SIGNS OF THE NEW BIRTH

     Ye must be born again.

     — John 3:7

The answer to the question ""How can a man he born when he is old?"" is
– When he is old enough to die – to die right out to his ""rag
rights,"" to his virtues, to his religion, to everything, and to
receive into himself the life which never was there before. The new
life manifests itself in conscious repentance and unconscious
holiness.

""As many as received Him."" (John 1:12.) Is my knowledge of Jesus born
of internal spiritual perception, or is it only what I have learned
by listening to others? Have I something in my life that connects me
with the Lord Jesus as my personal Saviour? All spiritual history
must have a personal knowledge for its bedrock. To be born again
means that I see Jesus.

""Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."" (John
3:3.) Do I seek for signs of the Kingdom, or do I perceive God’s
rule? The new birth gives a new power of vision whereby I begin to
discern God’s rule. His rule was there all the time, but true to His
nature; now that I have received His nature I can see His rule.

""Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin."" (1 John 3:9.) Do I
seek to stop sinning or have I stopped sinning? To be born of God
means that I have the supernatural power of God to stop sinning. In
the Bible it is never – Should a Christian sin? The Bible puts it
emphatically – A Christian must not sin. The effective working of the
new birth life in us is that we do not commit sin, not merely that we
have the power not to sin, but that we have stopped sinning. 1 John
3:9 does not mean that we cannot sin; it means that if we obey the
life of God in us, we need not sin.

On this day…

• Jeremiah 38 – 2024
• Jeremiah 37 – 2024
• He Must Increase, I Must Decrease – 2011
• The Free Will of the Wind – 2011
• Trying to pray without a Saviour insults the Deity – 2011
• Be dogmatically true – 2011
• Itching ears to hear spreading news – 2011
• The essence of God’s character – 2011
• Leading men – 2011
• Anything that exhalts man – 2011