Posts Tagged ‘Lord’
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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How Deep Is Your Trust In God
Trust is a word that is not used that much in biblical teaching these days, yet it is central to the faith of all of God’s elect. For without faith no one would be able to trust in the Lord, and the level of faith that one has will determine how deep is their trust in God.
One of the first verses that I ever learned as a new disciple of Jesus is the following from Proverb 3: 5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
Once learned, however, I started to wonder about how does one trust and from where does it come? In looking up the definition of “trust” I learned that, basically, it is a level of confidence that someone has in another person; confident in the fact that what someone has said they would do they will actually do.
So, the question is this, “how does one gain trust?” If we believe what we are told from someone in whom we have faith that they speak truth, will we not trust in them to do what they say? But wait a minute. From where comes this faith? Where does it originate?
In thinking this I remembered another verse that was one of the early ones that I took as a guide in growing with Jesus in my walk with Him. It came from Hebrews 11: 1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith – the substance of things hoped for. It is evidence that generates our trust. Here we can see the connection. Depending on our level of faith will determine how deep is our trust. Where, then, do we get this faith?
Here is where I like reading the 1599 Geneva Bible, because in it the translation makes more sense, and I believe is more accurate, than any modern language. One verse that is in all translations is this – Romans 10: 17
Then faith is by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Knowing from where faith comes sure helps because our faith – faith that we think we have – is considered as nothing. Unless God gives us the ability to hear and understand the Word of God, we will not grow any faith, and only perfect faith is the faith that God will accept; for we are imperfect people and any faith that we have is an imperfect faith. If we cannot generate any faith that God will allow from where, then, does this faith come?
In Romans 3: 20-22 we read (pay special attention to verse 22 and the parts that are in bold lettering)
20 Therefore by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the Law cometh the knowledge of sin.
21 But now is the righteousness of God made manifest without the Law, having witness of the Law, and of the Prophets,
22 To wit, the righteousness of God by the faith of Jesus Christ, unto all, and upon all that believe.
Now you might think that this is a lot to read but it shows from where the “faith” originates that we need to not only believe in Jesus but to also “trust” in Him as we grow and walk with Him.
We are given the “faith” of Jesus, which is a perfect faith and the only faith that God will accept. Think of this. We come to God and we say that we have our own faith by which we believe. Another one comes and says “Lord the only faith that I have to offer is the faith of Jesus given to me so that I could believe”. Which faith do you think God the Father will accept?
Which one would you accept?
When we come to Christ and bow to Him as Lord and receive Him as Savior we can only do so by faith; faith that we cannot generate because we are spiritually dead and can do nothing to please God. So we are given the gift of faith with which to believe:
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God – Ephesians 2: 8
With this gift of faith, faith that comes from Jesus, we are not only given the ability to believe in Him but we also learn to “trust” in Him. In our walk with Jesus we will learn to have confidence that He will do what He says He will do, and it is with the “faith of Jesus”, given as a gift, with which we can then live our lives in trusting the Lord with all our hearts, not trusting in our own understanding, and in all things that come our way – the highs and the lows, the good and the bad, the rough path and easy road – and in “all” of these things we will have the faith to trust in God no matter what the situation.
So, the more “faith” that we have, the faith of Jesus that was given to us as a gift, the more “trust” we will have in the Lord our God. Faith and trust go together. You cannot have deep trust without perfect faith. Faith is a gift. God takes the faith of Jesus and gives it to us and with this perfect faith we can have trust in our Lord. When we “Trust in the Lord with all our heart” we do so with the “faith of Jesus”.
As we grow in our walk with our Lord we will begin to see our faith increase from the highs and lows that we experience, as we see the Lord working in our lives in all our ways, and we will also notice, and acknowledge, a deeper trust in our Lord in reigning over our lives, and we will find ourselves heading down paths that we normally have not taken with a trust that says, “wherever you lead I will follow”.
Faith is a gift and trust is the evidence of that faith. Why would anyone want to trust in their own imperfect faith when the faith of Jesus is the only true faith that provides us with the ability to trust in our Lord?
So, how deep is your faith? I guess it will depend on whose faith you are trusting…
Riff's Christian Journal 