Jesus says: Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God

Jesus Ministries, Joan Boney  ... 

We are born again when God reveals HIMSELF and THE WORD to us.

 

When I was approximately 15, I went forward at church and was baptized in water.  There was no change at all in my life.

 

When I was 37, God spoke to me by HIS Spirit and said to me:  "Joan ... You know those mistakes you've been making all these years?  Those weren't mistakes.  Those were sins."

 

I was so shocked.  I thought they were "mistakes".

 

With that Word, God caused me to be "born again" instantly, a "new creature".

 

Now I wanted to read the Bible.  I wanted to know things of God.  I wanted to be with the people of God.  I was completely changed by God.

 

God gave me a new heart and a new spirit and this caused me to go in the way of God.

 

Ezekiel 36  God says:

 

23 And I will sanctify MY great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27 And I will put MY spirit within you, and cause you to walk in MY statutes, and ye shall keep MY judgments, and do them.

 

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When God reveals HIMSELF to us we are born again and created as a "new creature".

 

2 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.

 

God gives us a new heart and a new Spirit to live in us and lead us and guide us.

 

Before we were born again, we followed our own wisdom and the wisdom of this world.  Now we follow the wisdom sent to us by God by HIS Holy Spirit.

 

I Corinthians 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

 

A person can try to do the right thing before he is born again but he will always be a little off like a radio station that is not fully tuned into the radio station.

 

John 3  

 

4 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?

5 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.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

 

We are not born again by our own will as some think.  We are born again by the will of God.

 

Romans 9

 

7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.

8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son.

10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;

11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of HIM that calleth;)

12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.

13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

15 For HE saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew MY power in thee, and that MY name might be declared throughout all the earth.

18 Therefore hath HE mercy on whom HE will have mercy, and whom HE will he hardeneth.

(If you are born again, you will understand this scripture.  But if you are not born again, you will try to explain this scripture away.)

 

There is an elect of God and a chosen people of God and they are born again and have the heart of God and the Spirit of God inside of them.

 

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