The New Birth

"A NEW HEART also will I give you, and A NEW SPIRIT will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. AND I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT WITHIN YOU, and CAUSE YOU to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them." Ezekiel 36:26,27.

We were born sinners and in need of redemption. God robed Himself with flesh in the Lord Jesus Christ, who came to bare away our sin.

He gives us a new heart, a new spirit, and puts His Spirit within us, enabling us by His Holy Spirit of Grace (Heb 10:29) to walk with Him in holiness. He "causes us" to walk in His Word - His law.

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20.

The old man of sin was crucified with Christ, so that we may walk in newness of life. When His Spirit lives within us, we are empowered by His Spirit to obey His Word.

The mark of false religion, is the idea of earning our own salvation, by our own works. "...the plowing of the wicked is sin." Proverbs 21:4. As long as we are in bondage to sin, it is impossible to earn our own salvation.

Jesus said, "Not every one that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven.

MANY will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? AND IN THY NAME DONE MANY WONDERFUL WORKS?

And then will I profess unto them, I NEVER KNEW YOU: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." (lawlessness) Matthew 7:21-23.

Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." John 3:3.

When we are born of His Spirit, we become His children, having His life within us. And our Father knows us, because, we are His children. And we know Him - "And I will give them an heart to know me, that, I AM the Lord..." Jeremiah 24:7.

We are incapable of earning our own salvation, because, we are sinners. It is by putting our faith in the works of the sinless Lamb of God - the Lord Jesus Christ, that, we are brought into the Father's Kingdom.

First, we must agree with God, that, we are sinners. Then, we believe, that, Jesus bore our sin upon the cross. Finally, we receive Him as our Lord, inviting His Spirit to live within us.

This brings us to eternal life, and we will live with Him in His Kingdom forever!

I thank you for your faithfulness to The Word and the clarity of your posts.

Who are the Bereans?
Eddie

I am running into more and more atheists, and those who say, that, Jesus is "a god" in Christian forums.

Also, Catholics, that, believe, they are born again, because, they were baptized in water.

At www.canadiancontent.net, there are more atheists, than, Christians.

God has His sheep, that, need to know the Truth.

I overhead a disscussion at work where between a Jehovah witness and a Christian. The Christian was saying to the Jehovah witness that he did not know Jesus. The Jehovah witness was saying he did.

As I went in to talk I said "can I ask you a question" to the Jehovah witness. He replied yes you can". I ask him "where is Jesus in your life". He replied "here, there and everywhere".

I asked the Christian "can I ask you a question" he replied "yes". "Where is Jesus in your life". He replied "he is my heart". I then turned to the Jehovah witness and asked him to ask me where Jesus is in my life. He asked and I replied "he is in my heart". This I told is why we say you don't know Jesus because if you did you would say he is in your heart.

That is what being born from above is. Your heart is made knew. The old heart is gone, you now get a new heart with a new Throne and Jesus sits on the Throne.

Know can I ask you a question where is Jesus in your life. Is here, there and everywhere or is he in your heart.

Although He is in my heart, He is much more, He is my life, my new nature, my new life, He is the Person of God Himself the Son of God, making me a son of God by The Seed of God being born again in me. There are not enough words to bring forth the worth, the hope and the love that the Christ in me is, His life is now my life.

In Christ my all in all: Phillip

I then turned to the Jehovah witness and asked him to ask me where Jesus is in my life. He asked and I replied "he is in my heart".

I've actually seen two Russellites staggered by this simple truth. They singled out my friend Dan, who was but a babe in Christ at the time (he must have been thought of an easy kill for them, like two jackals creeping up on a lame antelope) and they began bedazzling him with scripture references to Daniel and future kingdom dates and Messianic prophecies showing Jesus had come back in 1914 with his invisible kingdom. "But how can this be?" he asked the two witnesses.

"So, where is Jesus right now?" they shot back, "according to this verse, and this timeline and these calculations we just went through..."

"He's in me" was all he said. The two were floored. I am an eye-witness to this, because it happened in my kitchen. Their mouths popped open like fish. I tell you, the silence was awkward, and they shot a glance at each other. Finally, one of them started flipping pages in his bible and said, "Yes, but we also need to consider [i]these[/i] others verses in light of their contexts and..."

But it was clear what had happened. See, I don't think telling people Jesus lives in your [i]heart[/i] is as nearly effective as simply saying He lives [b]in your body[/b] as a whole. Period. When you mention "heart" and Jesus in the same sentence you can appear as a banal religious person. Everyone has Jesus in their "hearts": millions of Roman Catholics, Mormons, the "[i]spirit[/i] of Jesus" dwells in the hearts of Kaballists - or so they believe - and even according to the beliefs of some New Agers. But when you simply say "Christ lives in me" such a witness takes on a whole new sphere of power; it denotes more than just a lame country-and-western song (how many godless country songs have the "Jesus in the heart" concept mixed into their lyrics). This is nothing more than a platitudinous, sappy "heart and soul" feeling as unregenerate man sees it, and skeptics can easily trounce it.

Do rods turn into snakes, Do severed hands write upon walls, Do fish swallow wayward prophets? Do donkeys talk? Do virgins conceive? Do men walk upon water? Do men rise from the dead? YES!!!

"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us, which are saved, it is the power of God." 1 Cor 1:18.

The preaching of the Gospel, will, always, be foolishness to those who perish, but, I will preach it anyway.

Well, here we go...Though, I come from an extended family, of six doctors and six nurses, Jesus has been my Healer, for, almost forty years!

According to Mark 16:17,18, by His Spirit within me, I have healed the sick, cast out demons, and raised one man from the dead.

Why? Because I believe God's Word.

2 Tim 3:16 in the Greek, says, "All Scripture is GOD BREATHED..."

When is the last time, that, you heard your preacher, teach Mark 16:17,18?

"And these signs SHALL follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they SHALL speak with new tongues; They SHALL take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it
SHALL not hurt them; they SHALL lay hands on the sick, and they SHALL recover."

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." Romans 10:17.

When is the last time, that, you heard your preacher, teach Mark 16:17,18?

On just about every broadcast on TBN.

How about your preacher?

How about your preacher?

Brother, I don't have a preacher (I myself am a preacher); but I do have a pastor who heads a fellowship I serve in if that is what you mean. He preaches the full counsel of God.

It's a matter of obedience to all of God's Word.

I don't mean to sound harsh in the posts, but I think I see where all this is heading. I think the Western chuch has enough fantastical Mark 16 extrapolations while at the same time being devoid of true holiness and sobriety and humilty. The fact that Mark 16 is brought forth with an unsolicitated blazing gun of self-witness shows something to be amiss.

The gospel is supernatural, but miracles take a back seat to purity and self-control. Judas saw all the miracles of Jesus and hanged himself. The disciples all forsook Him after witnessing 3 and a half years of Mark 16:17-18. Let's be sober here and focus on the [i]real[/i] meat of the matter: humilty, purity, self-discipline, the solemn issues of the inward things of the heart.

It's a matter of obedience to all of God's Word.

If all of God's Word is obeyed proportionately, Mark 16 will be put in a proper perspective and the manifestation of the supernatural not elevated to heights it was never meant to attain.

Jesus said, that, these signs would follow them that believe.

It is a question of faith in His Word.

Jesus said, that, these signs would follow them that believe.

Absolutely! And I've seen the signs, I've seen them in church, on the street while preaching, at home while praying. Miracles, healings, demons cast out, instant weather changes. Amazing things to give God glory for. But I have learned not to dwell on them. In just about every case when a sign occured, it was spontaneous. Unless, of course, when we were praying for something in specific and God instantly answered the prayer.

I give God glory and move on. I don't like talking about them, because I know the unhealthy perversion that can come from it, and I certainly don't like mentioning myself in it, because the temptation is always there to steal some glory like Hezekiah and the sunshadow.

Do you know how you can steal the glory?

All you have to do is [i]think[/i] to yourself, this miracle happened because [i]I[/i] prayed for it or had faith or whatever. It's so subtle you won't even realize it at first. It grows in the dark like a cancer. You begin to trust in your faith more than in God who gives the faith. I was once praying for a Jewish friend that God would grant him repentance and give him to Christ, when I heard the Spirit's voice tell me that if God saved him as I was praying it would do much harm to me. It would cause me to boast secretly in my prayer.

When the miraculous happens, it happens, but I don't chase after it, I don't major on it, I don't preach ornately upon it. It's simply ancillary to everything else in ministry, and the Word takes ultimate precedence always and in everything. We should give miracles and the supernatural the same priority as the Bible does. When the seventy returned fired-up that demons were being cast out in Christ's Name, Jesus brought them back on track and got their vision refocused on the heavely things above. Personally, I couldn't care less about about gifts when fruit is in question. Gifts can destroy you, but the same can never be said of fruit.

What do you think?

I agree with you...I don't major on the supernatural either. I've heard many things, that, don't line up with God's Word.

Many Pentecostals follow emotion, rather, than God's Word...

We must be very careful not to follow our own hearts:

"Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.

For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.

Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death." Pro 7:25-27.

A few years ago, in Canada, they were barking like dogs...The Holy Spirit would never condescend to that.

We must line up with His "God Breathed" Word. 2 Tim 3:16.

If you have noticed, there is more and more spiritualism on television...we must be very careful.

But, on the other side, I have seen much unbelief in many churches.

Dr. R.C. Sproul said, that, they hardly teach the Word in seminaries anymore...a sign of the end.

I have SkyAngel, and am disappointed by the entertainment, basic Gospel messages, and comedy.

We are in a spiritual warfare with the powers of darkness. Can you imagine, Jesus or the Apostles entertaining the multitudes?

Also, I am in many Christian forums...some, seem to be more social clubs, than, anything else. I'm not saying, that, there isn't a place for that...but, I believe, that, the time is short.

We need to be as the Bereans, and study the Scriptures, daily, so that we will be full of God's Word.

My passion is to embrace His every Word, and to teach His Word to others. In most forums, I am "Herald."

If His Word steps on my toes, than, I will repent.