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THE
BIBLE
Can we trust a book written 2000 years ago?
EYEWITNESS
Did the writers of the New Testament get their picture of Jesus right?
GOD
- MAN
Is Jesus really God?
RESURRECTION
Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
RELIGIONS
With so many religions, why Christianity?
SUFFERING
If there is a God, why is there so much suffering?
TRINITY
Understanding the Trinity.
SCIENCE
The complementary nature of Science & Christianity.
FORGIVENESS
What it is and why it matters?
GUIDANCE
How does God guide?
REPENTANCE
What it is and why you can't get to heaven without it.
BORN
AGAIN
What does it mean to be converted and born again?
SAVING
FAITH
The kind of faith that will get you to heaven
ASSURANCE
Can I know for sure that I am going to heaven?
TRUTH
What is truth and does it matter?
MORALITY
Does it matter how we live? A Christian view of morality.
THE
CHURCH
God's vision for his family, the Church. A call to the churches of the
new millennium.
PURPOSE
How
can I find a great purpose for living?
IDENTITY
Who am I; Finding my true identity as a human being and as a child of
God.
SELF-ESTEEM
How
can I feel good about my self? The Christian basis for proper sel-esteem.
LIFE AFTER DEATHChristianity's Hope & Challenge.
THE CROSS
Why did Jesus Die? What the Bible says about the Cross.
Grace
The importance of grace in the New Testament.
How are we born again?
How are we born again? In Acts, chapter nine, we read of the dramatic conversion of Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor of the early Christians. This encounter with the risen Jesus transformed him into Paul the apostle, one of the most effective Christian teachers and evangelists of all time. Michael Green, Anglican clergyman, evangelist and adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury, says of this experience:
While much of the paraphernalia of Paul's conversion was unique, four elements stand out which are present in every authentic conversion.
It touched his conscience. He knew he was kicking against the goads [sticks used for prodding animals pulling a plough].
It touched his understanding. He realised that the Jesus he was persecuting was the risen Messiah and Son of God.
It touched his will. He came to the point of giving in to Jesus and beginning to follow him.
It changed his whole life - his ambitions, his character, his relationships, his whole perspective on life.
No conversion can claim to be real unless it embodies these four elements.
Conversion, or spiritual rebirth, must begin with an awareness of your need for forgiveness and for reconciliation with God. John Stott, renowned Anglican clergyman and writer, once conducted a questionnaire in his church in London. Amongst other things, he asked his parishioners what it was that led them to put their faith in Christ. Some admitted that it was not so much a sense of sin as that "life was a great burden and pointless", or "purposeless", or that they felt "unloved and unwanted." But in answer to the question, "At the time of your conversion, what was your understanding of sin and guilt?" seventy-five out of one-hundred-and-five claimed to have been fairly clear. Here are a few examples: "I was fully aware that I was leading a corrupt life," "I knew I was guilty before God," "I was fully conscious of my sin and guilt," "I had an acute sense of sin that sometimes led me to despair," "I hated my shortcomings, which drove me to Christ."
It is not necessary to believe that you are a terribly awful person! You may not be at all. However, it is necessary to accept the fact that you have come short of God's requirements. If you don't believe that, read through Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel, chapters five, six and seven! One person who had attended church for forty years - had sung in the choir, taught classes, given time and money, and visited the sick - told in a letter to Decision magazine how she had become aware that her heart was not right with God. She wrote,
I fell onto my knees and prayed, 'Dear God, I'm lost. Please show me the way. Forgive me of my many sins. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.' You see, I had never admitted I was lost. When I did, and asked God to forgive me, Christ came into my heart...My battle was won.
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"The
crisis of self-surrender has always been, and must always be, regarded
as the vital turning point of the religious life"
W.James |
Secondly, there needs to be some understanding of who Jesus is. He is the crucified and risen Lord. He died for your sins and mine and now reigns in heaven until he will appear again to judge the world.
Thirdly, there needs to be a willingness to submit to Jesus as Lord of your life. However much your awareness of the need for reconciliation, and however much or little understanding you may have, the most important aspect of conversion, or spiritual rebirth, is the will. Are you willing to accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord of your life. It means giving up the right to live our lives just as we please. We were created for partnership with the living God. However, he is the senior partner in the relationship, and without submission and obedience we cannot experience and enjoy his love. William James said, "The crisis of self-surrender has always been, and must always be, regarded as the vital turning point of the religious life."
Some personal examples
The importance of this final point could perhaps be underlined by giving personal examples from the lives of several prominent Christians. Keith Millar, author of a number of significant books on Christian living, tells of his conversion as he sat in his car in the pinewoods country of East Texas in complete despair. He had been through training for Christian ministry in seminary, but had never known God personally. He says:
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"God
does not want a man's money, nor does he primarily want his time...he
wants your will"
Keith Millar |
As I sat there I began to weep like a little boy, which I suddenly realised I was inside. I looked up towards the sky. There was nothing I wanted to do with my life, and I said, "God, if there is anything you want in this stinking soul, take it."...There wasn't any ringing of bells or flashing of lights or vision; but it was a deep intuitive realisation of what it is God wants from a man which I had never known before, and the peace which came with this understanding was not an experience in itself. It was rather a cessation of the conflict of a lifetime. I realised then that God does not want a man's money, nor does he primarily want his time, even the whole lifetime of it a young Seminarian is ready to give him. God, I realised, doesn't want your time, he wants your will; and if you give him your will, he will begin to show you life as you have never seen it before.
Eric Delve, prominent British evangelist and now Anglican clergyman, tells how before his conversion his church life was "trotting along." He was reading some religious books. He says:
It didn't help much. I started to say, "Lord. You've got to help me!" But I became aware that God was saying, "No, I won't." God was telling me, "I want you! I don't want to do an emergency operation."
Kenneth Strachan, who headed the pioneering Latin American Mission, and whose ministry changed the lives of countless people, came to faith in Christ during his junior year at college. At a Swedish church, he had stayed after the service and knelt with a group of friends, first with the intention of sneering at their earnestness, and then capitulating to the urgent plea to surrender. Next day he wrote to his mother:
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"Christian
life is truly satisfying because it has given me true purpose and
direction by serving not myself but Jesus Christ"
M.Hatfield |
I have meant to keep still about this bit of news but feel too glad about it to shut up. Last night (Nov. 30th - you can mark the date) R. K. Strachan gave up a losing fight and surrendered to Christ. The Bible seems new to me and God is with me to help me. I think I've never really been converted before.
Similarly, Arthur Glasser, missionary to China with the China Inland Mission and later Home Director of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship, describes his conversion at a student conference in New Jersey in 1932:
My conversion experience at Keswick was quite overwhelming, with the issue of the Lordship of Christ crucial to my understanding of what it meant to be among his followers. My manner of life was completely transformed because of the awareness that I was no longer my own: I had been "bought with a price".
Whether our finding a real faith is as definite and dateable as those experiences described above, the issue is the same. We each have to face the question of whether our basic motivation in life is to live for Christ or for ourselves. The respected US Senator, Mark Hatfield, puts the issues clearly when he says:
I saw that for thirty-one years I had lived for self and decided I wanted to live the rest of my life only for Jesus Christ. I asked God to forgive my self-centred life and to make my life his own. Following Christ has been an experience of increasing challenge, adventure and happiness. Living a committed Christian life is truly satisfying because it has given me true purpose and direction by serving not myself but Jesus Christ.
I will let C. S. Lewis have the last word on this aspect of conversion with a quote from his book Beyond Personality:
Christ says, "Give me all. I don't want so much of your money and so much of your work - I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there. I want to have the whole tree down. I don't want to drill the tooth or crown it or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked...the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact I will give you myself. My own will shall become yours."
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What does it mean to be converted and born again
The necessity of being born again
How are we born again?
Popular substitutes for spiritual rebirth
The results of being born again
