The world is in a desperately critical time.” We are nearing the end of 2020 with major concerns of COVID19, protest and violence, major political issues, war and economy and how to solve them. A far more critical matter should be man’s concern; that matter being the eternal destiny of his soul. A cure for COVID, civil unrest back to normal, a good president in office, fixed economy and an end to warring will not affect the soul. We’re going through an epidemic worse than any this generation has ever faced and I thought at first this might be the very “sent –method” of waking men up to a need of Christ. But alas I’m afraid it has had no effect. Jesus said, “What has a man profited if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” As there is no quick fix for the issues mentioned, so there is no quick fix for the soul. Religion may offer it, but it isn’t within the power of religion to give. A popular television preacher answered questions on the “NEW BIRTH.” His answers were very common with today’s ideas on the subject by many others in the religious community. He mentioned several conditions that one must meet in order to ‘obtain’ the new birth, or to be born again. Ponder this question before reading further, “what did you do as a person to be born into this world?” There are conditions (faith and repentance) that must be met in order to be saved, those conditions are found in grace, and are operations of the Holy Spirit. The new birth, or what I refer to by the term regeneration, is a spiritual operation; it is what the Scripture speaks of when it refers to the ‘circumcision of the heart,’ “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh:” “But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Phil.3:3 & Rom.2:29). In the framework of experimental grace (salvation) there is what is termed regeneration and conversion, distinct yet inseparable. Regeneration is in the passive sense, conversion the active. Regeneration is first in order, being necessary to conversion. The Bible teaches us that a person by nature is in a state of spiritual death (Eph.2:2). A ‘valley of dry bones’ illustrates the state of the human race to us in Ezekiel 37. The only hope for sinners in our day is for the ‘breath of God’ to come upon them. Men must be converted (conversion is not religious reformation); that is they must repent and believe the Gospel (repentance is turning from your idols with whole-hearted commitment to Christ). Men are helpless and unable to meet these conditions until the Spirit of God enables them to do so. This is why the ‘new birth’ is necessarily first in order. Just as we did nothing to cause our natural birth, God must perform the miracle of our New Birth. The illustration of Ezekiel 37 also shows the preacher’s part in the salvation of sinners. Ezekiel could not give the bones life, but he could preach to them, and pray for the breath of God to blow upon them. I preach to dry bones (sinners) and pray to the wind (the Holy Spirit); it hasn’t affected the multitudes, but it has produced a few committed souls to Christ and His Kingdom.
Older
Top
