Twice Born

John 3:3-5

Our Christian walk consists of two births: the physical and the spiritual.  First we are born of physical flesh and water.  But the second birth is on the inside, the soul, where the spirit dwells.  It is there that the second, spiritual birth takes place.  When we choose new life and new birth, that new birth takes place by the Spirit of God.  Our salvation takes place when the Holy Spirit comes in and takes what we were and replaces it with the desire to find what we can be.  He changes us as we allow Him to and He replaces the old with the new. 

Being born again is not simply a step—it is a revolution!  It is a complete change of perspective and life. II Cor. 5:17 says that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come!”

Being born again is about change.  It is what most of the New Testament is about.  There is a changing of covenants, a changing of perspective, and a changing of the individual as well.  Being born again demands a change in our lives.  Once we lived without the truth; now, we can hold it in our hands.  Once we were orphans without a home; now we are sons and daughters of the heavenly Father.  Once we are born again, we cannot enter the womb a second time.  Neither should we return to what our lives once were.  We should not return to the sin we once lived in.  We should continue to seek after God and His kingdom, which He has promised us.  We have this ability through the Blood of Christ, through His sacrifice on the Cross. 

Once we have entered the spiritual kingdom, we are to seek to be like the Father in all that we do.  “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  We know what we ought to strive for: completion and maturity in relationship with the Father.  Our living example?  Jesus Christ.

—Mark

Maxim of the Moment

Success in marriage isn’t finding the right person: it’s being the right person.