\u201cIf my salvation was so difficult to\naccomplish that it necessitated the death of Christ, then all my works, all my\nrighteousness of the Law, is good for nothing. How can I buy for a penny what\ncost a million dollars?\u201d Martin Luther<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why must we be born again?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto\nthee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus\nsaith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second\ntime into his mother\u2019s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say\nunto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter\ninto the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that\nwhich is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye\nmust be born again.\u201d (John 3:3-7)<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order for God to save a sinner two things must be done. God\nmust do something for you and do something in you. Redemption is the work of\nGod for sinners. Regeneration is the work of God in sinners. Both are the works\nof God. Man has nothing more to do with regeneration than he has to do with\nredemption. \u2014 \u201cSalvation is of the Lord!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot all the outward forms on earth, Nor rites that God has\ngiven,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nor will of man, nor blood, nor birth, Can raise a soul to\nheaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sovereign will of God alone Creates us heirs of grace;<\/p>\n\n\n\n Born in the image of His Son, A new peculiar race.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps you ask, \u201cWhy must we be born again?\u201d Though many\nanswers to that question may be found in the Word of God, the Lord Jesus gave\nNicodemus three reasons why he must be born again. These three things make it\nimperative that you and I must also be born again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Unless we are born again we cannot\nunderstand anything spiritual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExcept a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of\nGod\u201d (v. 3). \u2014 All natural men are totally void of spiritual understanding. You\nmay be a logical, reasonable, rational, and well educated person among men, but\nwith regard to the things of God, you are as ignorant, foolish, and\nunreasonable as a madman, until you are born again. You have no capacity for\nspiritual knowledge. \u2014 \u201cFor they that are after the flesh do mind the things of\nthe flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit\u2026But the\nnatural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are\nfoolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually\ndiscerned\u201d (Romans 8:5; 1 Corinthians 2:14). The heart of stone is hard, cold,\nunbending, unaffected. Until you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of\nGod. You cannot understand anything spiritual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 You cannot see the spiritual\nnature of God\u2019s law (Matthew 5:21, 27, 38, 43, 48).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 You cannot see the spiritual\nnature of sin (Matt. 15:17-19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 You cannot see the glory of God\nin redemption (Romans 3:24-26).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 You cannot see the condition of\nyour own heart (Jeremiah 17:9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 You cannot see the spiritual\nnature of salvation. Salvation and faith in Christ are matters of the heart;\nbut until God gives you a new heart, you cannot see it (Ezekiel 36:25-27).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 You cannot see that obedience to\nChrist is a spiritual thing, involving the heart (1 Samuel 16:7; Romans 14:17).\nHuman religion is carnal. It has to do with carnal things!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 You cannot see the spiritual\nnature of faith and worship (Philippians 3:3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 You cannot see the true\ncharacter of God (Exodus 33:18-34:7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 You cannot see the glory of God\nin Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 You cannot see the glory of\nChrist\u2019s suretyship engagements (Hebrews 7:22).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 You cannot see the blessed\nmystery of our Savior\u2019s incarnation (1 Timothy 3:16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 You cannot see the wonder,\nmajesty, and efficacy of Christ\u2019s substitutionary atonement (2 Corinthians\n5:21).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 You cannot see the glory of his\nascension and exaltation (Romans 14:9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 You cannot see the gospel of the\ngrace of God (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Unless you are born again by almighty\ngrace you can never enter into the kingdom of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExcept a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he\ncannot enter into the kingdom of God\u201d (v. 5). \u2014 You can reform your life\nwithout the new birth. You can be baptised without the new birth. You can join\nthe church, be zealous in religion, teach a Bible class, serve as a deacon or\nelder, you can even preach with great success without being born again. But\nunless you are born again, you will never enter the kingdom of God. Until you\nare born again, you will never be a part of the church and family of God. Until\nyou are born again, you will never have eternal life. Until you are born again,\nyou will never enter into the worship and fellowship of God\u2019s saints. Until you\nare born again, you will never be admitted into the presence of God\u2019s glory in\nthe bliss of heaven. Only new creatures will enter the new Jerusalem. Only holy\nmen and women will walk into the Holy City. Only heaven born citizens will possess\nthe bliss of heaven (Revelation 20:6; 21:27).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. We \u201cmust be born again\u201d because by nature\nwe are all fallen, sinful, depraved children of human flesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is\nborn of the Spirit is spirit\u201d (v. 6). \u2014 We must be born again, because we were\nall born wrong the first time. The flesh is our natural, sinful self (Psalm\n51:5; 58:3; Romans 5:12; Revelation 20:11-15). All flesh is defiled. All flesh\nis corrupt. All flesh is sinful. All flesh is condemned. All flesh must die.\nUnless you are born of the Spirit, you will die in your sins, and you shall be\njustly damned. May God be pleased this day to grant that you may be born again,\nfor Christ\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don Fortner<\/p>\n\n\n\n The great heart changer!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n From Spurgeon’s, “The Stony Heart Removed”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The heart of the natural man, like marble,<\/p>\n\n\n\n is stone-cold towards spiritual things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No arguments have power to move a soul so steeled,<\/p>\n\n\n\n so thoroughly stony, hard, and impenetrable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n O rocks of iron and hills of brass,<\/p>\n\n\n\n you are softer than the proud heart of man!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fallen man is like the deaf adder which will not be charmed,<\/p>\n\n\n\n charm we never so wisely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tears are lost on him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Threatenings are but as the whistlings of the wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The preachings of the law, and even of Christ crucified–<\/p>\n\n\n\n all these are null and void and fall hopelessly to the ground,<\/p>\n\n\n\n so long as the man’s heart continues what it is by nature–<\/p>\n\n\n\n dead, and hard, and cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The heart of man grows harder whether it be the soft sunshine<\/p>\n\n\n\n of love, or the harsh tempest of judgment that falls upon it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mercy and love alike make it more solid,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and knit its particles closer together;<\/p>\n\n\n\n and surely until the Omnipotent himself speak the word,<\/p>\n\n\n\n the heart of man grows harder, and harder, and harder,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and refuses to be softened or broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Granite may be ground and be broken into pieces,<\/p>\n\n\n\n but unless God gets the hammer in his hand,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and even he must put both hands to it,<\/p>\n\n\n\n the great ‘granite heart’ of man will not yield in any way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may smite a man’s heart right and left with death,<\/p>\n\n\n\n with judgment, with mercy, with tears, with entreaties,<\/p>\n\n\n\n with threatenings, and it will not break!<\/p>\n\n\n\n No, even the fires of hell do not melt man’s heart,<\/p>\n\n\n\n for the damned in hell grow more hard by their agonies,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and they hate God, and blaspheme him all the more<\/p>\n\n\n\n because of the suffering they endure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Only Omnipotence itself, I say,<\/p>\n\n\n\n can ever soften this hard heart of man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christ is the Great Heart Changer!<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Lord, melt my heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n None but a bath of blood divine can take the flint away;<\/p>\n\n\n\n but do it Lord, and you shall have the praise.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reader! marvel not that you must be born again!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (From Octavius Winslow’s, “The Restored Sheep”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alas! the life of an unconverted person is<\/p>\n\n\n\n one entire, unbroken, departure from God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n What hue sufficiently dark can portray the<\/p>\n\n\n\n life of an unrenewed man? He may be….<\/p>\n\n\n\n upright and honourable as a man of the world;<\/p>\n\n\n\n faithful in all the relations of life;<\/p>\n\n\n\n admired for his private rectitude, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n honoured for his public character and career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His morality, stainless;<\/p>\n\n\n\n his virtue, unquestioned;<\/p>\n\n\n\n his liberality, generous;<\/p>\n\n\n\n his philanthropy, distinguished;<\/p>\n\n\n\n his religion, admired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And yet, destitute of the converting grace of God;<\/p>\n\n\n\n a stranger to the great change of the new birth;<\/p>\n\n\n\n an unbeliever in the Lord Jesus Christ, his life is<\/p>\n\n\n\n but a blank; and dying in this condition, he can<\/p>\n\n\n\n in no way enter into the kingdom of heaven!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reader! marvel not that you must be born again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regeneration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Spurgeon’s, “THE OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT”<\/p>\n\n\n\n When a man is converted to God, it is done in a moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regeneration is an instantaneous work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conversion to God, the fruit of regeneration, occupies all<\/p>\n\n\n\n our life, but regeneration itself is effected in an instant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A man hates God– the Holy Spirit makes him love God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A man is opposed to Christ, he hates his gospel, does not<\/p>\n\n\n\n understand it and will not receive it– the Holy Spirit comes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n puts light into his darkened understanding, takes the chain<\/p>\n\n\n\n from his bondaged will, gives liberty to his conscience, gives<\/p>\n\n\n\n life to his dead soul, so that the voice of conscience is heard,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and the man becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And all this is done, mark you, by the instantaneous<\/p>\n\n\n\n supernatural influence of God the Holy Spirit working<\/p>\n\n\n\n as he wills among the sons of men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God’s perfect will<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (J. C. Philpot, “The Living Sacrifice Presented” 1856)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “That good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Romans 12:2<\/p>\n\n\n\n God’s will is “perfect”. In it, there is . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n no spot,<\/p>\n\n\n\n no stain,<\/p>\n\n\n\n no weakness,<\/p>\n\n\n\n no error,<\/p>\n\n\n\n no instability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is and indeed must necessarily be as perfect as God<\/p>\n\n\n\n Himself; for it emanates from Him who is all perfection;<\/p>\n\n\n\n and is a discovery of His mind and character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But when God’s perfect will . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n sets itself against our flesh,<\/p>\n\n\n\n thwarts our dearest hopes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n overturns our fondest schemes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n we cannot see that it is a perfect will. But rather, are<\/p>\n\n\n\n much disposed to fret, murmur, and rebel against it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God’s perfect will may . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n snatch a child from your bosom;<\/p>\n\n\n\n strike down a dear husband;<\/p>\n\n\n\n tear from your arms a beloved wife;<\/p>\n\n\n\n strip you of all your worldly goods;<\/p>\n\n\n\n put your feet into a path of suffering;<\/p>\n\n\n\n lay you upon a bed of pain and languishing;<\/p>\n\n\n\n cast you into hot furnaces or overwhelming floods;<\/p>\n\n\n\n make your life almost a burden to yourself!<\/p>\n\n\n\n How can you, under circumstances so trying and<\/p>\n\n\n\n distressing as these, acknowledge and submit to<\/p>\n\n\n\n God’s perfect will; and let it reign and rule in<\/p>\n\n\n\n your heart without a murmur of resistance to it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look back and see how God’s perfect will has, in<\/p>\n\n\n\n previous instances, reigned supreme in all points,<\/p>\n\n\n\n for your good. It has ordered or overruled all<\/p>\n\n\n\n circumstances and all events, amid a complication<\/p>\n\n\n\n of difficulties in providence and grace. Nothing has<\/p>\n\n\n\n happened to your injury; but all things have worked<\/p>\n\n\n\n together for your good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever we have lost, it was better for us that<\/p>\n\n\n\n it was taken away. Whatever . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n property,<\/p>\n\n\n\n or comfort,<\/p>\n\n\n\n or friends,<\/p>\n\n\n\n or health,<\/p>\n\n\n\n or earthly happiness we have been deprived of,<\/p>\n\n\n\n it was better for us to lose, than to retain them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Was your dear child taken away? It might be<\/p>\n\n\n\n to teach you resignation to God’s sacred will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Has a dear partner been snatched from your<\/p>\n\n\n\n embrace? It was that God might be your better<\/p>\n\n\n\n Partner and undying Friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Was any portion of your worldly substance taken<\/p>\n\n\n\n away? It was that you might be taught to live a<\/p>\n\n\n\n life of faith in the providence of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have your fondest schemes been marred; your<\/p>\n\n\n\n youthful hopes blighted; and you pierced in the<\/p>\n\n\n\n warmest affections of your heart? It was . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n to remove an idol,<\/p>\n\n\n\n to dethrone a rival to Christ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n to crucify the object of earthly love,<\/p>\n\n\n\n so that a purer, holier, and more enduring<\/p>\n\n\n\n affection might be enshrined in its stead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To tenderly embrace God’s perfect will is<\/p>\n\n\n\n the grand object of all gospel discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ultimatum of gospel obedience is to lie<\/p>\n\n\n\n passive in His hand, and know no will but His.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “That good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Romans 12:2<\/p>\n\n\n\n By the grace of God I am what I am!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n John Newton<\/p>\n\n\n\n June, 1773<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dear sir,<\/p>\n\n\n\n I must content myself with the idea of the pleasure it would\ngive me, to sit with you half a day under my favorite great tree, and converse\nwith you, not concerning the comparatively petty affairs of human\ngovernments\u2014but of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. How many\ndelightful subjects would suggest themselves in a free and retired\nconversation! The excellency of our King, the permanency and glory of his\nkingdom, the beauty of his administration, the privileges of his subjects, the\nreview of what he has done for us, and the prospect of what he has prepared for\nus in future\u2014and if, while we were conversing, he should be pleased to join us\n(as he did the disciples when walking to Emmaus), how would our hearts burn\nwithin us! Indeed, whether we are alone or in company, the most interesting\ntopics strike us but faintly\u2014unless he is pleased to afford his gracious\ninfluence; but when he is present\u2014light, love, liberty, and joy, spring up in\nthe hearts that know him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But we cannot meet. All that is left for me, is to use the\nliberty you allow me of offering a few hints upon these subjects by letter, not\nbecause you don’t know them\u2014but because you love them. The hour is coming, when\nall impediments shall be removed\u2014all distinctions shall cease that are founded\nupon sublunary things, and the earth and all its works shall be burnt up.\nGlorious day! May our souls be filled with the thought, and learn to estimate\nall things around us now\u2014by the view in which they will appear to us then. Then\nit will be of small consequence who was the prince, and who was the beggar, in\nthis life; but who in their several situations sought, and loved, and feared,\nand honored the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alas! how many of the kings of the earth, and the rich men, and\nthe chief captains, and the mighty men, will then say (in vain) to the\nmountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who\nsits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb!” In this world they\nare for the most part too busy to regard the commands of God, or too amusing to\nseek his favor. They have their good things here; they please themselves for a\nwhile, and in a moment they go down to the grave. In that moment their thoughts\nperish, their schemes are left unfinished, they are torn from their\npossessions, and enter upon a new, an untried, an unchangeable, a never-ending\nstate of existence! Alas, is this all the world can afford!<\/p>\n\n\n\n I congratulate you\u2014not because God has appointed you to appear\nin an elevated rank, (this, abstracted from the opportunity it affords you of\ngreater gospel usefulness, would perhaps be a more proper subject for\ncondolence); but that he has admitted you to those honors and privileges which\ncome from him alone, and which so few in the superior ranks of life think\nworthy of their attention. “By the grace of God I am what I am!” 1\nCorinthians 15:10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As believers, we are often affected with a sense of God’s\ndistinguishing mercy to us. We are debtors, great debtors to the sovereign\ngrace of God, which alone makes us to differ from the perishing world around\nus!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet it does not yet appear what we shall be. We cannot form a\njust conception of the misery from which we are redeemed, much less of the\nprice paid for our redemption! How little do we know of the Redeemer’s\nsurpassing excellency, and of the unutterable agonies He endured, when His soul\nwas made an offering for sin, and it pleased the Father to bruise Him\u2014that by\nHis stripes we might be healed! These things will strike us in quite another\nmanner\u2014when we view them from the light of eternity!<\/p>\n\n\n\n May the cheering contemplation of the glorious hope set before\nus\u2014support and animate us to improve our short interval on earth, and fill us\nwith a holy ambition of shining as lights in this evil world, to the\npraise and glory of His grace\u2014who has called us out of darkness, into His\nglorious light!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Encompassed as we are with snares, temptations, and infirmities,\nit is possible (by His promised assistance) to live in some good measure above\nthe world\u2014above the influence of its cares, its smiles, or its frowns. Our\ncitizenship is in heaven\u2014we are not at home\u2014but only reside here on earth for a\nseason, to fulfill our appointed service. The Lord, whom we serve, has promised\nthat He will guide us by His wisdom, strengthen us by His power, and comfort us\nwith the light of His countenance, which is better than life. Every temporal\nblessing we receive from Him, is a token of His favor, and a pledge of that far\nmore exceeding and eternal weight of glory, which He has reserved for us in\nheaven. Oh! to hear Him say at last, “Well done, good and faithful servant!\nEnter into the joy of your Lord!” will be rich amends for all that we can\nlose, suffer, or endure, for His sake!<\/p>\n\n\n\n “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has\nimagined\u2014what God has prepared for those who love Him!” 1 Corinthians 2:9<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cIf my salvation was so difficult to accomplish that it necessitated the death of Christ, then all my works, all my righteousness of the Law, is good for nothing. How can I buy for a penny what cost a million dollars?\u201d Martin Luther Why must we be born again? \u201cJesus answered and said unto him, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bulletin-editions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6102"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6103,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6102\/revisions\/6103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}