Month: November 2009

Jn 1:12,13
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

I’ve spent some time meditating on the above verses over the last few weeks. I don’t think I’ve ever realized just how powerful the thought is concerning the new birth. Jesus told Nicodemus in Jn 3:3-5 that a man must be born again if he is to see or enter the kingdom of God. The above text is not only clear as to the source of this birth, but it’s also clear as to where this new birth does NOT begin, explicitly naming three things. Over the next few weeks, I’d like to consider these three, beginning with:

1) Not of blood
These three little words undermine a lot of religious teaching today. It makes it very clear that you do not become a son of God based on your bloodline. No one gets a free pass into heaven because of their nationality, not even a national Jew! I have to bold that statement because, again and again, I hear religious leaders set the national Jews above the rest of humanity, which I think is a misunderstanding of who the true Israel of God is. For anyone that thinks the phrase “true Israel of God” to be strange, they must also find Rom 9:6 to be equally peculiar:

“For they are not all Israel who are of Israel…”

I wonder how many people today read right over this verse! A distinction is made here that reveals there are two Israels. Rom 2:28-29 sheds further light on the matter by explaing the difference between the two.

“For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.”

So we have natural, outward Jews and inward, spiritual Jews, and if you jump up and read a few verses above this text, it’s clear that the uncircumcised Gentiles that obey God through faith are included in the category of spiritual Jews (Rom 2:25-27). There are numerous times in the New Testament where we read plainly that God has torn down any wall that separated Jew and Gentile. Just consider the following (I’ve added the underlines for emphasis):

Rom 10:11-13
For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

Gal 3:26-29
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

1 Cor 12:12-13
For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

If God’s made all believers one, assembling believing Jews and Gentiles into one body, why are so many making divisions between the two? The fact is, both are born with the same problem in Rom 3:9: “both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.” We’re all sinners, and thus we all need a Savior! If we get into the kingdom of God, it happens to all the same way–through faith in Jesus Christ!

Rom 3:21,22
But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference…

If God says there’s no difference, then let’s make sure we don’t make one! We need to declare to Jew and Gentile alike that Christ is their only hope of salvation. Lord willing, we’ll consider the second way in which a man is NOT born into the kingdom of God next week–the will of the flesh.

Jamie

Ecclesiastes 7:13,14
13 Consider the work of God;
For who can make straight what He has made crooked?
14 In the day of prosperity be joyful,
But in the day of adversity consider:
Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other,
So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.

We’ve got a lot of problems these days. Morality is in decline while open sin abounds. Unspeakable crimes happen across our land. Our economy is struggling. The value of the dollar is down, and unemployment’s up. Most people for various reasons would say we’re experiencing a day of adversity, and everyone’s got a solution. This party says we need to do this while this party says the opposite. Fingers point here and there. “It’s their fault!” What I don’t find are fingers pointed in the opposite direction. No one’s saying, “It’s my fault!” And, where are the voices declaring, “God has appointed this day!”

In Deut 28:47-48, the Israelites were warned about the consequences of refusing to obey God. “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the LORD will send against you…” The Lord will send them against you! We’ve enjoyed days of prosperity as a nation, but somewhere along the way, we forgot where that prosperity came from. We quit serving God with joy and thanksgiving “for the abundance of everything” He provided. Somewhere along the way, churches quit preaching messages that convicted men of sin. Some of them quit preaching altogether and became merely houses of entertainment. We became so politically correct, so concerned about offending, that we were like the prophets in the day of Judah’s captivity in Lam 2:14: “Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not uncovered your iniquity, to bring back your captives…” If they had declared the truth, sin would have been exposed and the captives would have been released, but instead, they comforted the people, “Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there [was] no peace.” (Jer 8:11)

So, now we’re in a mess. Things that used to be straight have been made crooked, and we’re not going to be able to fix it because it is the work of God! We can’t legislate it! We can try to blame it on the present or past government, but have we forgotten Dan 4:17?

This decision is by the decree of the watchers,
And the sentence by the word of the holy ones,
In order that the living may know
That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men,
Gives it to whomever He will,
And sets over it the lowest of men.

God’s in control! Until we realize that we can’t straighten what He’s made crooked (Ecc 1:15) and that only He can, we have no hope! What America needs is a heart of repentance toward the God that made her! What we need to do is examine our own hearts (2 Co 13:5), get in step with God ourselves, and faithfully declare His word in its entirety! God’s word is called “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” If we would faithfully declare the truth, it would be a light that would expose the hidden things in the darkness. Iniquity would be uncovered, and men would be released from their captivity because “the truth shall make you free!” (Jn 8:32). I pray that we will return the simplicity of declaring the word of God in a land that so desperately needs it. Our job’s not to explain God or make excuses for Him. It’s simply to be witnesses of who He truly is. Just tell them what He said! “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Ac 1:8)

In Christ’s love,

Jamie