Make Sure You've Been Born Again

John 3:1-7, “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”

Dear friend, Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born again. We often call this “Calvinism” (i.e., the false teachings of a man named John Calvin, 1509-1564). This falsehood has been repackaged in these modern times, known as “Lordship Salvation.” These falsehoods requires more than faith to be saved. Proponents of this heresy say that you must “surrender all to Christ as Lord,” or your faith is invalid. We are told that if we don't have WORKS, then our faith in Jesus is not genuine. Of course, these are lies of Satan, because we know biblically that faith is all that is required to be saved. Galatians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”

Dear reader, there are hundreds of millions of churchgoers around the world who have never been saved. It is sad but true. You'd be shocked if you knew how many people attend church every Sunday, go through all the motions of Christianity, play the game just right, but have never been born again. If they died this moment, they would split Hell wide open and burn forever in the torments of fire, suffering day and night without rest in smoke and flame (Revelation 14:11; 20:12-15; 21:8). Hell is a real literal place, where all Christ-rejecters go! Believing in God does not produce the new birth (James 2:19). Praying does not produce the new birth (Matthew 6:7-8). As we see with Cornelius in Acts 10, being a good man (praying , giving alms to the poor, fasting and fearing God) does not produce the new birth.

We read a horrifying true story in Matthew 7:21-23 about a group of people who did “prophesy” (preached) in Jesus' name. They did “many wonderful works” in Jesus' name. They even “cast out devils” in Jesus' name. Yet, Jesus said the most horrifying words anyone could ever hear: “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” These people were dedicated to preaching in the name of Jesus. They were wholly committed to doing good works and making a difference for the cause of Christ. So how could they go to Hell? Why did Jesus say He didn't even know them as His sheep?

Dear friend, I ask you: “Have you been born again? Matthew 7:21, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” What is the will of the Father in Heaven? John 6:40, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” There you have it! The will of the Father is to BELIEVE ON THE SON! John 3:36, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” 

You get born again by believing on the only begotten Son of God. To get to Heaven you must know the WHO, WHAT and WHY concerning Jesus Christ:

• WHO - Who is Jesus? Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (John 20:31).
• WHAT - What did Jesus do? Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins. He was buried. Three days later He physically resurrected from the dead. This is the Gospel, or Good News, by which we are saved if we believe (1st Corinthians 15:1-6).
• WHY - Why do we need to believe on Christ? All men are guilty sinners (Romans 3:19-23). Therefore, we deserve to be punished in Hell (Revelation 21:8). All humans need redemption. Jesus is the only Savior, our Mediator between God and men (1st Timothy 2:5).

You can join and be a key figure in your church all the days of your life, from the cradle to the casket, and yet go straight to Hell when you die forever! YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN!!! Have you been born again? Perhaps you think you do in fact trust Christ, but your Church of Christ also requires water baptism to be saved. Dear friend, if that is you, I assure you that you have never been born again. Partial faith in Christ plus water baptism does not produce the second birth. You absolutely must rest completely in Jesus Christ, because of what He did to pay for your sins through Calvary's cross. Hebrews 4:10-11, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”

Perhaps you think that to get to Heaven, you had to turn away from your sinful lifestyle. If that is how you think you got saved, I assure you that you have never been born again. Adding even the slightest bit of human effort negates one's faith! We hear the apostate Bob Jones University crowd today, foolishly preaching that you must “repent and turn away from your sin” to be saved, but in fact the Bible teaches the exact opposite, as I just showed you from Hebrews 4:10, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” How is it then that Dr. Steve Pettit (president of BJU since 2014) and BJU's thousands of alumni, add to the free grace Gospel, requiring WORKS to prove the genuineness of the reality of one's faith? I hope you see that utter contradiction.

You must choose sides dear reader. Will you do good works to prove that your faith is real, on penalty of damnation if you fail to faithfully “run the race” as Steve Pettit errantly teaches? Or will you cease from your own works, as the inspired King James Bible teaches in Hebrews 4:10? Your choice will determine the difference between Heaven or Hell, between living the religious life versus being born again by faith alone without works (Romans 4:5-6). I am the best friend you have this moment, because I am telling you THE TRUTH.

If God meant works, then He would have said works! If God meant that works are necessary to prove the reality of the genuineness of our faith, then He would have said so, but He didn't. The Epistle of James, chapter 2, is often misused in a foolish attempt to justify the heresy of Lordship Salvation. However, James plainly said “shew me” thy faith, and “I will shew thee” my faith. James 2:18, “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” James is clearly speaking about being justified in the sight of men by works, not by God. We are justified in the sight of God by faith alone (Romans 4:1-6). 

Have you been born again? Have you been born again? Have you been born again? Have you been born again? Have you been born again? Have you been born again? Have you been born again? Have you been born again? Have you been born again? Have you been born again? Have you been born again? Have you been born again? 

Jesus can read your mind. He knows the very moment that you put your trust in Him. If you want to be born again, you MUST know that you're a sinner. 1st John 1:8-10 says we are calling God a liar if we deny our sinfulness. I sure am a sinner, and so are you friend. We've all broken God's commandments. We've all lied. We've all lusted. We've all hated someone, which the Bible says is equivalent to murdering them (Matthew 5:21-22). We've all lusted, which the Bible says is equivalent to adultery (Matthew 5:27-28). 

The wages that we earn by sinning is death, both the first physical death and the second death in Hell. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Please note that the second death is not a spiritual death, as many people errantly think. Ephesians 2:1 teaches that the unsaved person is already spiritually dead, which is why we all must be BORN AGAIN by God's Holy Spirit (John 1:12-13). Unless a man is born anew from above, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. There are absolutely no exceptions! Every human being is born spiritually dead.

When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, sin and death entered into the human race. Consequently, death passed upon all men, for all have sinned (Romans 5:12; 3:23). If a person never gets born-again by the Holy Spirit of God, then they will go to Hell. This is the second death according to Revelation 21:8, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” So the second death is for those who are already spiritually dead.

Please make sure you've been BORN AGAIN dear friend.