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The Amish Voice 6

Let me explain what I mean.

Suppose you came along one day and

said, “Joe, I am right in the middle of

getting born again, and this is how I’m

doing it…”

1. I changed a few areas of my life

and went from sinning nine times a

day, down to only three times a

day.

2. I am training my mind to think

more about God and heaven rather

than earthly things. Compared to a

year ago, I have come a long way.

3. The last few times the deacon

came around and asked for money,

I gave twice as much to the needs

of the church.

4. The Lord knows I have been doing

a lot better with my anger and

bitterness problem. I don't argue

near as much with my spouse and

family.

5. I got rid of all the things the church

doesn't want me to have.

6. I have joined the church, got

baptized, and, for the most part, I

have been a member in good

standing.

7. When I reflect back over my life, I

have to say, “I am not the same

person I used to be. Give me some

more time, and I will even get

better at this whole process of

becoming born again.”

Do you see how unreasonable these

answers really are? The truth is, God

requires much more than that. He

requires 100% perfection before He

allows us into His kingdom. Yes! 100%

perfection. Jesus said so Himself.

Matthew 5:48

Be ye therefore perfect,

even as your Father which is in heaven is

perfect.

That is why an extra thousand years of

physical life will never be enough time

for us to get it right. However, through

the death of Jesus Christ on the cross,

those who have been born again have

already been made perfect.

Hebrews 10:14

For by one offering He

[Jesus] hath perfected forever them that

are sanctified.

Sinning less than last year makes us

better but not perfect. Going to church,

giving more money, arguing less with my

spouse, being more friendly, reading

more Bible, being in a religious

community, or living a more simple and

humble lifestyle makes us better but not

perfect.

There is only one way to be perfect and

that is to experience the second birth that

Jesus talked to Nicodemus about. It must

take place before we die and go into

eternity. The Bible is clear: After death

comes the judgment.

Hebrews 9:27

And as it is appointed

unto men once to die, but after this the

judgment:

The second birth

is something God does.

John 1:13

Which were born [again], not

of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor

of the will of man, but of God.

It is not by blood:

The idea is that

heritage—being born of a particular

family, race, nation or people—is of no

value in becoming a child of God. Blood

is not what causes the second birth.

It is not by the will of the flesh:

The

idea is that a person is not spiritually

born again by wanting and willing to

become a child of God just like a person

wills to have an earthly child.

It is not by the will of man: No man, no

matter who he is—husband or world

leader—can cause or make a person a

child of God. It is strictly a gift of God.

—POSB Commentary

The second birth is of God

and God alone!

The second birth is an act of God

whereby eternal life is given to the

person who believes.

This eternal

life

is needed because when

we sinned we

died

spiritually, meaning

we became separated from God.

Romans 6:23

For the wages [payment]

of sin is [spiritual] death...

James 1:15

…sin, when it is finished,

bringeth forth [spiritual] death.

As discussed earlier in our lesson,

spiritually dead people are just like

physically dead people. They can’t hear.

They can’t see. They are dead! And,

unless God gives (eternal) life to the

spiritually dead person through a second

birth experience, he/she will pass into

eternity lost and forever separated from

God and His kingdom.

The apostle Paul tells us in Romans that

while we were dead, blind, lost, and

wondering in a wilderness of sin and

separated from God, Jesus Christ came to

earth and paid the price that God required

for your sin.

Romans 5:8-9

But God commendeth

[proved] his love toward us, in that,

while we were yet sinners, Christ died for

us. Much more then, being now justified

by his blood, we shall be saved from

[God’s] wrath through him.

Jesus, when explaining the new birth to

Nicodemus, went back to the Old