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The Amish Voice 6
Let me explain what I mean.
Suppose you came along one day and
said, “Joe, I am right in the middle of
getting born again, and this is how I’m
doing it…”
1. I changed a few areas of my life
and went from sinning nine times a
day, down to only three times a
day.
2. I am training my mind to think
more about God and heaven rather
than earthly things. Compared to a
year ago, I have come a long way.
3. The last few times the deacon
came around and asked for money,
I gave twice as much to the needs
of the church.
4. The Lord knows I have been doing
a lot better with my anger and
bitterness problem. I don't argue
near as much with my spouse and
family.
5. I got rid of all the things the church
doesn't want me to have.
6. I have joined the church, got
baptized, and, for the most part, I
have been a member in good
standing.
7. When I reflect back over my life, I
have to say, “I am not the same
person I used to be. Give me some
more time, and I will even get
better at this whole process of
becoming born again.”
Do you see how unreasonable these
answers really are? The truth is, God
requires much more than that. He
requires 100% perfection before He
allows us into His kingdom. Yes! 100%
perfection. Jesus said so Himself.
Matthew 5:48
Be ye therefore perfect,
even as your Father which is in heaven is
perfect.
That is why an extra thousand years of
physical life will never be enough time
for us to get it right. However, through
the death of Jesus Christ on the cross,
those who have been born again have
already been made perfect.
Hebrews 10:14
For by one offering He
[Jesus] hath perfected forever them that
are sanctified.
Sinning less than last year makes us
better but not perfect. Going to church,
giving more money, arguing less with my
spouse, being more friendly, reading
more Bible, being in a religious
community, or living a more simple and
humble lifestyle makes us better but not
perfect.
There is only one way to be perfect and
that is to experience the second birth that
Jesus talked to Nicodemus about. It must
take place before we die and go into
eternity. The Bible is clear: After death
comes the judgment.
Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment:
The second birth
is something God does.
John 1:13
Which were born [again], not
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor
of the will of man, but of God.
It is not by blood:
The idea is that
heritage—being born of a particular
family, race, nation or people—is of no
value in becoming a child of God. Blood
is not what causes the second birth.
It is not by the will of the flesh:
The
idea is that a person is not spiritually
born again by wanting and willing to
become a child of God just like a person
wills to have an earthly child.
It is not by the will of man: No man, no
matter who he is—husband or world
leader—can cause or make a person a
child of God. It is strictly a gift of God.
—POSB Commentary
The second birth is of God
and God alone!
The second birth is an act of God
whereby eternal life is given to the
person who believes.
This eternal
life
is needed because when
we sinned we
died
spiritually, meaning
we became separated from God.
Romans 6:23
For the wages [payment]
of sin is [spiritual] death...
James 1:15
…sin, when it is finished,
bringeth forth [spiritual] death.
As discussed earlier in our lesson,
spiritually dead people are just like
physically dead people. They can’t hear.
They can’t see. They are dead! And,
unless God gives (eternal) life to the
spiritually dead person through a second
birth experience, he/she will pass into
eternity lost and forever separated from
God and His kingdom.
The apostle Paul tells us in Romans that
while we were dead, blind, lost, and
wondering in a wilderness of sin and
separated from God, Jesus Christ came to
earth and paid the price that God required
for your sin.
Romans 5:8-9
But God commendeth
[proved] his love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us. Much more then, being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from
[God’s] wrath through him.
Jesus, when explaining the new birth to
Nicodemus, went back to the Old