Posts Tagged ‘Good Shepherd’
Why You Must First Be Born Again
John 3:3 KJV
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John 3:4,7-10,12 KJV
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? [7] (Jesus answered) Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. [8] The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. [9] Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? [10] Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? [12] If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
Did you ever wonder why Jesus answered Nicodemus the way He did, jumping right in to the need to be born again? I mean, should He have not told Him about accepting Jesus as Savior in order to be saved?
You see, Jesus knew about how the natural (unsaved) man could not understand the things of the Spirit of God unless he was first born again. Actually Jesus hinted at this very need in a number of conversations with the Scribes and Pharisees.
This small conversation with Nicodemus should be enough proof of the need for anyone, who wants to hear and understand the words of Jesus, being born again is the first thing needed. Want more scriptural proof? OK, read the following scriptures.
Speaking to scribes and Pharisees in chapter 8, the conversation goes like this…
John 8:25-27,42-47 KJV
Then said they unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning. [26] I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. [27] They understood not that he spake to them of the Father. [42] Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. [43] Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. [44] Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. [45] And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. [46] Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? [47] He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
Then in chapter 10…
John 10:24-27 KJV
Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. [25] Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. [26] But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. [27] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
The only way one can belong to God, to be a sheep in His flock, is by being born again. Only then will you hear, understand and believe on Jesus.
Simply put, one must first be born again to belong to God, to be able to hear, understand and believe the words of Jesus, to be known by Him and to follow Him having answered the call of the gospel.
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God, nor hear and understand what Jesus says, and be able to believe on Him to be Lord and Savior. How about you, have you truly been born again?
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Knowing God’s Elect
What is amazing is that the average “Christian” of today does not like to talk about the theology of election as it is a teaching that does not allow man to believe in a doctrine of salvation in which he cannot, and does not, participate. The thing is that there are numerous Scripture verses that mention or talk about this very act of salvation.
However, in the 1st letter to the Thessalonians there is a little read and often overlooked verse that speaks volumes about election. In the 1st chapter and verse 4 the Apostle Paul writes the following:
4 knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.
And the word for “election” here means “divine selection or being chosen”, but the amazing thing is that Paul follows up this statement with the reason “why” he knows that they have been elected by God for salvation. In verse five we read:
5 For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance,
So, what is so important about this you might ask. Anyone can “preach” the word or the gospel of salvation but it always takes the power of the Holy Spirit to effectually make it work in saving the elect. Again, Paul makes this comparison in the very next chapter in 1 Thessalonians and in verse 13 we read:
13 For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.
It is because of the Word, working in an effective manner in those whom God chooses, do they believe for “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10: 17). The question, then, is this. Who are they who will hear? The answer is quite easy. In the Gospel of John and in Chapter 8 Jesus is talking to the Pharisees and discussing with them about Who He is. I won’t quote the whole of Scripture, especially verses 42 through 47, you can look that up yourself, for the important verse at which we must look is the latter part of verse 46 and then verse 47. For in them we read the following:
46 ….. why do you not believe Me? 47 He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”
By these verses we see very clearly that unless one belongs to God they will not “hear” the words of God. In addition in Chapter 10 of the Gospel of John Jesus makes another very clear statement. In talking about being the “Good Shepherd” Jesus says this in verses 14 through 16:
14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
His sheep – they who belong to Him – will hear His voice and will respond to Him in an effectual and favorable way of submission to His Lordship, and in the receiving of the forgiveness of sins and salvation from facing the wrath of God. As Jesus says in chapter 6: 37 of the Gospel of John:
37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
All who are named in God’s election, the Word of God will work in them in a powerful way in making them alive in the spirit, in giving them a new heart that will grant them the ability to respond to the call of the Good Shepherd, and they will “hear” his voice and will come to Him and follow Him; all because God has chosen to elect they who will be saved. Even though no one deserves to be saved.
Yes, we can know God’s elect. For only in them will we see that the “gospel did not come to them in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance,”. God does elect they who will be saved. If He does not do so… no one would be saved. For man, of his own will, would never choose to be saved.
Are you among God’s elect? Did the Word of God come to you in power with the effectual working of the Holy Spirit? If you have confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and have believed in your heart that God the Father has raised Him from the dead, and if you have you called upon Jesus as Lord in submission to Him then you can know that you have the assurance of God’s saving grace and that you, too, have been forgiven for your sins and are now in God’s hands for all eternity. That is the assurance of God’s working power in your salvation because you are among the elect of God..
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