Image via WikipediaIn Pride.(Nehemiah 9:29)"You warned them to obey your teachings, but in pride they rejected your laws although keeping your Law is the way to life." Jesus told us we must be born again. The infinitive be is passive. It shows that it is something that must be done for us. No man can 'born" himself. He must be born. The new birth is wholly foreign to our will. In other words, the new birth is a divine work - we are born of God.
Even though the new birth seems mysterious, that does not make it untrue. We may not understand the how of electricity, but we know that it lights our homes, runs our television and radio sets. We do not understand how the sheep grows wool, the cow grows hair, or the fowl grows feathers - but we know they do. We do not understand many mysteries, but we accept by faith the fact that at the moment we repent of sin and turn by faith to Jesus Christ we are born again.
It is the infusion of divine life into the human soul. It is the implementation or impartation of divine nature into the human soul whereby we become the children of God. We receive the breath of God. Christ through the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our hearts.... That means that if you have been born again, you will live as long as God lives, because you are now sharing His very life. The long-lost fellowship man had with God in the Garden of Eden has been restored....
This new nature that you receive from God is bent to the will of God. You will want to do only His will... There is a new self-determination, inclination, disposition, a new principle of living, new choices. You seek to glorify God. You seek fellowship with other Christians in the Church. You love the Bible. You love to spend time in prayer with God. Your whole disposition is changed. Whereas your life once was filled with unbelief, the root and foundation of all sin, and you once doubted God, now you believe Him. Now you have utmost confidence and faith in God and His Word.
(From Peace with God by Billy Graham)
God saves us without expecting any additional payment. Those who love God, however want to obey him. Repentance is the first step in placing our lives under his authority. What area of life do you want to turn over to God?
With God's schooling we learn that we must accept his authority and be able to share love with those around us, or else there are definite penalties we must suffer also. These penalties take many forms including earthly problems. Why are there these penalties? We will be looking at this in later lessons. But two answers that we must consider are:
(I Chronicles 16:14)"The Lord is our God, His commands are for all the world."
God really knows what he's doing or "Father knows best."
(Luke 17:20-21)Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. His answer was; "The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to be seen. No one will say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!'; because the Kingdom of God is within you."
Since we do not have control of our future, we need to act according to his plan for us, and to know the best way to.
(Psalms 27:4)"'I have asked the Lord for one thing only do I want' to live in the Lord's house all my life, and to marvel there at his goodness, and to ask for his guidance."
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