You've Been Born Naturally

You've been born naturally but have you been born spiritually? What if you go to church, have answered an altar call, been baptized in water, and read a Bible? Does that mean you are "born again?" This is a very important question. Have you been born spiritually -- or "FROM ABOVE" -- as the American Standard Bible quotes in 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." I want the readers of this blog to examine their salvation experience. Why? Because you are basing all eternity on it! You're not basing eternity on you attending church. There's nowhere in the Bible that says you go to heaven if you attend church. Let that sink in. It says you go to heaven IF you've been born again (or born from above). What does that really mean? I'll explain, but first, 2 Corinthians states, "examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith." So, according to that verse, we will do that in this blog.

In John 3:2 a man named Nicodemus came to Jesus saying, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." In the conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus immediately points out that a complete regeneration is needed (being born again from above) IF Nicodemus wants to enter heaven. Jesus uses an analogy to birth. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus thought he understood Jesus as meaning literal childbirth, thus his remark that it would be impossible for a grown man to enter the womb again.
Jesus answers again with more clarity, "Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ” (Verses 5 – 7)” It is quite clear Jesus is referring to "spiritual" birth, which should be understood as a “birth from above.” No living person today can enter their mother's wombs again to be born. Therefore Jesus' reference to BEING BORN AGAIN is not literal.


It should also be understood that the term “born again” indicates a definite second step that has to be taken deliberately. It is not something that happens automatically. A person must be born of God or “born from above” to enter heaven. Jesus is actually warning us in the passage from Matthew that not everyone will go to heaven. Most people think He's referring to those sinners such as murderers or rapists, adulterers, etc. These verses are specifically addressing CHRISTIANS! How so? Watch carefully. He said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." NOTICE, Jesus isn't addressing Hindus, Buddhists, or Muslims here! These religious beliefs don't consider Jesus as their Lord, do they? Jesus is addressing those who call Him, Lord! There is only one set of people that consider Jesus their Lord ... Christians!! In Matthew 7:22 Jesus points out that many, that's M-A-N-Y will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in your name?" Tell me ... Do Hindu's prophecy in Jesus name? Has a Muslim who practices Islam ever cast out a demon in the name of Jesus? NO! Jesus is talking about people who call themselves Christians. Jesus continues, "And then I will declare to them, I NEVER knew you; depart from Me you who practice iniquity" (some versions have practice lawlessness). Many. and again I say many as Jesus said many, have accepted the ideology that Jesus is the Son of God, but have NEVER accepted Jesus as their Lord ("I NEVER knew you.") Those are two radically different things! The proof is, those who hold only to an ideology continue to live in their sin! There is no change in them.

So, how can YOU know if you've been spiritually born again from above? You can know. John tells us, "These things have I written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may KNOW that you have eternal life." Here's how you know. It's when your life has truly turned from who you were without regret, without question, hesitation, and without opposition. Many of us come to the altar in hopes of being saved. We recite all the prayers and say all the words we were told are needed IE: "Jesus I make you Lord and Savior of my life, come into my heart." Things are okay for a while, but some go right back into their old ways. MANY PEOPLE stay right there. That's key. They stay there. I'm addressing the "many" as Jesus did. They never change despite knowing better and they never seek to have a relationship with God because they believe that one trip to the altar locked in their salvation forever. But that isn't true! There is a definite second step that has to be taken deliberately. There are many who go the altar, say the prayer, and continue to live in and out of sin having no intentions of living a life in Christ. They may have even got baptized in water in the church and in front of the entire congregation! After my own trip to the altar in 1972, many years passed until I was actually born from above though I believed I was a Christian! I remained in the same sin I went to the altar for Jesus to forgive. I thought my altar call was enough. Had I died anywhere in that span of time and stood before Jesus, would He would have announced, "Depart from me, Pat, you were continually a worker of iniquity (sin/lawlessness). And I would have pleaded, "But Lord, didn't I start going to church? Wasn't I telling people about you? Wasn't I reading the Bible? Lord, I even got baptized in the church -in water- in front of everyone- remember? How can you reject me?" It's important to note, many well-meaning "Christians" come to the altar to be saved but the journey stops there! Instead, they remain in sin, having no conviction or desire to live right. Jesus rejects those that WORK iniquity (lawlessness/sin) as pointed out earlier. Other synonyms for the word WORK in the thesaurus is strive (in), cultivate, pursue. Some people claiming to be born again continually pursue sin. That's why I'm challenging Christians to examine their salvation experience. Why? Because you are basing all eternity on it!

So what is being born from above then? How can you honestly know you are? It's when you finally realize how miserable you are in your sin. When you can acknowledge you have no power over it. When you confess you NEED Jesus and surrender yourself fully to Him and humbly admit He has got to take control because you cannot. That is surrender. Many people sing, "I surrender all. I surrender all. All to Thee my blessed Savior I surrender all" but nothing could be further from the truth. To surrender is allowing Jesus to come into your heart and change you. You welcome it! Surrendering will be easy and obedience to Him something inviting. When you surrender your will to God, real change begins. Your goal in life will be fixed on things above. If you have doubts about whether you are really saved or not, you probably aren't. We should be shouting Christians, not doubting Christians. Somebody once said, if you could have it and not know it, you could lose it and not miss it. But the truth is, if you have salvation, you know it; and if you know it, you will not lose the knowledge of your salvation. Doubt is to your spirit what pain is to your body. Pain is a warning, a signal that something is wrong. SO IS DOUBT! "And hereby we do know that we know Him (and are saved) if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked (1 John 2:3-6).
Until next time,
-Pat-