What the Bible says about light and seed

The True Light "In him, (the Lord Jesus) was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world,…the world didn’t recognize him." John 1:4,9.

The Good Seed and the Weeds “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seeds in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. Matthew 13:24,25.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

HOW CAN I BE BORN AGAIN SPIRITUALLY?

God's Simple Plan of Salvation (adapted) from http://www.godssimpleplan.org/gsps-english.html 

My friend: I am asking you the most important question of your life. Your joy or your sorrow for all eternity depends upon your answer. The question is: Are you saved? It is not a question of how good you are, nor if you are a church member, how many charitable works you perform, but are you saved? Are you sure you will go to Heaven and enjoy God’s presence when you die?

God says in order to go to Heaven, you must be born again. In John 3:7, Jesus said to Nicodemus, "You must be born again."
In the Bible, God gives us his plan of how to be born again which means to be saved from the penalty of sin, saved from the judgment of God, and saved from the deceptive belief that human beings can work out their own salvation without Jesus.

His plan is simple! You can be saved today. Tomorrow doesn’t belong to us just as we cannot return to our past. How then?

First, my friend, you must recognize and acknowledge you are a sinner in need of help because all of us are unable to come up to God’s standard of Holiness. Our sin nature separates us from God and makes us his enemies. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

Because you are a sinner, you are condemned to die. "For the wages [payment] of sin is death" (Ro 6:23). This includes eternal separation from God in Hell.
"...it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).

But God loved you so much he gave his only begotten Son, Jesus, to bear your sin and mine and die in our place. "For he has made him (Jesus, who knew no sin) to be sin for us..that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus had to shed his blood and die. "For the life of the flesh is in the blood" (Leviticus 17:11) "...without shedding of blood is no remission [pardon] for sins." (Hebrews 9:22).
"But God manifested his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

Although we cannot fully understand how, God said my sins and your sins were laid upon Jesus and he died in our place. He became our substitute. It is true. God cannot lie. "God...now commands all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30).

This repentance  is a change of mind that agrees with God that one is a sinner, totally unable to keep God´s commandments and save him or herself from the eternal punishment for their rebellion against and desobedience to a holy God and also agrees with what Jesus did for us on the cross. God himself is the one that grants us the grace and power to repent and the faith to believe.
In Acts 16:30,31, the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas: "... `Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved... .'"

“THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 [e]that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, [f]resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, [g]resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE [h]DISAPPOINTED.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”  Romans 10: 8-13

Simply believe in Jesus which means (accept what he did for you on the cross, receive him, trust him with your life) as the one who bore your sin, died in your place, was buried, and whom God the Father resurrected. His resurrection powerfully insures that the believer can have the certainty of possessing everlasting (eternal) life when the Lord Jesus is received as Savior.

"But as many as received him, to them he gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" (John 1:12). "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Ro 10:13).
Whosoever includes you. Shall be saved means not maybe, nor can, but shall be saved.

Surely, you realize you are a sinner. Right now, wherever you are, repenting, if you feel the call or the attraction of the Holy Spirit of God in your heart (mind) to be born again in the family of God,  lift your heart to God in prayer.

In Luke 18:13, a sinner prayed: "God be merciful to me a sinner." (This is just a model, but you can use your own words. God knows the intent of your heart and he hears and accepts a contrite heart. 

"Oh God, I know I am a sinner. I believe Jesus was my substitute when he died on the cross. I believe his shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection were for me. I now receive him as my Savior. I thank you for the forgiveness of my sins, the gift of salvation and everlasting life, because of your mercy and grace. I receive your Holy Spirit as you promised. He can and will give me the power to be obedient and live for you as you want me to. Amen."

Just take God at his word and receive his salvation and eternal life by faith. Believe, and you will be saved. No church, no lodge, no good works can save you. Remember, God does the saving. All of it!

But you might ask: What about works? What about eternal life?
When Jesus' disciples who had the same questions asked him: "What must we DO  to do the WORKS God requires? Jesus answered: "the WORK of God is this: that you BELIEVE in the one he has sent." John 6:29.

What is eternal life? In Jesus' own words in a prayer to his Father: "This is eternal life: that they may know you the ONLY TRUE GOD and Jesus-Christ whom you have sent." John 17:3. The fist step to know God and his son Jesus is to meet him and then as a newly adopted son or daughter in his family to develop a relationship with him, that is to know him by being obedient to his commands, knowing what he expects of you, being faithful to him,  and seeking to please him. That means growing from a child of God to a mature man or woman of God.

God's simple plan of salvation is: You are a sinner. Therefore, unless you believe on Jesus who died in your place, you will spend eternity in Hell. If you believe on him as your crucified, buried, and risen Savior, you receive forgiveness for all of your sins and his gift of eternal salvation by faith. (Colossians 2: 13: “ When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all your sins. (past, present and future).

You might say, "Surely, it cannot be that simple." Yes, that simple! It is what the word of God says. It is God's plan. My friend, believe in the Lord Jesus and receive him as Saviour today.

If his plan is not perfectly clear, read this again until you understand it. Your soul is worth more than all the world and the things in it. "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Marc 8:36).

Be sure you are saved. If you lose your soul, you lose everything. Do not delay! Let God save you today.

God's power through the operation of the Holy Spirit who will live forever in you, will save you, keep you saved and enable you to live a victorious Christian life.
 "There is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1Corinthiens 10:13).

Do not trust your feelings. They change. Stand on God's promises. They never change. After you are saved, please practice these things for spiritual growth:
  • Pray--you talk to God. Get a Bible and read it. I recommned starting with the Gospel of John in the New Testament. Preferably a King James Bible. This is your spiritual food. There are Bible book stores everywhere or they are sold in shopping centers, in secular book stores or at a library.
  • Among other things, The Holy Spirit will teach you his ways, guide your life and help you grow -- he talks to you.
  • Share with others as the Spirit directs you --you talk for God. Start reading the book of John in the New Testament. This will help you understand who Jesus is and what his Spirit does and what Jesus expects of you.
You should be baptized in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ, as a public testimony of your salvation, and then carefully and prayerfully look for a Bible-believing group (not necessarily an institution or denomination with the name of "church"), which teaches and practices biblical truth. Do not be therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord..."(2Timothy 1:8) Ask your Father in Heaven to guide you in your choice, he knows where,  how and with whom he wants you to worship him.

All this is done in gratitude out of a heart changed by the love of God. He will give you new desires, new experiences, new feelings, a new outlook on life and all you need to face the difficulties and trials of this life. Millions of Christians throughout the world can attest to this.
"Whosoever therefore shall confess [testify of] me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32).

If you want to share your new life in Jesus or have any questions about the Salvation experience, please leave a message in the comment section and I will gladly reply and help you.

May God bless you with understanding how to be born again , and a humble heart that is ready to receive the Truth of the Word of God.

2 comments:

  1. Lets just say that your posts mke me want to comment, some thing which i generally never do.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Anonymous! Thank you for stopping by and for your appreciation. Please feel free to comment, I am always interested in what you have to say.
    Jean-Louis.

    ReplyDelete

Your comment is appreciated and helps me in choosing various subjects for my posts. Thank you. Ce blogger apprécie vos commentaires qui l´aident à choisir de nouveaux thèmes.. Seus comentarios são bemvindos e ajudam este blogger na escolha de uma variedade de temas.