May 22, 2024 • 32 mins
Embark on a spiritual odyssey that promises to enrich your understanding of the Christian concept of being "born again." Our latest episode delves into the heart of Jesus's plan for salvation, a transformative process that encompasses repentance, baptism, and the reception of the Holy Spirit. We explore the profound implications of 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 and John 3:3, elucidating how these sacred texts underpin the rebirth of believers and their passage into the Kingdom of God. It's more than a theological concept; it's a personal journey that mirrors the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, a path that leads to a profound metamorphosis of the spirit.
But our conversation doesn't end at rebirth. We also tackle the dynamic relationship between faith and actions, inspired by James 2 and the lived examples of the earliest Christians and apostles. True faith isn't passive belief; it's vividly demonstrated through the acts of repentance, baptism, and embracing the Holy Spirit—actions that constitute a complete, heartfelt embrace of the Gospel. Guided by the assurance that Scripture is authored by God Himself, we're challenged to live out our faith through righteous acts and good works. So, if you're ready to deepen your comprehension of these foundational truths and witness how they're not merely doctrines but life-changing realities, tune in for an episode that will inspire your spiritual journey.
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Thank You. I Love You!
SEE YA!
Rick
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Coming up on Renewed Mindsets.
The term born again is commonlyused among Christians today.
However, when asked to explainits meaning, most church members
cannot provide a clearexplanation.
All Christians agree that whenJesus died on the cross, he
provided salvation for all whoaccepted it.
But what exactly occurred atCalvary?
(00:23):
All who accepted it?
But what exactly occurred atCalvary?
What does it mean for youpersonally, and how do you
accept what happened there inyour own life?
We'll answer that right now.
Let's go, boys.
Hey, welcome to RenewedMindsets, where we study the
(00:45):
basics of the faith through thelens of our middle-aged
experiences.
I'm Rick.
Welcome to the show where Ihelp you, gen Xers and
Millennials, navigatespiritually through a world that
looks nothing like we expectedback, when cars were square and
mullets were totally awesome.
I am so glad you're here.
(01:07):
Born again We've heard it, butdo we really know what it is?
You know the significance ofthis term is emphasized by Jesus
when he said unless one is bornagain, he cannot see the
kingdom of God.
That's from John 3.3.
Jesus is stating that beingborn again is equal to being
(01:28):
saved.
Being born again is thesalvation plan that Jesus
established at Calvary, and it'scrucial for us to comprehend
what is necessary for us toexperience being born again Now.
At Calvary there were threesteps to Christ's work his death
, his burial and resurrection 1Corinthians 15, 1 and 4.
(01:51):
It's evident that these threesteps comprise the act of being
born again Now.
Jesus talked about it in John 3, 1 through 5.
To die is to be buried.
To die is to be buried and torise again is to be born again.
Though through his death,burial and resurrection, jesus
obtained the plan of being bornagain that's mentioned in John
(02:14):
3.3, which leads to salvation.
Now it's important to rememberthat Jesus just didn't do
something.
It's also essential for us torespond to what he did.
Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3,7, you must be born again Now.
It's astonishing that Nicodemus, who was a religious leader of
(02:37):
his time, had no understandingof what it meant to be born
again, and we find that samething is true in our present day
.
Many spiritual leaders in ourworld lack a true understanding
of the born-again experience.
Nicodemus asked Jesus how can aman be born again when he's old
?
Can he enter a second time intohis mother's womb and be born
(03:00):
again?
I like that humor in the Bible.
Jesus answered truly.
Truly, I say to you, unless oneis born of water and the spirit
, he cannot enter the kingdom ofGod.
Being born again does notinvolve being physically born
from a woman.
It's a spiritual birth.
Jesus explained that withoutbeing born again, one cannot see
(03:25):
or enter the kingdom of God.
In other words, one cannot besaved.
On the day of Pentecost, whenPeter preached his first message
after Calvary, people cried outwhat must we do?
And Peter replied Repent and bebaptized, every one of you in
the name of Jesus Christ, forthe forgiveness of your sins,
(03:52):
and you will receive the gift ofthe Holy Spirit.
Acts, chapter 2, verse 38.
Peter was outlining the plan ofsalvation repentance, baptism
and the infilling of the HolySpirit.
If being born again means beingsaved, then Peter was clearly
referring to salvation.
Now, to accept Calvary in ourindividual lives, we need to
accept the death, the burial andresurrection of Christ.
We don't have to physically dieand be buried and rise again.
(04:15):
Jesus acted as our substituteand he did this on our behalf.
All we really need to do isaccept what he did by
spiritually dying, symbolicallybeing buried through baptism and
spiritually rising again.
So what were those three things?
Again, we embrace his deaththrough repentance, which
(04:35):
signifies spiritual death, andwhen a person truly repents,
they turn away from their ownwill, renouncing it forever, and
pledge to live according to thewill of Jesus Christ.
Then there's baptism.
We symbolize his burial throughwater, baptism, specifically
through immersion in his name.
Romans 6.4 says therefore, wewere buried with him by baptism.
(05:00):
Baptism must be done throughimmersion, as sprinkling a
little water on top of somethingcannot bury it.
Every baptism mentioned in thebible was administered through
immersion.
Finally, we experience theresurrection of jesus christ
through the receiving of theholy spirit.
This new life empowers us tolive as a true christian.
(05:22):
Being born again involvesspiritually dying through
repentance, symbolically beingburied through baptism, and
spiritually rising again throughreceiving the Holy Spirit.
In a simple way of saying it,you got to repent of your sins,
be baptized in the name of Jesusthrough immersion and received
(05:43):
the gift of the Holy Spirit.
In 1 John 5.8 it says and therewere three that bear witnesses
on the earth the Spirit, thewater and the blood.
And these three agree as one.
The agreement among the Spirit,water and blood is the new
birth.
Blood covers our sins inrepentance, baptism washes them
(06:04):
away and the Spirit dwells inour cleansed soul.
Now this teaching is confirmedby Peter when he said Repent and
be baptized for the forgivenessof your sins, acts 2.38.
Repentance and baptism are bothessential for the remission of
sins.
Now Paul taught that the threesteps at Calvary are the gospel
(06:26):
we should preach.
In 1 Corinthians 15, 1 through4, he declares Moreover,
brethren, I declare to you thegospel which I preached to you,
which also you received, inwhich you stand by, which you
are saved if you hold fast thatthe word which I preached to you
saved, if you hold fast thatthe word which I preached to you
(06:48):
, unless you believed in vain,for I delivered to you first of
all that which I also receivedthat Christ died for our sins,
according to the scriptures, andthat he was buried and that he
rose again on the third day,according to the scriptures.
Now Paul goes on to say in 2Thessalonians 1, 7, and 8, and
to you who are troubled, restwith us when the Lord Jesus
(07:10):
shall be revealed from heavenwith his mighty angels in
flaming fire taking vengeance onthem that know not God and that
obey not the gospel of our LordJesus Christ.
Paul affirms that the gospel isthe death, burial and
resurrection of Christ.
Paul affirms that the gospel isthe death, burial and
resurrection of Christ.
We obey the gospel byrepentance, baptism and
(07:30):
receiving the Holy Spirit, asexplained earlier.
Now notice that the Lord Jesuswill come to take vengeance on
those who do not know God and donot obey the gospel.
It's crucial for every humanbeing to obey the gospel by
being born again.
Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3,7, you must be born again.
(07:52):
The Old Testament also revealsthe born-again plan.
The things described in the OldTestament are symbols and
foreshadowings of things to come.
In the priestly duties under thelaw, there were three major
steps.
Firstly, the animals to beoffered were slain on the brazen
altar.
The blood was shed andcollected in a container to be
(08:16):
used in the holy place.
The flesh of the animal wasconsumed by fire.
This represents the first stepof salvation by fire.
This represents the first stepof salvation repentance.
When we repent, we present ourbodies as living sacrifices and
our sins are covered by theblood of Jesus.
Now, that's Romans 12 1.
(08:36):
Secondly, the priests wereordered to wash at the laver and
cleanse themselves with waterbefore entering the holy place.
The laver was a roundfountain-like structure that had
a looking glass at the bottomand when the priest bent over to
wash, they could see themselvesto ensure they were clean.
When an individual is baptized,they should examine themselves
to ensure that they're leavingthe world behind.
(08:58):
Now, this second step of thetabernacle ministry clearly
represents water, baptism.
Water and blood were used tocleanse and prepare the priest
for entry into the holy place,just as water and blood cleanse
us in preparation to receive theholy one into our lives.
(09:19):
Now, lastly, the priest wouldtake the fire from the brazen
altar and enter through the veilinto the holy place.
And since there were no doorsor windows in the holy place,
the only light came from thegolden candlesticks.
Those candlesticks had sevenwicks fueled by oil from the
seven bowls.
The wicks had to be lit withthe fire brought by the priest
(09:39):
from the altar.
The combining of the oil andfire at the candlesticks to
produce light is a perfectrepresentation of the Holy
Spirit and the fire promised tothe believers in the New
Testament at Matthew 3.11.
Without the light of the HolySpirit, we cannot live in the
(10:00):
holy place, which is where everyChristian should reside, in the
holy place, which is whereevery Christian should reside.
Now, god revealed his plan ofredemption through types and
shadows in the Old Testament,followed by clear teachings in
the New Testament, and onceagain, 1 John 5, 8 reminds us of
(10:23):
the necessity of the fullborn-again plan in each person's
life for salvation.
Now there's some commonmisconception about salvation
that need to be addressed.
The first one is believing inthe Lord, jesus Christ.
So in Acts 16, 30, and 31, itsays Sirs, what must I mean?
(10:52):
That salvation only requiresthat Jesus Christ is the Savior
and that's all that's necessary.
And it is indeed true that onemust believe in Jesus as the
Savior in order to be saved.
Indeed true that one mustbelieve in Jesus as the Savior
in order to be saved.
But Paul, who spoke these wordsin Acts 16, provides further
teaching on the subject InRomans 10, 13, and 15,.
(11:12):
For everyone who calls on thename of the Lord will be saved.
How, then, will they call onhim in whom they have not
believed?
And how are they to believe inhim whom they have not heard?
And how are they to hearwithout someone preaching?
And how are they to preachunless they're sent?
Now?
(11:32):
It would be absurd to interpretthis 13th verse as meaning that
one must simply call out on thename of Jesus once and they've
received salvation.
Paul tells us that one cannotcall on him unless they have
believed, and they cannotbelieve unless they've heard
about him.
We cannot simply believe.
We have to believe somethingabout Christ.
(11:54):
We have to believe somethingabout Christ.
When Paul told the jailer inActs 16 to believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ, he went on tospeak the word of the Lord to
him.
That's in verse 32.
The word that Paul spoke waslikely the gospel.
As a result, in verse 33, showsthat the jailer and his
household were baptized atmidnight.
(12:14):
Now this demonstrates theessentiality you like that word,
the essentiality of baptism forsalvation.
Paul took all these people outat midnight and baptized them.
Now some of you may object tothis teaching, claiming that
we're saved by faith alone.
No, that's true, that we'resaved by faith.
(12:36):
True faith always results inaction from the believer.
Let's look at James 2, 14through 22 to validate this
point.
What good is it, my brothers,if someone says he has faith but
does not have works?
Can that faith save him If abrother or sister is poorly
(12:57):
clothed and lacking in dailyfood and one of you says to them
go in peace, be warmed andfilled, without giving them all
the things that they need fortheir body.
What good is that?
So also, faith by itself, if itdoes not have works, is dead.
But someone's going to say youhave faith and I have works,
(13:18):
show me your faith apart fromyour works and I will show you
my faith by my works.
You believe that God is one youdo well, Even the demons
believe and shudder.
Do you want to be shown, youfoolish person, that faith apart
from works is useless?
Was not Abraham, our father,justified by works when he?
(13:38):
Now, when we believe in theLord, jesus Christ, what do we
believe about him?
We believe in the gospel, whichentails his death, burial and
(13:59):
resurrection, and James teachesus that faith without action is
dead or not truly faith at all.
When a sinner hears the truegospel and truly believes,
they'll obey the gospel.
An individual obeys the death,burial and resurrection of
Christ through repentance,baptism in Jesus' name and the
(14:20):
infilling of the Holy Spirit,and it's evident through
speaking in tongues this is thesalvation of Calvary.
Do you see that faith wasactive along with his works and
faith was completed by his works?
Now, if someone has troubleaccepting this teaching due to
the element of works involved,let's reason through one more
(14:43):
point being born again, whichinvolves repentance, baptism and
receiving the Holy Spirit, isnot considered a work according
to God.
In Titus 3.5, we're taught hesaved us not because of works
done by us in righteousness, butaccording to his own mercy, by
the washing of regeneration andrenewal of the Holy Spirit.
(15:06):
Now this scripture indicatesthat regeneration or being born
again, is not a work ofrighteousness.
So we need to consider thefamiliar example provided in the
Bible.
It's the great revival inSamaria in Acts 8, 5, 23.
(15:28):
There was a sorcerer named Simonwho heard the preaching of
Philip and he believed and hewas baptized.
And he continued with Philipwitnessing the signs and
miracles.
And many would say, becauseSimon believed and he was
baptized, and he continued withPhilip witnessing the signs and
miracles.
And many would say, becauseSimon believed, he was saved.
But the apostle Paul said tohim For I see that you are in
the gall of bitterness and inthe bond of iniquity.
(15:51):
That's 8.23.
It's impossible for anyone inthe bond of iniquity to be saved
, just like the scriptures state.
So if the Son sets you free,you will be free.
Indeed, simon believed and wasbaptized, but he had not yet
received the Holy Spirit.
(16:11):
Thus he was not born again.
We cannot be partially bornagain and survive.
The complete work of Calvary isnecessary for our salvation.
Now we need to remember thatwe've been given the first
church and the apostles as amodel for our teaching and our
(16:33):
practices, and in every recordedconversion under the apostles'
ministry.
The three steps of being bornagain are evident.
In Acts 2.38, it was repentance, baptism and the reception of
the Holy Spirit.
Acts 8.12, acts 10.44-48, andActs 19.
(16:55):
1-6 also demonstrate theborn-again experience being
taught and received.
So if we're to build on thefoundation of the apostles and
prophets, with Jesus Christ asthe chief cornerstone, we don't
need to deviate from thispractice.
Do not allow anything to divertyou from this truth.
(17:19):
You must be born again.
If you haven't yet, you need todo it today.
Now some of you are going tosay well, he's just pushing his
particular type of church on us.
That's not what we believe.
Let me tell you something what Italked about here has nothing
(17:46):
to do with any denomination.
It has everything to do withScripture.
It has everything to do withthe Bible.
That knowledge didn't just comefrom a man.
That knowledge came from theWord of God.
There's only two options whenit comes to knowledge revelation
(18:12):
or speculation.
Either God speaks or we guess.
And God spoke.
The God of heaven and earthforfeited his own personal
privacy to reveal himself to us,to befriend us, through a book.
Scripture is an all access passto the revealed mind of God.
(18:34):
It's an all-access pass to therevealed mind of God.
It's an all-access pass intothe revealed will of God.
The Bible is the mostinfluential book of all time.
There's no shortage of ink thathas been spilled on the writings
just about the Bible.
Whether it's in favor of it oragainst it, the Bible is
(18:57):
inspired.
You know, when you've heard itsay that the Bible is inspired,
what does that mean?
Inspiration is about therelationship between God and the
Bible's authors, or reallyrevelation between God and the
Bible's authors.
These men weren't inspired inthe way we usually use the word
(19:18):
today.
It's not like Paul saw agorgeous sunset and then wrote
in Galatians, and it doesn'tmean that he would enter some
some catatonic state and recitea bunch of words to a friend and
then pick up a parchment andsay let's see what God wrote.
The inspiration has to do withthe fact that the Bible's
(19:39):
ultimate author is God.
2 Timothy, 3, 16 and 17 saysAll Scripture is God-breathed
and is useful for teaching,rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness, sothat the servant of God may be
thoroughly equipped for everygood work.
The entirety of the Bible isGod-breathed, exhaled from God.
(20:05):
That's why it's called God'sWord.
If God authored it, though, thenwhat were Moses and David and
Paul and John and the rest doing?
Weren't they writing holyscripture too?
Exactly, the Bible was writtenby God and humans, or more
(20:27):
precisely, by God through humans.
The apostle Peter explains itthis way from 2 Peter 1, 20 and
21.
Above all, you must understandthat no prophecy of scripture
came out of the prophet's owninterpretation of things, for
prophecy had never had itsorigin in the human will, but
(20:51):
prophets through human spokefrom God as they were carried
along by the Holy Spirit.
In other words, god made surethat human authors wrote exactly
what he wanted them to write,no more and no less.
These authors weren't justpassive robots.
(21:13):
God didn't erase theirpersonalities or commandeer
their minds either.
They wrote as thinking, feeling, human beings, and God worked
through their uniquepersonalities and educations and
backgrounds and theirexperiences to enable, to
inspire them to write divinetruth.
(21:35):
The Bible's true.
It's true.
God's word is true becauseGod's character is true.
He's not a liar.
The God of truth cannot speakfalse words.
To doubt the truthfulness ofGod's word is to doubt the
truthfulness of God himself.
But some people think thatwhile the Bible's spiritual
concept are true enough, much ofthe other content the
(21:57):
historical or the geographicaldetails probably isn't, but
that's false.
Or the geographical detailsprobably isn't, but that's false
.
Scripture doesn't make anyrestriction on the kinds of
subjects to which it speakstruthfully.
Besides that, the Bible isn'tfully reliable at every point.
How can we be certain that it'sfully reliable at any point?
(22:19):
When properly interpreted, theBible will never mislead you.
What it says God says.
God owns the universe that heverbalized into existence and
his loving authority intendedfor our good, is exercised
(22:40):
throughout his word for our goodis exercised throughout his
word.
God has so identified himselfwith scripture that to
disbelieve or disobey is todisbelieve or disobey him.
The Bible isn't the onlyauthority.
There are other rightfulauthorities parents, pastors,
(23:08):
other rightful authorities,parents, pastors, government
officials but nobody is aboveGod's word.
The Bible is the supreme court.
This means that the correctnessof every belief, value, opinion
, statement and sermon isfinally settled by the question
what does the Bible say.
Jesus himself appealed to eachpart of Scripture, to each
(23:31):
element of Scripture, as anunimpeachable authority.
Kings don't give advice, theygive orders.
Obedience to the Word of God isnot an option, it's not
optional.
You don't merely listen to theword and so deceive yourselves.
(23:53):
James wrote do what it says.
James 1.22.
Happy is the man who possessesthe Bible.
Happier still is he who readsit.
Happiest of all is not only whoreads it but obeys it.
As countercultural andcounterintuitive as it may feel,
(24:16):
submission to God's word iswhere true life and freedom are
found.
The Bible is clear.
I've heard people say thatScripture is shallow enough for
a child to wade, but deep enoughfor an elephant to swim, and I
think that's right.
(24:37):
Sometimes Scripture is difficultto understand because it's
talking about complicated things, but it's hard to grasp because
we simply don't like what itsays most of the time.
Mark Twain, who was really nota Christian, famously talked
about it.
He said it ain't those parts ofthe Bible I can't understand.
That bother me.
It's the parts I do understand,and often it's not.
(25:01):
The Bible is unclear, but it'sthat we're unreceptive to it.
So you need to remember that theBible is sufficient.
It contains all the words fromGod that we need in order to
truly know him, to truly trusthim, to fully obey him perfectly
and enjoy him abundantly.
(25:22):
Peter says God has given useverything we need for a godly
life through the knowledgethat's available in the
Scriptures 2, peter, 1 and 3.
The Bible is so complete thatthrough it we can be thoroughly
equipped for every good work,thoroughly and every not partly
(25:42):
and most.
It doesn't get morecomprehensive than that.
The bible's not going to tellus everything we want to know,
but it does tell us everythingwe need to know.
Its truth isn't exhaustive.
I had a thing on the internetthe other day on facebook of
course and it was in a christiangroup, and they were talking
(26:05):
about some artist who is also apedophile, and people were
arguing about can I like theirart, even if the person is, is
is bad, for lack of a betterword.
And one woman wrote I canseparate the art from the artist
(26:27):
.
So I just responded with wheredoes it say that in the Bible?
Because really I've had enoughAt this point.
I've had enough of justallowing people to speak
foolishly.
And her response was I'm notsure how to respond to that
(26:51):
Brush your teeth twice a day.
And, mom, you can't pauseonline games.
They're not in the Bible either.
So what's your point?
And I said really, our call isto be holy and you think that's
on par with brushing your teeth.
I think this person needs tofind a new excuse for their
(27:16):
lukewarmness.
But hey, let's support Satanand just not acknowledge him.
Right, because Jesus said that,right?
No, the word of God is alive andactive, sharper than any
double-edged sword, and itpenetrates even to dividing soul
and spirit, joints and marrow.
(27:37):
It judges the thoughts andattitudes of the heart.
Hebrews 4.12.
Saying the Bible is powerful inanother way is saying that it's
effective.
The Bible's ultimate author isGod.
It's a book of unparalleledpower and its words are strong
enough to melt hearts and changelives.
(27:57):
It's an instrument of action inGod's all-powerful hand and
it's crucial to realize that Godintends his word not simply to
engage our minds, but to changeour hearts.
The Bible was not written tosatisfy your curiosity.
(28:21):
It was written to transformyour life, to renew your mind.
You like how I threw that in?
The Bible is a bottomlesstreasure, chest of beauty and
wonder, and it claims to beinspired, true, authoritative,
(28:42):
clear, sufficient and powerful.
It's Christ-centered and it'sprecious.
God, help us to treat it assuch.
The executive producer ofRenewed Mindsets is Yelena
McClellan.
The spiritual advisor is KimmyShirley.
(29:03):
Well, that's all for thisweek's show.
You know, the name of this showspeaks my hope for you.
It's taken from the words ofRomans, chapter 12, verse 2.
Do not be conformed to thisworld, but be transformed by the
renewal of your mind that bytesting, you may discern what is
(29:24):
the will of God, what is goodand acceptable and perfect.
If you enjoyed what you heard,do me a favor, please, and tell
someone you know about it.
Send them a link in a text youknow.
You may even need to downloadit to their phone and show them
what a podcast is.
If it was valuable to you, itwill be to them.
(29:48):
Visit renewedmindsetscom tohear past episodes, read the
blog and check out the new merch.
And, as always, while you'rethere, send me a voicemail by
clicking the button at thebottom right corner of the main
page.
Tell me what you think aboutthis show.
I just might play it on afuture episode.
(30:10):
Until next week, I'm rick.
I love you, see ya.
The intro and outro music forthe Renewed Mindsets podcast is
(30:35):
Are you Ready by Floodgate Fromthe album Are you Ready?
Copyright 2002, offbeatMinistries Incorporated.
No-transcript.
Coming up on Renewed Mindsets.
The term born again is commonlyused among Christians today.
However, when asked to explainits meaning, most church members
cannot provide a clearexplanation.
All Christians agree that whenJesus died on the cross, he
provided salvation for all whoaccepted it.
But what exactly occurred atCalvary?
(00:23):
All who accepted it?
But what exactly occurred atCalvary?
What does it mean for youpersonally, and how do you
accept what happened there inyour own life?
We'll answer that right now.
Let's go, boys.
Hey, welcome to RenewedMindsets, where we study the
(00:45):
basics of the faith through thelens of our middle-aged
experiences.
I'm Rick.
Welcome to the show where Ihelp you, gen Xers and
Millennials, navigatespiritually through a world that
looks nothing like we expectedback, when cars were square and
mullets were totally awesome.
I am so glad you're here.
(01:07):
Born again We've heard it, butdo we really know what it is?
You know the significance ofthis term is emphasized by Jesus
when he said unless one is bornagain, he cannot see the
kingdom of God.
That's from John 3.3.
Jesus is stating that beingborn again is equal to being
(01:28):
saved.
Being born again is thesalvation plan that Jesus
established at Calvary, and it'scrucial for us to comprehend
what is necessary for us toexperience being born again Now.
At Calvary there were threesteps to Christ's work his death
, his burial and resurrection 1Corinthians 15, 1 and 4.
(01:51):
It's evident that these threesteps comprise the act of being
born again Now.
Jesus talked about it in John 3, 1 through 5.
To die is to be buried.
To die is to be buried and torise again is to be born again.
Though through his death,burial and resurrection, jesus
obtained the plan of being bornagain that's mentioned in John
(02:14):
3.3, which leads to salvation.
Now it's important to rememberthat Jesus just didn't do
something.
It's also essential for us torespond to what he did.
Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3,7, you must be born again Now.
It's astonishing that Nicodemus, who was a religious leader of
(02:37):
his time, had no understandingof what it meant to be born
again, and we find that samething is true in our present day
.
Many spiritual leaders in ourworld lack a true understanding
of the born-again experience.
Nicodemus asked Jesus how can aman be born again when he's old
?
Can he enter a second time intohis mother's womb and be born
(03:00):
again?
I like that humor in the Bible.
Jesus answered truly.
Truly, I say to you, unless oneis born of water and the spirit
, he cannot enter the kingdom ofGod.
Being born again does notinvolve being physically born
from a woman.
It's a spiritual birth.
Jesus explained that withoutbeing born again, one cannot see
(03:25):
or enter the kingdom of God.
In other words, one cannot besaved.
On the day of Pentecost, whenPeter preached his first message
after Calvary, people cried outwhat must we do?
And Peter replied Repent and bebaptized, every one of you in
the name of Jesus Christ, forthe forgiveness of your sins,
(03:52):
and you will receive the gift ofthe Holy Spirit.
Acts, chapter 2, verse 38.
Peter was outlining the plan ofsalvation repentance, baptism
and the infilling of the HolySpirit.
If being born again means beingsaved, then Peter was clearly
referring to salvation.
Now, to accept Calvary in ourindividual lives, we need to
accept the death, the burial andresurrection of Christ.
We don't have to physically dieand be buried and rise again.
(04:15):
Jesus acted as our substituteand he did this on our behalf.
All we really need to do isaccept what he did by
spiritually dying, symbolicallybeing buried through baptism and
spiritually rising again.
So what were those three things?
Again, we embrace his deaththrough repentance, which
(04:35):
signifies spiritual death, andwhen a person truly repents,
they turn away from their ownwill, renouncing it forever, and
pledge to live according to thewill of Jesus Christ.
Then there's baptism.
We symbolize his burial throughwater, baptism, specifically
through immersion in his name.
Romans 6.4 says therefore, wewere buried with him by baptism.
(05:00):
Baptism must be done throughimmersion, as sprinkling a
little water on top of somethingcannot bury it.
Every baptism mentioned in thebible was administered through
immersion.
Finally, we experience theresurrection of jesus christ
through the receiving of theholy spirit.
This new life empowers us tolive as a true christian.
(05:22):
Being born again involvesspiritually dying through
repentance, symbolically beingburied through baptism, and
spiritually rising again throughreceiving the Holy Spirit.
In a simple way of saying it,you got to repent of your sins,
be baptized in the name of Jesusthrough immersion and received
(05:43):
the gift of the Holy Spirit.
In 1 John 5.8 it says and therewere three that bear witnesses
on the earth the Spirit, thewater and the blood.
And these three agree as one.
The agreement among the Spirit,water and blood is the new
birth.
Blood covers our sins inrepentance, baptism washes them
(06:04):
away and the Spirit dwells inour cleansed soul.
Now this teaching is confirmedby Peter when he said Repent and
be baptized for the forgivenessof your sins, acts 2.38.
Repentance and baptism are bothessential for the remission of
sins.
Now Paul taught that the threesteps at Calvary are the gospel
(06:26):
we should preach.
In 1 Corinthians 15, 1 through4, he declares Moreover,
brethren, I declare to you thegospel which I preached to you,
which also you received, inwhich you stand by, which you
are saved if you hold fast thatthe word which I preached to you
saved, if you hold fast thatthe word which I preached to you
(06:48):
, unless you believed in vain,for I delivered to you first of
all that which I also receivedthat Christ died for our sins,
according to the scriptures, andthat he was buried and that he
rose again on the third day,according to the scriptures.
Now Paul goes on to say in 2Thessalonians 1, 7, and 8, and
to you who are troubled, restwith us when the Lord Jesus
(07:10):
shall be revealed from heavenwith his mighty angels in
flaming fire taking vengeance onthem that know not God and that
obey not the gospel of our LordJesus Christ.
Paul affirms that the gospel isthe death, burial and
resurrection of Christ.
Paul affirms that the gospel isthe death, burial and
resurrection of Christ.
We obey the gospel byrepentance, baptism and
(07:30):
receiving the Holy Spirit, asexplained earlier.
Now notice that the Lord Jesuswill come to take vengeance on
those who do not know God and donot obey the gospel.
It's crucial for every humanbeing to obey the gospel by
being born again.
Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3,7, you must be born again.
(07:52):
The Old Testament also revealsthe born-again plan.
The things described in the OldTestament are symbols and
foreshadowings of things to come.
In the priestly duties under thelaw, there were three major
steps.
Firstly, the animals to beoffered were slain on the brazen
altar.
The blood was shed andcollected in a container to be
(08:16):
used in the holy place.
The flesh of the animal wasconsumed by fire.
This represents the first stepof salvation by fire.
This represents the first stepof salvation repentance.
When we repent, we present ourbodies as living sacrifices and
our sins are covered by theblood of Jesus.
Now, that's Romans 12 1.
(08:36):
Secondly, the priests wereordered to wash at the laver and
cleanse themselves with waterbefore entering the holy place.
The laver was a roundfountain-like structure that had
a looking glass at the bottomand when the priest bent over to
wash, they could see themselvesto ensure they were clean.
When an individual is baptized,they should examine themselves
to ensure that they're leavingthe world behind.
(08:58):
Now, this second step of thetabernacle ministry clearly
represents water, baptism.
Water and blood were used tocleanse and prepare the priest
for entry into the holy place,just as water and blood cleanse
us in preparation to receive theholy one into our lives.
(09:19):
Now, lastly, the priest wouldtake the fire from the brazen
altar and enter through the veilinto the holy place.
And since there were no doorsor windows in the holy place,
the only light came from thegolden candlesticks.
Those candlesticks had sevenwicks fueled by oil from the
seven bowls.
The wicks had to be lit withthe fire brought by the priest
(09:39):
from the altar.
The combining of the oil andfire at the candlesticks to
produce light is a perfectrepresentation of the Holy
Spirit and the fire promised tothe believers in the New
Testament at Matthew 3.11.
Without the light of the HolySpirit, we cannot live in the
(10:00):
holy place, which is where everyChristian should reside, in the
holy place, which is whereevery Christian should reside.
Now, god revealed his plan ofredemption through types and
shadows in the Old Testament,followed by clear teachings in
the New Testament, and onceagain, 1 John 5, 8 reminds us of
(10:23):
the necessity of the fullborn-again plan in each person's
life for salvation.
Now there's some commonmisconception about salvation
that need to be addressed.
The first one is believing inthe Lord, jesus Christ.
So in Acts 16, 30, and 31, itsays Sirs, what must I mean?
(10:52):
That salvation only requiresthat Jesus Christ is the Savior
and that's all that's necessary.
And it is indeed true that onemust believe in Jesus as the
Savior in order to be saved.
Indeed true that one mustbelieve in Jesus as the Savior
in order to be saved.
But Paul, who spoke these wordsin Acts 16, provides further
teaching on the subject InRomans 10, 13, and 15,.
(11:12):
For everyone who calls on thename of the Lord will be saved.
How, then, will they call onhim in whom they have not
believed?
And how are they to believe inhim whom they have not heard?
And how are they to hearwithout someone preaching?
And how are they to preachunless they're sent?
Now?
(11:32):
It would be absurd to interpretthis 13th verse as meaning that
one must simply call out on thename of Jesus once and they've
received salvation.
Paul tells us that one cannotcall on him unless they have
believed, and they cannotbelieve unless they've heard
about him.
We cannot simply believe.
We have to believe somethingabout Christ.
(11:54):
We have to believe somethingabout Christ.
When Paul told the jailer inActs 16 to believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ, he went on tospeak the word of the Lord to
him.
That's in verse 32.
The word that Paul spoke waslikely the gospel.
As a result, in verse 33, showsthat the jailer and his
household were baptized atmidnight.
(12:14):
Now this demonstrates theessentiality you like that word,
the essentiality of baptism forsalvation.
Paul took all these people outat midnight and baptized them.
Now some of you may object tothis teaching, claiming that
we're saved by faith alone.
No, that's true, that we'resaved by faith.
(12:36):
True faith always results inaction from the believer.
Let's look at James 2, 14through 22 to validate this
point.
What good is it, my brothers,if someone says he has faith but
does not have works?
Can that faith save him If abrother or sister is poorly
(12:57):
clothed and lacking in dailyfood and one of you says to them
go in peace, be warmed andfilled, without giving them all
the things that they need fortheir body.
What good is that?
So also, faith by itself, if itdoes not have works, is dead.
But someone's going to say youhave faith and I have works,
(13:18):
show me your faith apart fromyour works and I will show you
my faith by my works.
You believe that God is one youdo well, Even the demons
believe and shudder.
Do you want to be shown, youfoolish person, that faith apart
from works is useless?
Was not Abraham, our father,justified by works when he?
(13:38):
Now, when we believe in theLord, jesus Christ, what do we
believe about him?
We believe in the gospel, whichentails his death, burial and
(13:59):
resurrection, and James teachesus that faith without action is
dead or not truly faith at all.
When a sinner hears the truegospel and truly believes,
they'll obey the gospel.
An individual obeys the death,burial and resurrection of
Christ through repentance,baptism in Jesus' name and the
(14:20):
infilling of the Holy Spirit,and it's evident through
speaking in tongues this is thesalvation of Calvary.
Do you see that faith wasactive along with his works and
faith was completed by his works?
Now, if someone has troubleaccepting this teaching due to
the element of works involved,let's reason through one more
(14:43):
point being born again, whichinvolves repentance, baptism and
receiving the Holy Spirit, isnot considered a work according
to God.
In Titus 3.5, we're taught hesaved us not because of works
done by us in righteousness, butaccording to his own mercy, by
the washing of regeneration andrenewal of the Holy Spirit.
(15:06):
Now this scripture indicatesthat regeneration or being born
again, is not a work ofrighteousness.
So we need to consider thefamiliar example provided in the
Bible.
It's the great revival inSamaria in Acts 8, 5, 23.
(15:28):
There was a sorcerer named Simonwho heard the preaching of
Philip and he believed and hewas baptized.
And he continued with Philipwitnessing the signs and
miracles.
And many would say, becauseSimon believed and he was
baptized, and he continued withPhilip witnessing the signs and
miracles.
And many would say, becauseSimon believed, he was saved.
But the apostle Paul said tohim For I see that you are in
the gall of bitterness and inthe bond of iniquity.
(15:51):
That's 8.23.
It's impossible for anyone inthe bond of iniquity to be saved
, just like the scriptures state.
So if the Son sets you free,you will be free.
Indeed, simon believed and wasbaptized, but he had not yet
received the Holy Spirit.
(16:11):
Thus he was not born again.
We cannot be partially bornagain and survive.
The complete work of Calvary isnecessary for our salvation.
Now we need to remember thatwe've been given the first
church and the apostles as amodel for our teaching and our
(16:33):
practices, and in every recordedconversion under the apostles'
ministry.
The three steps of being bornagain are evident.
In Acts 2.38, it was repentance, baptism and the reception of
the Holy Spirit.
Acts 8.12, acts 10.44-48, andActs 19.
(16:55):
1-6 also demonstrate theborn-again experience being
taught and received.
So if we're to build on thefoundation of the apostles and
prophets, with Jesus Christ asthe chief cornerstone, we don't
need to deviate from thispractice.
Do not allow anything to divertyou from this truth.
(17:19):
You must be born again.
If you haven't yet, you need todo it today.
Now some of you are going tosay well, he's just pushing his
particular type of church on us.
That's not what we believe.
Let me tell you something what Italked about here has nothing
(17:46):
to do with any denomination.
It has everything to do withScripture.
It has everything to do withthe Bible.
That knowledge didn't just comefrom a man.
That knowledge came from theWord of God.
There's only two options whenit comes to knowledge revelation
(18:12):
or speculation.
Either God speaks or we guess.
And God spoke.
The God of heaven and earthforfeited his own personal
privacy to reveal himself to us,to befriend us, through a book.
Scripture is an all access passto the revealed mind of God.
(18:34):
It's an all-access pass to therevealed mind of God.
It's an all-access pass intothe revealed will of God.
The Bible is the mostinfluential book of all time.
There's no shortage of ink thathas been spilled on the writings
just about the Bible.
Whether it's in favor of it oragainst it, the Bible is
(18:57):
inspired.
You know, when you've heard itsay that the Bible is inspired,
what does that mean?
Inspiration is about therelationship between God and the
Bible's authors, or reallyrevelation between God and the
Bible's authors.
These men weren't inspired inthe way we usually use the word
(19:18):
today.
It's not like Paul saw agorgeous sunset and then wrote
in Galatians, and it doesn'tmean that he would enter some
some catatonic state and recitea bunch of words to a friend and
then pick up a parchment andsay let's see what God wrote.
The inspiration has to do withthe fact that the Bible's
(19:39):
ultimate author is God.
2 Timothy, 3, 16 and 17 saysAll Scripture is God-breathed
and is useful for teaching,rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness, sothat the servant of God may be
thoroughly equipped for everygood work.
The entirety of the Bible isGod-breathed, exhaled from God.
(20:05):
That's why it's called God'sWord.
If God authored it, though, thenwhat were Moses and David and
Paul and John and the rest doing?
Weren't they writing holyscripture too?
Exactly, the Bible was writtenby God and humans, or more
(20:27):
precisely, by God through humans.
The apostle Peter explains itthis way from 2 Peter 1, 20 and
21.
Above all, you must understandthat no prophecy of scripture
came out of the prophet's owninterpretation of things, for
prophecy had never had itsorigin in the human will, but
(20:51):
prophets through human spokefrom God as they were carried
along by the Holy Spirit.
In other words, god made surethat human authors wrote exactly
what he wanted them to write,no more and no less.
These authors weren't justpassive robots.
(21:13):
God didn't erase theirpersonalities or commandeer
their minds either.
They wrote as thinking, feeling, human beings, and God worked
through their uniquepersonalities and educations and
backgrounds and theirexperiences to enable, to
inspire them to write divinetruth.
(21:35):
The Bible's true.
It's true.
God's word is true becauseGod's character is true.
He's not a liar.
The God of truth cannot speakfalse words.
To doubt the truthfulness ofGod's word is to doubt the
truthfulness of God himself.
But some people think thatwhile the Bible's spiritual
concept are true enough, much ofthe other content the
(21:57):
historical or the geographicaldetails probably isn't, but
that's false.
Or the geographical detailsprobably isn't, but that's false
.
Scripture doesn't make anyrestriction on the kinds of
subjects to which it speakstruthfully.
Besides that, the Bible isn'tfully reliable at every point.
How can we be certain that it'sfully reliable at any point?
(22:19):
When properly interpreted, theBible will never mislead you.
What it says God says.
God owns the universe that heverbalized into existence and
his loving authority intendedfor our good, is exercised
(22:40):
throughout his word for our goodis exercised throughout his
word.
God has so identified himselfwith scripture that to
disbelieve or disobey is todisbelieve or disobey him.
The Bible isn't the onlyauthority.
There are other rightfulauthorities parents, pastors,
(23:08):
other rightful authorities,parents, pastors, government
officials but nobody is aboveGod's word.
The Bible is the supreme court.
This means that the correctnessof every belief, value, opinion
, statement and sermon isfinally settled by the question
what does the Bible say.
Jesus himself appealed to eachpart of Scripture, to each
(23:31):
element of Scripture, as anunimpeachable authority.
Kings don't give advice, theygive orders.
Obedience to the Word of God isnot an option, it's not
optional.
You don't merely listen to theword and so deceive yourselves.
(23:53):
James wrote do what it says.
James 1.22.
Happy is the man who possessesthe Bible.
Happier still is he who readsit.
Happiest of all is not only whoreads it but obeys it.
As countercultural andcounterintuitive as it may feel,
(24:16):
submission to God's word iswhere true life and freedom are
found.
The Bible is clear.
I've heard people say thatScripture is shallow enough for
a child to wade, but deep enoughfor an elephant to swim, and I
think that's right.
(24:37):
Sometimes Scripture is difficultto understand because it's
talking about complicated things, but it's hard to grasp because
we simply don't like what itsays most of the time.
Mark Twain, who was really nota Christian, famously talked
about it.
He said it ain't those parts ofthe Bible I can't understand.
That bother me.
It's the parts I do understand,and often it's not.
(25:01):
The Bible is unclear, but it'sthat we're unreceptive to it.
So you need to remember that theBible is sufficient.
It contains all the words fromGod that we need in order to
truly know him, to truly trusthim, to fully obey him perfectly
and enjoy him abundantly.
(25:22):
Peter says God has given useverything we need for a godly
life through the knowledgethat's available in the
Scriptures 2, peter, 1 and 3.
The Bible is so complete thatthrough it we can be thoroughly
equipped for every good work,thoroughly and every not partly
(25:42):
and most.
It doesn't get morecomprehensive than that.
The bible's not going to tellus everything we want to know,
but it does tell us everythingwe need to know.
Its truth isn't exhaustive.
I had a thing on the internetthe other day on facebook of
course and it was in a christiangroup, and they were talking
(26:05):
about some artist who is also apedophile, and people were
arguing about can I like theirart, even if the person is, is
is bad, for lack of a betterword.
And one woman wrote I canseparate the art from the artist
(26:27):
.
So I just responded with wheredoes it say that in the Bible?
Because really I've had enoughAt this point.
I've had enough of justallowing people to speak
foolishly.
And her response was I'm notsure how to respond to that
(26:51):
Brush your teeth twice a day.
And, mom, you can't pauseonline games.
They're not in the Bible either.
So what's your point?
And I said really, our call isto be holy and you think that's
on par with brushing your teeth.
I think this person needs tofind a new excuse for their
(27:16):
lukewarmness.
But hey, let's support Satanand just not acknowledge him.
Right, because Jesus said that,right?
No, the word of God is alive andactive, sharper than any
double-edged sword, and itpenetrates even to dividing soul
and spirit, joints and marrow.
(27:37):
It judges the thoughts andattitudes of the heart.
Hebrews 4.12.
Saying the Bible is powerful inanother way is saying that it's
effective.
The Bible's ultimate author isGod.
It's a book of unparalleledpower and its words are strong
enough to melt hearts and changelives.
(27:57):
It's an instrument of action inGod's all-powerful hand and
it's crucial to realize that Godintends his word not simply to
engage our minds, but to changeour hearts.
The Bible was not written tosatisfy your curiosity.
(28:21):
It was written to transformyour life, to renew your mind.
You like how I threw that in?
The Bible is a bottomlesstreasure, chest of beauty and
wonder, and it claims to beinspired, true, authoritative,
(28:42):
clear, sufficient and powerful.
It's Christ-centered and it'sprecious.
God, help us to treat it assuch.
The executive producer ofRenewed Mindsets is Yelena
McClellan.
The spiritual advisor is KimmyShirley.
(29:03):
Well, that's all for thisweek's show.
You know, the name of this showspeaks my hope for you.
It's taken from the words ofRomans, chapter 12, verse 2.
Do not be conformed to thisworld, but be transformed by the
renewal of your mind that bytesting, you may discern what is
(29:24):
the will of God, what is goodand acceptable and perfect.
If you enjoyed what you heard,do me a favor, please, and tell
someone you know about it.
Send them a link in a text youknow.
You may even need to downloadit to their phone and show them
what a podcast is.
If it was valuable to you, itwill be to them.
(29:48):
Visit renewedmindsetscom tohear past episodes, read the
blog and check out the new merch.
And, as always, while you'rethere, send me a voicemail by
clicking the button at thebottom right corner of the main
page.
Tell me what you think aboutthis show.
I just might play it on afuture episode.
(30:10):
Until next week, I'm rick.
I love you, see ya.
The intro and outro music forthe Renewed Mindsets podcast is
(30:35):
Are you Ready by Floodgate Fromthe album Are you Ready?
Copyright 2002, offbeatMinistries Incorporated.
No-transcript.
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