May 10, 2017 - YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN

Day 130 - 1 Kings 21-22 & John 3:1-21

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8 ESV)

“‘Water’ and ‘spirit’ belong together and point to Christian Baptism.”
Augustine wrote: “In spirit we are born by the water and sacrament.”
Large Catechism: “We take up Baptism, by which we are first received into the Christian Church.” (The Lutheran Study Bible, CPH 2009, page 1782)

“You must be born again.” For most of us that happened when we were baptized as infants. God alone gives faith.  We cannot even cooperate in that event. Even the act of sincerely confessing our faith is something we cannot do on our own. 

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”  (1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV)
   
Baptized into Your name most holy,
O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
I claim a place, though weak and lowly,
Among Your saints, Your chosen host.
Buried with Christ and dead to sin,
Your Spirit now shall live within.

My loving Father, here You take me
To be henceforth Your child and heir.
My faithful Savior, here You make me
The fruit of all Your sorrows share.
O Holy Spirit, comfort me
When threat'ning clouds around I see.
(Lutheran Service Book, CPH, 2006, #590, stanzas 1-2)

So, if a well-meaning Christian of a “different stripe” asks you if you were born again, tell him, “Of course, on the day of my Baptism, when I was a baby.” And then, when the devil tries to make you doubt your salvation, remember that your Baptism means that you are God’s child today, tomorrow and forever.

Gracious heavenly Father, thank You for the comfort of my Baptism. Thank You for granting me saving faith through water and Your Word. Help me to always remember that You came into my life that day and made me Your own. Amen.

Pastor David Paape 

Daily Bible Reading Chart
http://www.wholesomewords.org/family/bibleread/truth.pdf