Two Scary Christian Words
This concept doesn’t have to be paralyzing or harsh, but it can save your life.
A song by the Newsboys has been on my mind for weeks. The lyrics say, “Giving him the best of everything’s that left of the life inside this man. I’ve been born again.”
I remember a time when “born again” sounded like some strange cult lingo.
I’d hear people mutter things about others like, “He became one of those born again people.” What scary words! Little did I know just how much the meaning has to do with our salvation.
Is the Whole “Scary” Thing a Strategy?
God chose us. He already knows we are his. At the moment we choose God–at the very moment we confess that God’s son, Jesus Christ, was sent to give up his life for our sins, to wash us clean of the sin that has worked through us–we are filled with the holy spirit and SAVED.
Our real life starts, and we are born again.
We become free from our slavery to the world. We become free from feeding on the sin that works through people, circumstances, stress, worry and anxiety.
Receiving a new life in God, the ultimate reward, could not be further from what evil wants for you and me. What better strategy to keep us far away then to make our salvation sound like some kind of “weird” concept?
What Does Born Again Mean?
Jesus tells us straight, “Very truly I tell you that no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again” (John 3:3). If you’re wondering what this means exactly, Jesus explains “born again” here to Nicodemus in the Bible. The link takes you to the verse–don’t be scared to read it!
Why?
Because it tells us:
“Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God” (John 3:20-21).
How Do You Share Your New Life with Others?
We have a choice to pray for continued guidance and grow closer to God, or we can struggle along, falling into the same pits, skating by and just making it into the kingdom. Don’t just finish, finish well.
Our new life isn’t about self-improvement. We aren’t saved by our works. It requires an entirely new origin, and that can only come from God. We need him to persevere.
As that Newsboy song Born Again says:
This is what it is
This is who I am
This is where I finally take my stand
I didn’t want to fall
But I don’t have to crawl
I’m not the One with two scarred hands
Giving him the best of everything that’s left of
The life inside this man
I’ve been Born Again
Live your new life for him. Share your new life with others.
Blessings.
Photo Credit. Thank you!