Thursday March 9, 2017
“Power to affect your entire being”
And such were some of you. But you were
washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. – 1
Corinthians 6:11
Born Again – The Doctrine of Regeneration
The
character of regeneration
1.
Heavenly birth
2.
God-given life
3.
Transforming power
As we
continue looking at the characters of regeneration, we come to the third area
where the New Testament indicates that the transforming power of regeneration is
total. It meets our needs at every point. This is not to say that
regeneration produces perfection. But just as total depravity means sin has
influenced every area of our lives, so grace reaches into every aspect of our
experience with the ravages of sin first ventured. It is through the
new birth that the image of God, like an embryo in the womb, is
restored. It then begins to grow to that full maturity of the later
stages of Christian experience. In the conversation with Nicodemus several areas
of this transformation in Jesus’ words.
In
regeneration, the mind is illuminated.
We see the kingdom of God. Is it not one of the greatest privileges of a living
Christian Fellowship, to witness a new Christian confessing, ‘once I was blind, but now I see’? To
become a child of God by regeneration is to be given a totally new perspective
on oneself and on others. We see the world with new eyes.
In
regeneration, the heart is purified.
This is at least part of the meaning of the words of Christ about being
born of water (John 3:5). Many interpretations have been offered for
this expression. Probably Jesus is referring to water as a symbol of purification. Undoubtedly that would be the major
association in the mind of a Pharisee, and perhaps the reason events and Jordan
add point to his words. Nicodemus had perhaps been to hear John the Baptist
preach on the necessity of baptism of repentance for the washing away of sins.
This, after all, was the promise God gave through Ezekiel after the new
covenant. ‘I will sprinkle clean water on
you, you shall be clean from all your uncleanness’ (Ezekiel 36:25).
Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel could not fail to recall the words.
But what is
purified heart? What does Paul mean when he says to the Corinthians, you
were washed… (1 Corinthians 6:11)? He means that in the work of giving
us new spiritual life God creates in us new tendencies and
dispositions toward right living. He puts his law in our hearts so that
the motivation
to glorify and serve him in the paths of righteousness is no longer an
external force but an inward power.
Challenge:
Do you have
the motivation to glorify and serve God from within? Spend some time with God
today and meditate on His power of regeneration, which you, as a child of God,
already possess; that inward power that is working in you to conform you to His
image.
This Day in Christian History:
March 9, 1891 – Charles Finney (lawyer-turned evangelist) – successfully completed a
6-month meetings at the Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester, New York where
one hundred thousand people were reportedly converted, bringing about a
dramatic change to the city in all walks of life. His innovative methods of
asking people to come forward, paved the way for men like DL Moody, Billy
Sunday and Billy Graham.
Memory Verse:
13 ‘a ‘ene
‘Afio na‘a ne hamusi kitautolu mei he pule ‘a Po‘uli, mo ne hiki kitautolu ki
he pule‘anga ‘o hono ‘Alo ‘Ofa‘anga: 14 pea ‘i he‘etau tu‘u ‘iate ia kuo tau
ma‘u ‘a e huhu‘i, ko e fakamolemole ‘etau ngaahi angahala; – Kolose 1:13-14
13 He has
delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the
Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of sins. – Colossians
1:13-14
Bible Reading Plan: (52 weeks; 5 days a week)
Week
10 – Numbers 22-25; Luke 1
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