Why Be Born Again
Why Be Born Again? I Can’t Live It!
Dr. Robert Keeton
Table of contents
I. Why must we be BORN AGAIN?
A. Because God’s Word declares it:
B. Because of who our spiritual father is:
C. Because there must be a Spiritual birth to have a Spiritual life:
II. I want to get saved BUT!
A. I will not be accepted:
B. I can not live it:
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I. Why must we be BORN AGAIN?
A. Because God’s Word declares it:
John 3:3 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.
John 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
I Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Every day someone is trying to figure out some way of getting to heaven without going God’s way. This is man’s biggest mistake. We cannot, by any means, figure out the ways of God concerning His great plan of salvation. I cannot tell you why God would love an ole wicked, lost sinner like me enough to give his only begotten Son to die on an old rugged cross in my place, so that I might call upon his name repenting of my sins, asking for his divine forgiveness, and receiving a full pardon, along with eternal life and a home in heaven too. Truly His ways are above our ways.
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.
As you can see from God’s own words, when we are born in this flesh, we all someday are going to die. The birth (life) that we received from our parents is only going to last as long as there is a breath in our body. At the point when that last breath goes out of this mortal body, our soul steps out into an eternal hell where it will remain, being in torments for ever and ever. The Bible gives a very clear account of this:
Luke 16:22-24 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
This is the end that all, who are not BORN AGAIN, will someday face when death becomes reality. It is like when we used to play the game of “hide and seek” as a small child. We would run and hide while one would count, and at the end of the counting he would come trying to find you. If you had used that time wisely while the count was going on you would have found a place to hide where you would not be found, and would even make an effort to slip in “home” safe. Well, that was just a game, but we can apply some of the same thoughts to our real lives.
If you want to be able to reach HOME (Heaven) you must do what it takes to be BORN AGAIN, while the count (time) is still going on. When the Lord stops the count and comes for his children (those that are BORN AGAIN) or when death comes your way, it will be too late.
The excuses we used as a child such as “I was not ready!” will not work, for we have been warned time and time again. Just as when the one doing the counting would say, “Ready or not, here I come!” the Lord Jesus Christ has said much the same thing through out the Bible. If we are not ready for death or the Lord’s return, it will be our own fault and we will have to give an account for ourselves.
B. Because of who our spiritual father is:
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
When you were a very small child, did anyone have to teach you how to tell a lie? I am sure no one did. Did anyone have to teach you how to steal? Again, I am sure no one had to teach you that either. In fact, all or at least most of our lives someone especially our own parents, that gave us this first birth, have been kept very busy trying to teach us not to do wrong.
Have you ever wondered why it is so easy to do wrong, and it is so very hard to just do right?
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
You see, we have had a spiritual father (the devil) training us up in the way that he would have us to go. He has taught us to lie, cheat, steal, deceive, abuse, lust, envy, hate, rebel, and everything else that is contrary to the Word of God.
You might wonder why the devil would teach you all these things if the end result would be you spending all eternity in hell. Well, have you ever seen a prideful person fall and not take someone else with them? The devil was cast out of heaven because of pride that rose up in him. I can tell you this for sure, he is going to do all that he can to cause you to follow in his footsteps. He is going to be cast into the lake of fire and wants you to follow, as you will see in the following verses:
Revelations 20:10-15 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
C. Because there must be a Spiritual birth to have a Spiritual life:
Until the day the new birth (being BORN AGAIN) takes place in your life, things will pretty much continue on the same as before. You may stop doing one thing that you realize to be wrong, only to pick up or start a new habit, which will probably turn out to be much worse.
You see, almost everyone desires to live a life that would not be filled with all their old habits and old ways. These old habits and old ways seem to keep pulling you down every time you try to do better.
II Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
The only way to be in Christ is to have a new birth. When that new birth takes place, then a new life will naturally begin also. Old things will be removed out of your life, and God will put new, and better things in your life. God will bring a joy and happiness that you have never dreamed of.
Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
I believe that if you would call out to God right now, with a repentant heart, confessing to God that you are a sinner in need of a Saviour, I believe God would show you something that you have never seen before. His amazing GRACE is what He will show you, by saving your soul from a burning hell.
Now, you may be sitting there, wanting to be saved, but something is stopping you from getting on your knees before God. Please do not stop reading, but go ahead and read this next part. It may be very important to you concerning the second birth.
II. I want to get saved BUT…
A. I will not be accepted:
The old devil has put this thought into the heads of many people to stop them from getting saved. You may even be one of them. Maybe that might even be what is stopping you from getting saved right now. Maybe you are sitting there, thinking about all the wrong you have committed in your past.
If it were not for our past, we would not have the need to be saved. We all have a past that we wish we could forget, but we can not. Jesus Christ saw our past and already knew what was in it, even before He died on the cross of Calvary.
Isaiah 53:4-5 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten if God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
After seeing that He put Himself in our place, how can we sit there and say “He would not accept me?”
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Now after seeing that Christ loved you so much, how can you still not give your heart to him? He loved you enough to lay down His life for you. He took your place and my place on the cross where we should have died. He is willing to accept us just as we are.
B. I can not live it:
I know you can not. This is why you need to get saved; you never will be able to live it with out Jesus Christ in your heart.
So many people try to live the Christian life in order to get saved. That has never worked, and it never will. Many think that because they have stopped doing this and that, they are surely saved and will go to heaven when they die. I want you to know that, apart from being born again nothing else will get you to heaven.
John 3:3 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.
Too many people have gotten the cart before the horse; they are trying to live before they are born. This is impossible in our fleshly bodies, and it is just as impossible in our spiritual lives.
As small children, most people wanted to live a life that would please mom and dad. I believe that we all looked forward to times when we could hear our parents brag on us and say “you sure did good. “
If you had never been born to your parents, you could never have lived a life to please them. No matter how hard you would have tried. The reason you could not live to please them is, no birth, no life.
Since you have been born in your body of flesh, I am sure of one thing, you have messed up. Since you have been born, you have done things that mom and dad did not approve of. Some of those things were very bad things, and others were not so bad. Whether great or small, they were all wrong.
Did mom and dad stop loving you when you told that lie, or when you were caught disobeying them. Maybe you broke something beyond repair. Did mom and dad reach down, take you by your shirt collar and say, “We are going to take you back to the hospital and start all over again?” Of course they did not! You knew that if you went to mom and dad to ask for forgiveness, they would forgive. We might have gotten punished, but we are still their child, because of the birth. Nothing can ever change the fact of the birth that had taken place.
I know that, in some cases moms and dads may disown their children. However, just as we are not perfect children, they are not perfect parents.
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Did you notice what that verse said we must do to become the sons of God? The day I got saved, I became a son of God. The day I received Jesus as my Saviour, I was born into the family of God. I for the first time in my life, had a perfect Father. This was not the same father I had before I was Born Again. The father that I had before was like you and me. He made mistakes just like you and me. He also needed to be Born Again.
It was not until I was saved that I could even start to live in a way that was pleasing to God, my new Father. I had tried many times before to live my life in ways to please God. I would go to church, give offerings, sing songs, and treat others the way I wanted to be treated. Each time I made these efforts I would think I was going to make it after all. After a while though, I would find myself, out of church and not doing any of those things that seemed so right. I always seemed to fall short of pleasing God no matter how hard I tried.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Just as with my earthly parents, if I had waited until I could live to please them to be born, I would have never been born. Like I said earlier, most of us wanted to live to please our earthly parents. I believe that, most of us want to live a life that would please God too.
You had no control over the first birth. You were born when it was your time to be born, and thus you began to live your life out side of your mother’s womb. Then you either lived to please or you lived to displease them. It was your choice. When we did wrong though, our parents would whip, or punish us.
You do have some control over the second birth. However, you can not get saved when ever you choose.
John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: …
We can only be Born Again when God gives us opportunity. God will bring us to the point that we know our condition (we are a sinner lost and on our way to hell) and will convict our hearts. When we were born in this body, if anything had stopped us while in the birth canal, we would have died. In the same manner, if God is convicting your heart to be saved now, and you allow anything to stop you, you may very well die lost.
Do not allow doubts about your past, or doubts of whether or not you can live a Christian life, stop you from calling on the Lord Jesus Christ right now.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
God means what He says. He has also given you a promise; if you will only do what He has asked you to do, you can be born again.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Just think! If you have just bowed your head and asked the Lord Jesus Christ to save you, something great just started. You have just been given the opportunity to live a life that will please God. Now you can look forward to God being well pleased with you when you do right.
Matthew 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: …
You may still be sitting there, trying to figure out how to get that gift of eternal life that we have been talking about.
Well, let me tell you, it is as simple as me offering you a piece of candy and you reaching out your hand to take it from me. You can not have it if it is not being offered, but when it is being offered, all you have to do is accept it.
If God is convicting your heart right now, then that is God trying to tell you that He is offering you that gift of eternal life. All gifts must be paid for, but not by the one receiving the gift, but by the one giving the gift. God has already paid the price with the blood of His own precious Son Jesus Christ.
If God is dealing with your heart right now, and you have just seen that you do not have to do any thing in your own strength to earn that gift of Salvation. Will you call out to God and accept that gift of eternal life right now? God may not offer again. Are you willing to take that chance?
If you truly want to accept this gift with your whole heart, ask God for it right now, and confess that you are a sinner in need of His saving grace. You will be accepting the most valuable gift ever offered to mankind.
Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
If you have read this book and just got saved (born again), please tell others about what God did for you. I would like to hear from you also. So please write and let us know you got saved.