HOW CAN ONE BE BORN AGAIN
Have
you been born again? Call it conversion, call it commitment, call it
repentance, call it being saved, but has it happened to you? Does Christ live
in your heart? Do you know it? Many people have thought a long time about
religion and Christianity and yet have never made a commitment. Are you
committed to Jesus Christ?
Nicodemus must have been stunned when Jesus said, “You
must be born again.” It wouldn’t seem shocking if Christ had said that to
Zacchaeus the tax collector or to the thief on the cross or to the woman caught
in adultery. But Nicodemus was one of the great religious leaders of his time.
Still, he was searching for reality.
You may go to church, but perhaps you are still searching.
There is an empty place in your heart, and something inside tells you that
you’re not really right with God. Nicodemus fasted two days a week. He spent
two hours every day in prayer. He tithed. Why did Jesus say that Nicodemus must
be born again? Because He could read the heart of Nicodemus. Jesus saw that
Nicodemus had covered himself with religion but had not yet found fellowship
with God.
The Root of Our Problems
What causes all of our troubles in the world–lying and
cheating and hate and prejudice and social inequality and war? Jesus said, “But
those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they
defile a man” (Matthew 15:18). He said the problem is in our hearts; our hearts
need to be changed.
Psychologists, sociologists and psychiatrists all recognize
that there is something wrong with humankind. Many words in Scripture describe
it. Among them is the word transgression:
“Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4, KJV). What law? The Law of
Moses, the Ten Commandments. Have you ever broken one of those Commandments?
Then you are guilty of having broken them all (James 2:10).
The word sin carries with it the idea of missing the mark,
coming short of our duty, failure to do what we ought to do. The Bible says,
“All unrighteousness is sin” (1 John 5:17, KJV). And yet before we can get to
heaven, we must have righteousness. God says, “Be perfect as I am perfect, holy
as I am holy” (Matthew 5:48, 1 Peter 1:16).
Where are we going to get that perfection? We don’t have
it now, yet we can’t get to heaven if we don’t have it. That is why Christ died
on the cross; He shed His blood and rose again to provide righteousness for us.
Another word is iniquity,
which means to turn aside from the straight path. Isaiah said, “All we like
sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord
has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
It is popularly and commonly known that “a
journey of a thousand miles begins with just a step”, so being a born again has
a starting point. This is to say that there are things or you obviously needs
to start somewhere else.
Now, we are precisely going to
talk about the ‘how to repent”. Of course, many individuals, persons,
traditionalists, atheist etc have been aspiring to repent but don’t even know
where to start. Many still surf for the ways to repent but it proved to no
avail.
Previously, we lamented on the
three letters all personalities mustn’t joke with, and it has been the same
issue youths of our days encounter. In our current dispensation, so many things
happen, people are dying, some are being born, so many are sitting helplessly
in an hospital bed, few can only carter for themselves, majority are living in
an abject poverty etc, having realizing these issues, you’d realize that
it is only repentance can solve this problems.
WHAT IS REPENTANCE?
Generally, the word repentance simply means to the fact of showing that you are sorry for something wrong that you did. Now come to think of it, did we ever do anything wrong? To who have we wronged? Are we all offenders?
It is obvious that a lot people from different local circumstances do not or are still wondering around the walls regarding what this Repentance really is. This is to say that there is need to fathom what it really means. (ABSTAIN FROM EVIL DEEDS AND THOUGHTS)
The soonest you’d provide answers
to those question the better for this unavoidable thing to do. Since men are
not known to be a perfect fellow, it simply means that we all do wrong. The
moment we are perfect, there is every possibility that we must be in a mess
(sin). You might not regard this, but I tell you today that every man is a
sinner, and we have wronged only man, and that person is JESUS. Everyday going
by, we do our own thing without seeking for that man’s (JESUS) wishes and
consent.
WHO
IS JESUS?
I wouldn’t be surprised if there
are some persons who haven’t heard about Him yet. This is probably because
there are some categories of persons called the Atheist. Is that really
possible? Yes I thought. There are some persons who hadn’t known about JESUS
CHRIST.
JESUS
CHRIST is the only son of GOD. He’s the
same Man who came and died for us, for our sins, He’s blood is the only
cleansing bam that could clean and wash away our sins.
The Mystery
There is a mystery to the new birth. Jesus said, “The wind
blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it
comes from and where it goes” (John 3:8). But you can see the result. Jesus did
not attempt to explain the new birth to Nicodemus; our finite minds cannot
understand the infinite. We come by simple childlike faith, and we put our
faith in Jesus Christ. When we do, we are born again.
Are YOU SURE OF YOUR SALVATION?
It
happens this way. First we have to hear the Word of God. “Faith comes by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). That is the first
step. “It pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save
those who believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21). It sounds foolish that words from a
Bible have the power to penetrate our hearts and change our lives, but they do,
because they are God’s holy words.
Then there is the work of the Holy Spirit. He convicts:
“And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness,
and of judgment” (John 16:8). He changes us. He changes our wills, our
affections, our objectives for living, our disposition. He gives us a new
purpose and new goals. “Old things pass away, and everything becomes new” (Cf.
2 Corinthians 5:17). Then He indwells us: “Do you not know that you are the
temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” Does God the Holy
Spirit live in you?
Jesus Christ says that we must be born again. How do we
become born again? By repenting of sin. That means we are willing to change our
way of living. We say to God, “I’m a sinner, and I’m sorry.” It’s simple and
childlike. Then by faith we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master and
Savior. We are willing to follow Him in a new life of obedience, in which the
Holy Spirit helps us as we read the Bible and pray and witness.
If there is a doubt in your mind about whether you have
been born again, I hope you will settle it now, because the Bible says in 2
Corinthians 6:2, “Now is the accepted time; … [today] is the day of salvation.”
HOW TO REPENT
They are so many ways to be a
born again if you have read the above articles you will know better. To repent,
you will have to follow these few steps;
ADMIT
You need to admit that you are a
sinner, “For all (humans) have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”.
Also, the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 3:23, 6:23).
REPENT
For Repent ye therefore, and be
converted, that your sins may be blotted out for if we confess our sins, He’s
faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteous
(Acts 3:19, 1st John 1:9).
BELIEVE
That God loves you and Jesus died
for you. God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
INVITE
Specifically invite Jesus into your life through prayer of faith. Jesus says,
“Behold I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice and open the
door, I (Jesus) will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me”
(Revelation 3:20). Then after that, believe that you are saved.
What Does It Mean To Be “Saved”?
and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised him from the
dead, thou shalt be saved” Romans 10:9
be made completely whole. If you verbally acknowledge Jesus
Christ as your Lord and Savior, and believe that He was raised
from the dead for the forgiveness of your sins, and to give you
eternal life, you can be made whole physically, mentally, and
spiritually. Only believe!
Dear God, I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins and was
raised from the dead on the third day. I ask You to forgive me of
all my sins past and present. I turn from my sins and ask Jesus
Christ to come into my body, soul, and spirit. I confess Jesus
Christ as my Lord and Savior and ask You to cleanse me with
Your blood. I ask You, O God, to completely fill me with your
Holy Spirit that I may know what it means to be “born again.”
I thank You for deliverance in every area of my life and I ask
You these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised him from the
dead, thou shalt be saved” Romans 10:9
be made completely whole. If you verbally acknowledge Jesus
Christ as your Lord and Savior, and believe that He was raised
from the dead for the forgiveness of your sins, and to give you
eternal life, you can be made whole physically, mentally, and
spiritually. Only believe!
Dear God, I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins and was
raised from the dead on the third day. I ask You to forgive me of
all my sins past and present. I turn from my sins and ask Jesus
Christ to come into my body, soul, and spirit. I confess Jesus
Christ as my Lord and Savior and ask You to cleanse me with
Your blood. I ask You, O God, to completely fill me with your
Holy Spirit that I may know what it means to be “born again.”
I thank You for deliverance in every area of my life and I ask
You these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Young man who loves surfing the internet, and spends much of his time to make be people happy, love talking alot, (comedian), Not too funny, but He can alwayz make u laugh like a baby, and also A researcher, I have profession in Researching and Creating/writing articles, Project and Ebooks.
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