The Born again experience

golfjack · Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2005 11:30 am Post subject: The Born again experience

Just as God is triparite (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and just as His tabernacle is triparite (Outer Court, Holy Place and Holy of Holies), so we are triparite. We have a Physical Body or shell made of flesh and bones, and a soul which comprises our mind, will and emotions, and a spirit.

The spirit of a man is, by default, dead because of sin (Romans 3:10,23; 5:12; 7:9). This means that his spirit is cut off from God. His spirit is not dead in the usual sense of the word, like a dead dod or cat, all stiff, cold and motionless.

If you think about it, spirits of men who are cast into hell are not lifeless. No, they live and suffer for eternity, separated from God. Conversely, spirits of men who enter heaven live there for eternity with God. Simply put, one is reconciled to God, the other is not.

IT IS OUR SPIRIT THAT GETS BORN AGAIN. Jesus said that unless one is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God (John 3:3-7). Now, we know that Jesus was not talking about natural, physical rebirth but spiritual rebirth.

So, when a person is saved, by simply believing in his heart and confessin with his mouththat Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9). his dead human spirit is made alive by the power of God ( 1 Cor. 15:22, Ephesians 2:1, Colossians 2:13). From a dead cut off from God state, his spirit now has the life of God and is reconciled to God.

How come? Simply because it was the spirit part of you that got born again, not your physical body, not your soul (mind, will and emotions). In short, it is as Jesus said, a spiritual rebirth (John 3:5,6).

Now, your body and soul can and ought to be progressively changed toom to line up with the Word of God. For example, if your body is always sickly, you can now, as a child of God, claim God's promises of healing and health, and begin to live in divine health.

At the same time, if your mind is used to believing that gives siockness, then you ought to renew your mind (Romans 12:2) in this area by reading the Bible and learning that God does not do that, and that, on the contrary, He wants His children to be healthy and strong ( 3 John 1:2).

Where the body and soul are concerned, the responsibility seems to lie with us to do something about them. That is why we go to Church, listen to Bible-based sermons, study the Bible, pray and so on, to renew our minds and body, to line them up with the Word of God, and to place them under the control of the Spirit (Romans 8:12-14, 12:2).

SALVATION HAS TO DO WITH JESUS: If we contrast the rebirth or born again experence with the baptism in the Holy Spirit, we need to understand that in the former, the focus is Jesus, not the Holy Spirit.

Indeed, when you want to to get someone saved, you preach to him Jesus as Lord and Savior. You talk about Jesus' birth through the virgin Mary. You talk about Jesus' miraculous ministry on earth. You talk about Jesus' sufferings and death on the cross. You talk about Jesus' burial and resurrectioon. You talk about forgiveness of sins for all who call on the name of the Lord Jesus. And finally, you ask the sinner if he wants to receive and confess Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

The focus is thus Jesus, not the Holy Spirit. So, in the salvation experience, what or who the new believer receives Jesus his Lord and Savior. He is not asked if he wants to receive the Holy Spirit as his Lord and Savior, you will be saved. Neither does it say that all who call on the name of the Holy Spirit shall be saved.

When a person receives Jesus as Lord and Savior aat the rebirth or in the born-again experience, he receives the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enters the new believer and resides or dwells in his regenerated spirit (John 14:17, 1 Cor. 3:16, 2 Cor. 1:22). Stop and think for a moment: How can the Spirit of God, which is perfectly pure and holy, reside in a man? The answer is simple: The blood of Christ has washed him so clean that the Holy Spirit can actually reside in Him permanently. PRAISE GOD!

With the indwelling of the Holy Spirit also comes the nine fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temporance (Galatins 5:22,23). These are character traits, so to speak. That is why, when a person is born again, there will be something positively different about him in terms of His character, personality and behavior.

But this comes about because of the man's recreated spirit (2 Cor. 5:17, Galations 6:15). and the Holy Spirit in Him, and the nine fruits He brings. It is not because his personality and habits were born again.

THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT. You see there is a difference. In the spiritual rebirth, the sinner is asking Jesus, and not the Holy Spirit, to save him. The focus is thus Jesus. In the baptism in the Holy Spirit, the focus is the Holy Spirit. If anyone whats to discuss this, I will be happy to explain. One thing, does the believer have to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit? A thousand times NO.

JESUS IS LORD!!!!!!! golfjack

thunder · Lion King Joined: 13 Sep 2003 Posts: 1222

Golfjack ... are you saying that there are no born again christians in prison for lieing, stealing, cheating, murdering, etc.?

If there are born again christians in prison, where are their fruit and gifts of the spirit?

thunder

golfjack · Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2005 5:53 pm Post subject: Born again experience

I am not saying that a born again Christian can't be in jail. You see, in Galations 5:19 the works of the flesh are in the Heart of an unbeliever. There is the problem. This is why Jesus died on a cross so we can obtain the rightiousness of Jesus Christ. We are declared holy, sanctified, kingly, priestly by the blood of Jesus Christ. This is how the Father looks at us. He doesn't see sin because we have been forgiven of ALL sin (past, present, and future).

Does this mean that we still sin? Paul says: certainly not. You see, our flesh is at war with Spirit. Paul said that the flesh is unprofitable. Paul in Galations is admonising the believers to walk in the Spirit. An unbeliever has a nature of sin, but a believer has no nature of sin. If he did, the Holy Spirit could not live there. When we do an act of sin, remember we have an advacate (Jesus Christ).

May God bless, golfjack