What does it mean to be born again? We are studying the book of Acts and the book of John at church. Both books have testimonies of being born again. What does it look like? What happens? How do you know you are born again? Who tells you that you are a new creation?
In the book of Acts, Saul (Paul) was an enemy of the gospel. He was a murderer and his heart was filled with hate. He started off on a mission to destroy the disciples of the Lord......little did he know that God had other plans. "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand," Proverbs 19:21. Paul met the Lord on his way to bind the disciples. He fell to the ground when God's unapproachable light shone around him. I wonder if Paul had ever thought what he would like to say to God before this experience? Do you think you will be able to speak when in the presence of God? Talk back to the Almighty? No way! You will fall on your face! Some people have so much built up pride that they think they will get before the Lord one day, and actually accuse him as they did on earth or give Him excuses for their behavior. Quite the opposite will happen, my friend. ALL will bow their knee before him at the judgement seat of God. Paul was a "chosen instrument" of God's to proclaim His name (Acts 9:15). The Lord blinded Paul for three days after this encounter. God then sent Ananias to pray over Paul to regain sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Acts 9:18, it says "and immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight." This is a tremendous example of how our lives should change when we are born again. God OPENS our eyes to HIS truth!! The blinding lies of the world are taken away and truth and reality are finally SEEN! We are changed, made new, transformed from darkness to light! Just as Paul had seen the light, so are we to see it and proclaim it. Paul was a changed man. Radically changed, unrecognizable to all who knew him. The disciples at Jerusalem were afraid of him! They couldn't believe that Paul could be a disciple! How did your life change when you were born again? Did your family and friends see the dramatic difference and transformation in your life? Did they ask what happened to you??
I listened to a sermon recently on Times Square Church's website and this is what was preached regarding being born again: Paul's life was transformed and made new-his
DEVOTION, his
DESIRES, his
DECISIONS, his
DIRECTIONS, and his
DESTINY were changed!! If you are a born again Christian, how have your devotions changed? your desires? your decisions? your direction in life? your destiny?
What are you
devoted to in your life? What a person is devoted to is the essence of who they are as a person. It defines who you are! Are there changes in your focus from self to God? Conversion is a supernatural occurrence! It is life changing in that everything in you want is to worship God, acknowledge Him, know Him. Your soul is given over to pure devotion to the Lord.
What are your
desires in life? Do they involve obeying and serving God or are they focused on your happiness and wants and comforts on this earth? Do you desire to do God's will? When you are born again, HIS desires become your desires, your desires become HIS desires. You begin to do as Jesus did, go where he went, obey what he commanded. You WANT to go where Jesus went! Where did Jesus go, you ask? He went to the sick, the poor, the hungry, the needy, the dying, the fatherless, and the widows!
1 John 2:15-17 says, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. for all that is in the world- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life- is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."
Paul had a
decision to make. The Lord told him to
"rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do" (Acts 9:6). Would he obey the Lord or continue on his own path? Paul started off his journey going in the wrong direction, down the wrong path. The Lord stopped him and had him turn around. Are you going in the right
direction? Are you on the correct path? Jesus says there are two paths that
both have arrows pointing to heaven. However, only one path leads to heaven! The other leads to Hell.
“Enter by
the NARROW gate. For the gate is
WIDE and the way is EASY that leads to DESTRUCTION, and those who enter by it
are MANY. For the gate is NARROW and the way is HARD that leads to LIFE,
and those who find it are FEW.” Matthew 7:13-14. You can turn around, you don't have to live and die in your sin. Repent! Stop fighting with your flesh and let go! Believe on the Lord and you shall be saved! Find the narrow path! It won't be full of earthly pleasures and belongings- it is a hard, rocky path, with suffering- but it leads to Jesus! The wide road is full of people and pleasures of this world- it is a delightful, comfortable path, full of worldly belongings and desires and "feel good" sermons......but it leads to destruction. The road says it leads to heaven, but it is a lie of Satan....be sure you are on the narrow path- it's a hard path to follow and few will be with you..... but at the end you will find life.
Paul's direction changed and so did his destiny! When you are supernaturally born again by the Holy Spirit, He comes and lives in you- The Spirit is a "GUARANTEE of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it," Ephesians 1:14. The Holy Spirit transforms your heart. You are not what you used to be! You are a new creation, a new person. You are now a part of God's temple and His Spirit dwells in you (1 COR 3:16).
So how do you know that you are born again? The Spirit tells you! There is no doubting. The Spirit is the one who testifies and the Spirit is the truth (1 John 5:6). You have absolute inner knowledge of your salvation! No MAN on earth can tell you that you are saved. Please don't rely on men or customs of the church in our day. Don't fall for "praying a prayer" or "asking Jesus into your heart". Don't rely on those words you said in church that day. Rely on God's Spirit through His Word. Sure, you can make a declaration of faith, and you should. But test yourself to be sure you are in the faith. Your life will be transformed, you won't be the same person you were the day before. What are you devoted to? What are your desires? Are you walking in the correct direction on the narrow path? What destiny does your path lead you to? There is only two paths and only two places for you to dwell in eternity- heaven or hell. If you have any doubts about which path you are traveling on, pray and ask God to show you HIS narrow path. Surrender your desires to God's desires. God will give you the desires of your heart, when your desires match His. Do your desires on this earth match up with the Word of God and the teachings of Jesus Christ? You don't have to do this on your own, the Spirit will stir in your heart the desires and give you the power to delight in God. The Spirit reveals God to us and it will bring forth the power and desire to do as He commands! The great preacher, Spurgeon, once said that those "who delight in God desire or ask nothing but what will please God." And if you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you, it will please you too!!!
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart," Psalm 37:4.
A. W. Tozer warned: “It is my opinion that tens of thousands of people, if not millions, have been brought into some kind of religious experience by accepting Christ, and they have not been saved.”
The mantra of “just accept Christ” and everything is taken care of is leading millions of souls into a false assurance of salvation and a destiny in Hell.
There is only two groups of people- children of the Kingdom of God and children of Satan. Which
group do you belong?
