Morning By Morning #66

You must be born again.

John 3:7

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

Regeneration is the subject forming the very foundation of salvation. Thus, we should be very diligent to know for sure we truly have been “born again,” for there are many people who think they have been “born again” when they have not. Calling yourself a Christian doesn’t give you the nature of a Christian, and being born in a so-called Christian country doesn’t mean a thing. Even being recognized by others as professing the Christian faith is of no value whatsoever unless something is added to it—the experience of having been “born again.” And this term—“born again”—is something so mysterious that human words cannot describe it.

“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). Nevertheless, it is a change that is known and felt; known by the works of holiness it produces, and felt through the awesome experience of grace. This great work of regeneration is supernatural, not something people can produce themselves. It is a new truth infused into a heart, which renews the soul and affects the entire person. It is not a name change, but a renewing of my nature so that I am not who I used to be, but instead have become a new person in Christ Jesus. To wash, embalm, and dress a corpse for burial is a far different thing than actually making it come alive. Man can do the former, but only God can do the latter.

Thus, if you have been “born again,” your acknowledgment will be, “O Lord Jesus, the Everlasting Father, You are my spiritual Parent. Unless Your Spirit had breathed the breath of a new, holy, and spiritual life into me, I would still be ‘dead in [my] transgressions and sins’ (Eph. 2:1) to this day. My heavenly life has been derived wholly from You, and to You only do I attribute it. My ‘life is now hidden with Christ in God’ (Col. 3:3), for ‘I no longer live, but Christ lives in me’” (Gal. 2:20).

May the Lord enable us to have peaceful assurance on this vital subject of being “born again,” for to be unregenerate is to be unsaved, unforgiven, “without hope and without God” (Eph. 2:12).

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

Some professing believers shy away from using the term “born-again Christian.” But as we have seen today, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “You must be born again.” Thus, it is impossible to be a Christian without being born again. Jesus, who is the incarnate Word of God, chose His words carefully, so it is no mistake He used this particular term.

One of the beautiful aspects of the term “born again” is that it not only relates to our salvation but that it also relates to the eternal nature of our salvation. Although a believer still sins and may backslide for some length of time, his salvation can never be taken away. In other words, he may appear to be lost at times, but since there is no such thing as reversing the birth process, he can never be “un-born.” This truth, however, should never be used “to change the grace of our God into a license for immorality” (Jude 4), but should be an even greater motivation to walk in godliness and to serve the Lord faithfully.