John 3:16-18 tells us: For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son
into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be
saved. He
that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God.
Romans 10:9-17 tells us: That if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture says, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Acts 4:12 tells us: Neither is
there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved.
This is the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus,
who was a Pharisee and a member
of the Sanhedrin (John 3:3-8) -
Jesus - Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God
Nicodemus - How can a man be born when
he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Jesus - You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must
be born again.
Amen, amen I say to thee,
unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter
into the kingdom
of God
1 Peter 1:3 says: All praise to God, the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again,
because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.
1 Peter 1:23 says: For you have been born again, not
of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word
of God.
Romans 6:23 says: For the wages of
sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord.
If you call yourself a Christian, and are not born again, you are deceiving yourself. The Christian church has gotten a bad name,
in some circles over the centuries, because of the people who did things in the
name of Christ but did not know Christ.[1]
You cannot know Christ without being born
again. Some of the biggest lies of
the devil are: that you can be born a Christian because your family is
Christian, Jesus is not the only way to Heaven, you can get to Heaven by good
works, and church membership qualifies you as being a Christian. Jesus said:
"you cannot get into Heaven without being born again". Becoming born again is a personal choice, for
which we are each individually responsible.
The Jews are afraid of Christians because they have a
corrupted idea of what a Christian is.
It is even considered, by some of them, a sin to read the New Testament
and parts of Isaiah because they describe Jesus as the Messiah. The most
revered Rabbi in Israel (Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri[2]),
who recently died, left a note to be read a year after he died, naming Yehoshua
(Hebrew for Jesus) as the Messiah and said He would be coming very soon.
The Moslem's are afraid of Christians because their
religion inventor lied about Jesus, the Old Testament and the New testament, in
order to guide his people away from the one true and living God. They also consider it a sin to read the
Bible. Many Moslems have come to believe
in Jesus, in recent years, because of dreams and visions. Others have read the Bible and accepted
Jesus, because they came to realize it was the truth of God.
Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us we are saved by Grace, not by
works - that grace is the availability of salvation through Jesus
John 20:30-31 says: And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
Why do we believe in the fundamentals of the faith?
Paul said if Jesus wasn't
raised from the dead we have nothing to believe in.
"When you are Born Again you receive the Holy Spirit,
but how much of you does the Holy Spirit receive?"[3]
The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), as well as
Paul's writings, were in circulation while the eyewitnesses to Jesus life,
death and resurrection, were still alive.
John's gospel, and the other books he wrote, were written after most of
the eyewitnesses had passed on. Common
knowledge of the synoptic gospels, Acts and the books by Paul, Peter and James
were all circulated in the early church.
Almost two thousand years of documentation has proven that the Bible we
have today is an accurate record of these writings.
If a Jew accepts Jesus. he simply becomes a Messianic
Jew. When a gentile accepts Jesus he
transforms from a non-believer to a believer in the God of Israel, and is
adopted into the root and branch of Judaism. A Christian is an adopted son of God whether
he is a completed Jew and therefore a son of God as well as a son of Abraham,
while the gentile who becomes a Christian, becomes a adopted Jew: circumcised
in his heart. It is significant that the
Jews are brought to Jesus by Jehovah while the gentiles are brought to Jehovah
by Jesus.
Jesus disciples were for the most part Jews. Those, both for and against Him, knew the Old
Testament scriptures and were either convinced by them or were afraid because
of them. Time and again the apostles
used these Old Testament scriptures to prove, to the Jews, who Jesus was.
God has given us the choice to believe in Him or not to
believe in Him. The consequences of that
choice will live with us forever. We can't let others influence our
decision. The Bible tells us that if we
will truly seek Him, He will manifest Himself to us.
It has been said that our walk with Jesus is a process[4]. Paul discusses this by talking about baby
Christians that are only able to receive the milk of the Gospel and that the more
mature Christians are able to understand the meat of the Gospel. Regardless of the depth of your walk, once
you have been born again, your ticket to Heaven has been
punched; your journey has begun.
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