Thursday February 17, 2022

To be born again, a must

We must be born again. John 3:7

For God, man, in his natural state, is spiritually dead in his trespasses and sins. But God wants to save him, raise him from death to life, give him eternal life. Man, in his pride, has explored many ways and proposed many means to save himself or to contribute to his own salvation.

Spontaneous generation. “Life will eventually spring up, I just have to wait” False, spontaneous generation does not exist, neither in the biological world nor in the spiritual domain, because life is only generated by life : Jesus him said : I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even if he dies (John 11:25).

Progress. “The life of God develops by successive natural improvements”. False, because passing gradually from death to life is nonsense : one is either dead (because of the sin that dwells in every man), or alive by the renewal operated by the Holy Spirit by having faith in Jesus Christ , the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

Heredity. "I am the son or daughter of a Christian... therefore I am a Christian" False, because the spiritual world does not follow hereditary laws. Every person has to go through the new birth : You have to be born again.

Good behavior and good works. “I live a moral life, God cannot help but take this into account”. False, because it is making yourself the arbiter of your own thoughts and actions, while God convicts us all (Romans 3:23). Moreover, to want to do works to contribute to his salvation is to ask God to justify us on the basis of our merits.

All of these paths are dead ends. In front of God, who would dare to establish his own rules to obtain eternal life ? One receives eternal life by the new birth by accepting Jesus Christ by faith : whoever believes in the Son has eternal life (John 3:36). For it is by grace that you are saved, through faith, and it is not of you, it is the gift of God ; not on the basis of works, lest any man boast (Ephesians 2:8,9).

The new birth is not one means of salvation among others. This is the only way that God offers to be saved from perdition and gain access to his kingdom (John 3:3).

Source (Pleasing the Lord)