Unless We Acknowledge God As The Source Of Life We Will Never Experience The New Birth Which He Offers To Us Freely Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; (James 1:17; Titus 3:5) Jesus You Are The Centre Of My Joy - https://youtube/watch?v=EA_OKVYczeE No matter how far we think we are from God, He can save us. No matter how deep our transgressions, God can save us. God has already provided the solution to our sin problem and all we need to do is to accept the gift of salvation which He offers. In speaking about this gift the apostle Paul in Titus 3:5-7 says; “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” It is God who saves us. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves. It is not because of our “good works” that we are saved. It is simply because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus that we receive the gift of salvation. The Apostle Peter support Paul’s point by saying in 1 Peter 1:23 that “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” It is through the death, burial and resurrection of The Word that we can have the new birth which He offers. God has no intention to save us in our sins. He has all the intention to rid us of all unrighteousness. He must recreate His image within us before we can enter Heaven. He has all intention to remove all the rottenness in our lives and give us a new life. He intends to change our heart and make it new. He intends to take out our stony heart and replace it with a heart of flesh. My friend; God cannot do this work in us until we surrender our all to Him. The work of surrender is what He is calling us to do this morning. The writer of the lesson reminds us that “God’s whole purpose in the plan of redemption is to reconnect sin-battered and broken human beings with heaven.” I pray that we will continue to give God total control over our words, thoughts and actions so that He can continue to transform our lives and give us the “new life” experience. This is the only way we are going to enter the pearly gates into Heaven. The change of heart by which we become children of God is in the Bible spoken of as birth. Again, it is compared to the germination of the good seed sown by the husbandman. In like manner those who are just converted to Christ are, as new-born babes, to grow up to the stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. 1 Peter 2:2; Ephesians 4:15. Or like the good seed sown in the field, they are to grow up and bring forth fruit. Isaiah says that they shall be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified. Isaiah 61:3. So from natural life, illustrations are drawn, to help us better to understand the mysterious truths of spiritual life. (Steps to Christ, pg. 67 – Ellen G. White) It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil and to impress His own character on His church. . . . When the Spirit of God takes possession of the heart, it transforms the life. Sinful thoughts are put away, evil deeds are renounced; love, humility, and peace take the place of anger, envy, and strife. Joy takes the place of sadness, and the countenance reflects the joy of heaven. No one sees the hand that lifts the burden or beholds the light descend from the courts above. The blessing comes when by faith the soul surrenders itself to God. Then that power which no human eye can see, creates a new being in the image of God. The Holy Spirit is the breath of spiritual life in the soul. The impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ. It imbues the receiver with the attributes of Christ. . . . The religion that comes from God is the only religion that will lead to God. In order to serve Him aright, we must be born of the divine Spirit. This will purify the heart and renew the mind, giving us a new capacity for knowing and loving God. It will give us a willing obedience to all His requirements. This is true worship. It is the fruit of the working of the Holy Spirit. By the Spirit every sincere prayer is indited, and such prayer is acceptable to God. Wherever a soul reaches out after God, there the Spirits working is manifest, and God will reveal Himself to that soul. For such worshipers He is seeking. He waits to receive them and to make them His sons and daughters. (My Life Today, pg. 46 – Ellen G. White) We need to be converted from our faulty lives to the faith of the gospel. Christs followers have no need to try to shine. If they will behold constantly the life of Christ, they will be changed in mind and heart, into the same image. Then they will shine without any superficial attempt. The Lord asks for no display of goodness. In the gift of his Son he has made provision that our inward lives may be imbued with the principles of heaven. It is the appropriation of this provision that will lead to a manifestation of Christ to the world. When the people of God experience the new birth, their honesty, their uprightness, their fidelity, their steadfast principles, will unfailingly reveal it. O, what words were spoken to me! What gentleness was recommended through the grace abundantly given. The greatest manifestation that men and women can make of the grace and power of Christ, is made when the natural man becomes partaker of the divine nature, and through the power that the grace of Christ imparts, overcomes the corruptions that are in the world through lust. (Review and Herald, April 1, 1909 – Ellen G. White)
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 10:43:55 +0000
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