Sunday February 26, 2017
“You must be born again”
1 There was a man of the Pharisees named
Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to
Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do
these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most
assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of
God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be
born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be
born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to
you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of
God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ – John 3:1-6
Born Again – The Doctrine of Regeneration
So far in
our study devotional, we have covered introductory features of the Christian
life. We have dealt with a summary of our need of God’s grace to the plan of
God which lies behind the whole of our experience of it. We also touched on the
call and summons of God which awakens us from our natural slumber and
indifference to sin, bringing about conviction about guilt before God and
eating to the path of salvation.
We now come
to a critical topic and doctrine that we must examine. The doctrine of
regeneration. To have clear views here is to pave the way for all the other
doctrines of the Christian faith; to make a mistake here, would mean that the
whole focus of our understanding is seriously at fault.
Regeneration
of the gospel.
Evangelism,
like so many other things in life, tends to pass through phases. Sometimes its
emphasis centers on the necessity of regeneration, the new birth or being born
again. All of us, in one way or another, have been confronted with the question
of whether or not we are born again Christians. To someone who might be seeking
a specific commitment from someone, would ask whether he or she were a
born-again Christian. Whether the commitment to Christ was true.
In many ways,
this may be a good thing that one encounters this less and less at the heart of
evangelism. For one thing, you must be born again, is not in itself good news.
For another it is nowhere in the New Testament suggested this is the heart of
the gospel or the object of faith. Paul apparently did not cross the ancient
world with this emphasis on his lips. His message was of Christ crucified,
risen and exalted to whom men should turn in faith and repentance.
It is
therefore not surprising that, in reaction to this very evangelistic emphasis,
it has frequently been said that the New Testament has virtually nothing to say
about regeneration. The word is used on only two occasions in Scripture,
according to the King James version. In other versions, rebirth or regeneration
may appear only once. In Matthew 19:28 it refers to the renewal of all things
in the last days, the new heavens and the new earth; in Titus 3:5 it refers
either to the personal experience of new life, or to the symbol of it in
baptism. This is meager evidence on which to build what has already been
described as perhaps the most crucial doctrine of all.
Memory Verse:
Pea tali ‘e
Sīsū, ‘o ne folofola kiate ia, Ko au ē, ko au ē, ‘oku ou tala atu, ‘Ilonga ‘a
ia ‘e ‘ikai fanau‘i fo‘ou mei ‘olunga, ‘e ‘ikai te ne lava ke mamata ki he
Pule‘anga ‘o e ‘Otua. – Sione 3:3
Jesus
answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” – John 3:3
Bible Reading Plan: (52 weeks; 5 days a week)
Week
9 – Leviticus 24-25; Psalm 81; Hebrews 9
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