Born
again - Really?
Dear reader, you may have read in
some of my other pages that I
received Jesus Christ into my heart on May 15, 1976. That
produced a major transformation in my life as soon as I got up off of
my knees and stood up. I realize that I had changed in a major
way, but I had no idea how much I had changed. That appeared as
life went on.
But I also discovered right away that
I was neither perfect or
completely transformed. And as I became acquainted with other
Christians, I found that none of them were perfect or complete.
Some were more mature than I was, and some were not.
As I read the Christian New Testament
the first time I became aware
that the Apostle Paul made a distinction between 'carnal' Christians
and 'spiritual' Christians. I also discovered to my dismay that
Paul did not clearly spell out the differences between carnal
and spiritual, nor did he tell
clearly how to transform from being carnal to being spiritual.
I believed that when I received Jesus
into my heart as Savior and Lord,
I had been born again. And it appeared to me that 'born again'
Christians in general believe the same thing as I did. But my
experience and observations of others made me believe that there is
clearly a difference between and carnalspiritual
Christians.
Eventually I came across a passage in
the New Testament which shocked
me! It is right in the First Chapter of the Gospel According To
John:
John 1:10 He
[Jesus] was in the
world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know
Him.
John 1:11 He came to His own, and His own people did not receive
Him.
John 1:12 But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His
name, He gave the right to
become children of God,
John 1:13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the
flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
'To those who did receive Him - He
gave the right to become
children of God...'
One thing I have learned about
spiritual reality is that there is a
major
difference between sin
and righteousness - sin gets inherited
without any action on the part of a person, while righteousness takes
an act of faith to become part
of a person's life.
So what? So, a person may have
received Jesus, but not all have
exercised their right to become a child of God. Yes, Jesus may
have made an important, even a huge change in a person's life without
that person having been born again of God.
So, how does one know the difference
between those two categories of
Christians, and how does one attain the transformation from carnal
to spiritual Christians??
I believe that the answer is hidden
in 2 Corinthians chapter 5.
2 Corinthians
5:14 For the love
of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has
died for all, therefore all have died;
2 Corinthians 5:15 and he died for all, that those who live might
no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and
was raised.
"..that those who live might no
longer live for themselves, but for
Him..."
It is the same difference that Jesus
made between His followers and His
disciples. Jesus has a definition of 'disciple' which is quite
different from the carnal church's definition of disciple. The
church believes that anyone who studies the Bible, prays and supports
the church is a disciple. Such people may be disciples of the
church, but they are not disciples of Jesus Christ!
So, what did Jesus require
of His
disciples?
Luke 14:26
"If anyone comes to
Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children
and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My
disciple.
Luke 14:27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me
cannot be My disciple.
Luke 14:33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all
that he has cannot be My disciple.
These, together with doing
the Will
of God are the winning
combination of being a disciple of Jesus
Christ:
Mat_7:21
"Not everyone who says
to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Mat_12:50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my
brother and sister and mother."
Mar_3:35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and
sister and mother."
1Jn_2:17 And the world is passing away along with its desires,
but whoever does the will of God abides forever.