amish_voice_-_sept

The Amish Voice 13

Salvation Without Regeneration

Regeneration literally means "spiritual

rebirth". Have you ever heard Christians

talk about being "born again"? They are

referring to undergoing a spiritual rebirth

(regeneration). In John 3:3, Jesus said:

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except

a man be born again, he cannot see

the kingdom of God.

Jesus was talking to a man named Nico-

demus, who then asked:

How can a man be born when he is

old? Can he enter the second time

into his mother's womb, and be

born?

Many people today

seem to be asking the

same question. They

don't understand that

Jesus was referring to

a spiritual rebirth –

not a physical re-

birth. Jesus is saying

that we must be spirit-

ually born again.

To be spiritually born

again requires that

you put your old life

to death. A transfor-

mation must take place just as one did

when you left your mother's womb dur-

ing physical birth. In Romans 6:3-4, the

apostle Paul writes:

Know ye not, that so many of us as

were baptized into Jesus Christ were

baptized into his death? Therefore

we are buried with him by baptism

into death: that like as Christ was

raised up from the dead by the glory

of the Father, even so we also should

walk in newness of life.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17, the apostle Paul

writes:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he

is a new creature: old things are

passed away; behold, all things are

become new.

According to Jesus and the apostle Paul,

we must undergo a spiritual rebirth be-

fore we can receive salvation. Unfortu-

nately, many so-called Christians have

never been born again. There has nev-

er been a spiritual transformation in their

lives. They have never made a con-

scious decision to accept Jesus Christ as

their personal Lord and Savior, and thus

initiate their spiritual rebirth. They mis-

takenly believe they can receive salvation

without regeneration.

Many people also mistakenly believe

they can inherit their parent's salva-

tion. They believe that since their par-

ents belong to a certain church or denom-

ination,

they

are

automatically

in. WRONG! God does NOT have any

grandchildren! He only has chil-

dren. To become a child of God re-

quires that you be born again – just as

Jesus told Nicodemus. You CANNOT

have salvation without regeneration!

Politics Without God

The United States of America was found-

ed by Godly men and upon Godly princi-

ples. That, my friends, is an historical

fact. Although I have not done the re-

search, I'm quite sure that most govern-

ments throughout history have been

founded somewhat upon Godly princi-

ples. Most laws have their roots in

God's Ten Commandments.

There is no doubt that politics in America

and around the world has tried to move

away from God and His principles during

the 20th century. This movement accel-

erated during the last half of the 20th

century. It's gone so far that they have

rewritten the history books used to teach

our children. At one time, the Bible was

the primary history book used within our

schools. Believe it or not,

biblical morality was

taught in public schools

until

the

early

1960's. Now, however,

we have history books that

don't even mention God

and His place in the histo-

ry of America.

Anytime religion is men-

tioned within the confines

of government, someone

will cry, "Separation of

Church and State". Many

people believe this statement appears in

the first amendment of the United States

Constitution – and therefore must be

strictly enforced. This statement does

NOT appear in the first amendment. In

fact, the first amendment does not even

contain the words: "separation", "church"

or "state." The first amendment reads,

"Congress shall make no law respecting

an establishment of religion, or prohibit-

ing the free exercise thereof. . . ."

The colonists (early Ameri-

cans) knew what would

happen if the government

established the church

Dangers of the 20th Century, Parts 4 & 5

—By Kit Pharo

CHRISTIAN

without

CHRIST

IAN

I A

othing

John 15:4-5

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of

itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I

am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the

same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.