The Born Again Experience

Topic: The Born Again Experience

Text: Galatians 4:19

Preaching: Pastor Chinedu Nwosu

Jesus told Nicodemus that except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot see the kingdom of God. He was speaking of two types of births(normal and abnormal births.)

There is physical birth and spiritual birth. The first birth is natural and the second, spiritual. You have to be born twice to enter the kingdom of God. The expression, “born of water” is what happens when the amniotic sac breaks and a child comes out.

The quality of birth determines the quality of life. If there were complications at birth, it may affect the development of the child. There are four distinct steps that midwives go through when they are in the process of delivering a baby.

1. The crowning of the baby and the exit of the baby from the birth canal.

2. The cutting of the umbilical cord.

3. Turning the baby upside down and giving it a spank.

4. Wash and clean the baby up.

These four steps are important in ensuring the birthing process of well-formed Christians.

1. Belief in Jesus Christ.

2. Repentance unto God

3. Baptism of the Holy Spirit

4. Water Baptism

After believing in God by faith, you must cut connections to the old world through repentance to God. If you don’t, you remain connected to the world you are coming from, thus unable to thrive in the new world you have been brought into.

In the book of Acts, we see how believers were made Christians: Repentance, Baptism and receiving of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

While a baby is in the womb, it has a language with the mother. But when it comes out of the womb it learns to cry. In the same regard, you have to learn to speak in tongues as a believer because it is the lingua franca on this side of our existence.

When the baby comes out of the womb it must be cleaned. In the same way, when you come into Christ, water baptism is meant to symbolically cleanse you from the dirt of your former life(Acts 8:12-17)

The author of Hebrews tells believers 6 elementary things that they must understand.

They are

Repentance from dead works,

faith towards God,

The doctrine of baptisms,

laying on of hands,

The resurrection of the dead and

Eternal Judgment.

The three doctrines of faith:

1. The belief that Jesus is Lord.

2.  The Belief in Jesus Christ. Belief in his death, burial, and resurrection.

3. Once you believe in Jesus Christ, you must go on believing.

Christ died, he died for our sins, he died according to the scriptures, he was buried and he rose from the dead. These are the five things that you must continue to believe in as a Christian.

During altar calls, we often put the emphasis only on belief in Jesus Christ. But the believer needs to repent towards the Father, believe in Jesus Christ and receive the Holy Ghost. This is the proper thing.

Repentance is not the same as the confession of sins;  even though confession is a part of repentance. Repentance is turning around, a reversal or change of mind.

Repentance is not regret or remorse. Regret is sorrow for the sins you committed against yourself. Remorse is sorrow for sins you committed against others. Repentance is sorrow for sins you committed against God and as a result, you turn back to Him.

The prove of repentance is your works afterward. Many people have remorse or regret without repentance. Repentance is a continuous thing. Paul says we should be transformed by the renewal of our mind. You must continually turn yourself towards God.

Water baptism is the end of the cycle and it has benefits to the life of the believer. The word baptism means to dip, soak, dunk someone into the water. The earliest example we have is John the Baptist.

Romans 6:1; We were baptized into Jesus Christ, into his death, and if so we shall also be partakers of his resurrection. Water baptism emphasizes death, burial, and resurrection.

Water baptism symbolically cleanses the body; it signifies the closure of the former life. There is a final disconnection from the past; symbolically, the person who goes down into water is not the same person that comes up.

When Christ died we died with him, when he was buried we were buried with him,  and when he was resurrected we were resurrected with him to a new life!

 If you are born properly you will live properly because the quality of your birth affects the quality of your life. God bless you!