You must be "Born Again"!

(John 3:7) “Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.”

There is a lot said about not much, “much to do about nothing”, people are opinionated and all need to be heard in some form or another, this equation adds up to the acceptance of ones self-worth in our own reckoning. But there is only one hope for mankind that will eventually excuse him from the wrath of God and His Eternal Judgement. The question we must ask is whether or not our name is found written in the Lambs Book of Life. Opinions will no longer count but only those found in that role call register will excuse those from a very daunting judgement.

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:12-15)

Unless a man is born again and sure of the fact but if doubt remains then be sure to wrestle with repentance in and through the Lord Jesus and His finished work on your behalf, until you are certain of the fact, let no sleep fill your eyes until you find assurance in Him! Maybe’s do not exist in the spiritual realm, neither does what others have to say to you on the subject, we either are or we are not born again, it cannot be, Yes and No! Or I think I am because someone says I am. I feel that yes maybe I am today but then tomorrow I am no longer certain! Salvation is a free gift; God gives it freely to those who receive it. But we must also be sober when considering salvation; as many will claim the right to God’s mercy on Judgement Day and sadly for them, these words will ring true, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:21-23)

God will not be mocked and He will have His vengeance, there is a day coming that will be frightening and yet glorious. Our great Saviour will be glorified and all His enemies cast into the Lake of Fire! How will we know for sure whether or not our names are written in the book of life, whether or not we have been truly born again?

These are thoughts on the topic by Spurgeon about 130 years ago...

“Ye must be born again.” – “Regeneration is a subject which lies at the very basis of salvation, and we should be very diligent to take heed that we really are “born again,” for there are many who fancy they are, who are not. Be assured that the name of a Christian is not the nature of a Christian; and that being born in a Christian land, and being recognized as professing the Christian religion is of no avail whatever, unless there be something more added to it-the being “born again,” is a matter so mysterious, that human words cannot describe it. “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.” Nevertheless, it is a change which is known and felt: known by works of holiness, and felt by a gracious experience. This great work is supernatural. It is not an operation which a man performs for himself: a new principle is infused, which works in the heart, renews the soul, and affects the entire man. It is not a change of my name, but a renewal of my nature, so that I am not the man I used to be, but a new man in Christ Jesus. To wash and dress a corpse is a far different thing from making it alive: man can do the one, God alone can do the other. If you have then, been “born again,” your acknowledgment will be, “O Lord Jesus, the everlasting Father, thou art my spiritual Parent; unless thy Spirit had breathed into me the breath of a new, holy, and spiritual life, I had been to this day ‘dead in trespasses and sins.’ My heavenly life is wholly derived from thee, to thee I ascribe it. ‘My life is hid with Christ in God.’ It is no longer I who live, but Christ who liveth in me.” May the Lord enable us to be well assured on this vital point, for to be unregenerate is to be unsaved, unpardoned, without God, and without hope.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

A question I will leave with you, do you above all things wrestle with this truth, are you totally persuaded that God is your Father and that you have been adopted into His family, have you received His Spirit and not some funny esoteric all encompassing spirit that you claim as your saving grace. That will be of no use to you on the majestic Day, the Day when God will expose the secrets of men’s hearts, without Christ’s covering all will fall short of the glory of God and be stripped naked of any self-worth they may have thought would have been of value to them before a Holy God. Without the covering of the blood of the Lamb, without any other confusing possibilities or permutations’ of “this and that”; the truth be known, they will all have the same result, failure before a Holy and Righteous God, and then every knee will bow and confess Jesus as lord! The trickery of the devil and the exploits of men will all be exposed as lies on that day, and be found wanting! And all who claim those practises will be cast into the “Lake of Fire”, where there will be a gnashing of teeth!

I encourage all to wrestle with repentance until adoption is sealed, until you are assured by God the Holy Spirit that you belong to God’s family, only when your love for Jesus and His accomplishment is as real as your necessity for regular daily meals can we with that man who was once blind, say “we can see”! It can never be guess work; we all need assurance of salvation! How would a child respond if one day his father disowned him and then the next day reclaimed his responsibility to him? In like manner where does any responsibility lie upon a father if someone else’s child needs discipline, it doesn’t! In fact if I was to discipline another man’s child I could well be brought up on a charge! In like manner God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to pay the price for sinner, but not for those outside of His family, only those who belong to Him will be lookout for by Him. Reject the Lord’s sacrifice and God will reject you, it is as simple as that! Let no opinion beguile you to think that hell is not a real place, it is a very real and all those who do not bend the knee to the Lord Jesus in this life will end up there!

The invitation to all is on the table, “whosoever will to the Lord may come He will not turn one away”, what will you do with it? Wrestle and cry out until you are heard for you will be heard, only cry to no other! THE LORD JESUS ONLY CAN SAVE!

Signing off

Tyrone