This is often referred to as man's "Adamic
nature," or man's "fallen nature."
King David expressed this perfectly.
"So
foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a brute beast before Thee." (Psalm
73:22)
The
Apostle Paul also reveals that unsaved individuals are "fulfilling the
desires of the flesh and of the mind" and are "dead in trespasses
and sins." He refers to them as "children of disobedience"
and "by nature the children of wrath." (Ephesians 2:1-3)
However,
when Christ is allowed into the human heart one's Adamic nature changes and
they take on the very love-nature of God.
"Whosoever
shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in
God ... God is
love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him... If a
man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that
loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God Whom he hath
not seen? And this commandment have we from Him, That he who loveth God
loveth his brother also... Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is
born of God: and everyone that loveth Him that begat loveth him also that is
begotten of Him." (1John 4:15-16, 20-21; 5:1)
This literal change of
nature is a miracle. It all happens supernaturally on the inside of you when you make Christ your Savior and become Born Again.
"...behold
the Kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)
It really is just
that simple.
You
could be ever so faithful to your religion or denomination, be worldly wise,
have the best education available and all the money in the world.
However, if your Adamic, fallen nature has not been changed through the New Birth, your
name will not be written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
You
will perish like a brute beast and be banished
for Eternity.
"For
all can see that the wise die, that the foolish and the senseless also
perish, leaving their wealth to others ... People who have wealth but lack
understanding are like the beasts that perish." (Psalm 49:10,20)
Why not be Born
Again right now and make sure that your name is
recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life?
Just
say, "Jesus, please forgive me for my sinful past. I believe God rose You from the dead once You paid the
penalty for my sin. I choose You now as both my Savior and my Lord."
Top
Death
Could Come Suddenly to You
Don’t wait until it’s too late. Mercy
is being offered to you on this side of the grave only.
Many
have waited until tomorrow to be Born Again and tomorrow never came. Don't
let this happen to you. You may never see tomorrow. You could die suddenly.
"Boast
not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what one day may bring
forth." (Proverbs 27:1)
The Bible says,
“It’s appointed unto man once to die. Immediately after that, he
faces judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27)
If
death should come suddenly to you today, there will be no further chance for
you to be Born Again tomorrow.
Just so I know I am
making myself clear, I am going to say it again.
Mercy is being
offered to you on this side of the grave only. Judgment alone will be
offered on the other side of the grave.
Which Judgment will you face?
Will it be the Judgment of Punishment
for those who rejected Christ and the New Birth?
Or will it be the Judgment of Reward
for those who accepted Christ and the New Birth?
The only way to
be ready to face Almighty God on the other side of the grave is to be Born
Again before departing planet Earth.
Jesus
Christ, the Creator of all that exists, including you, said, "You must be Born
Again."
Remember,
the first time a person is born they are birthed into the natural, physical
world through their Mother's womb.
The
second time they are born, or Born Again through acceptance of Christ, they
are birthed into the spiritual world - or they enter into the Kingdom of
Heaven.
Now you know what
Jesus meant when He told Nicodemus, "Except a man be Born Again he
cannot see the Kingdom of God."
Now I am satisfied
that I have made it perfectly clear.
Now
you
are accountable for what you know.
Will your name be written in the
Lamb's Book
of Life? God leaves it to you to decide.
Will
your family members' names be
written in the Lamb's Book of Life?
If
you will make the decision to become a part of God's forever family by being
Born Again, there are many benefits. God
honoring your faith for your
family's salvation is one of them.
If
you have made the decision to make Christ your Savior and to be Born Again,
you will also want to read "Receive
the Holy Spirit" and "Now
That You Are Saved."
Be blessed … John
and Barbara Hamel
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