Monday 29 January 2018

What is regeneration? (Part 2)

26 January, 2018

4. Regeneration involves a transition from the sinful old life to the new life
    of loving obedience to Jesus Christ.
     2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:
                                    old things are passed away;
                                    behold all things are become new.
      Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the
                                lust of the flesh.
      Ephesians 4:23-24 And be renewed in the spirit of the mind; And that ye put on the new
                                      man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
      Collosians 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the
                                 image of him that created him:

      Romans 6:14-23 In this passage we see that when we yield ourselves to God, then sin
                                  shall not have dominion over us. That is sin has no authority or
                                   power over us and certainly shall not rule over us. But having
                                   an abundance of God's grace is no excuse to keep living the
                                   old sinful life. There is a
                                   transition from being a servant of sin to being freed from sin and
                                   becoming a servant of righteousness and moving toward holiness.
                                    When we are are servants of righteousness, we are not feeling
                                   bound and forced to follow particular religious acts, but rather
                                   we love to serve God and allow Him to make us righteous
                                   and become more like Him ( holiness)
                                   Although we will never be sinless, we will surely sin less as God
                                   works on our lives.

     1 John 2:29, 4:7, 3:9, 5:18. Those who are born of God (have been regenerated) do
                                                 live in righteousness, love one another and sin less.
                                                The wicked one has no power over them.

5. Those born of God cannot make sin a habit.
     1 John 5, 1 John 3:9 God's seed (of righteousness and holiness) remains in him
                        so he can't sin. This is going towards maturity.
     We depend on the Holy Spirit to keep up our relationship with God. 1 John 4:7-8
             says that 'He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.' So clearly
             there's a problem when one claims to follow God but doesn't know how to love.
             1 Corinthians 13 talks about doing all the right things but without love.
             This is empty. Regeneration makes us change from the inside out.

6. No matter what we confess with our lips, those who continue in sin
     show they are not yet regenerated but rather still under Satan's dominion.
      1 John 3:6-10
       We are not saved by works but works is a product of God's grace, righteousness and
       holiness in our lives. Righteous lives = loving life = children of God.
        Unrighteous life = unloving= children of the evil

   


Wednesday 24 January 2018

What is regeneration?

19-1-2018

Regeneration- revival, putting life into something dead, being made new again,
                        having a second life. The opposite is degenerate.
John3:1-8 Jesus told Nicodemus: Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the spirit gives birth to spirit.

Regeneration is.....
1. the recreating of a spiritual life in a human heart by God's Holy Spirit.
     Romans 12:2 The world and The Word seem contrary.
                            God calls us to tithe but the world says this is wasting money.
                            God calls us to love our enemy but the world says revenge
                            is the way.
                            But by the renewing of the mind our thoughts can be transformed
                            to align with God's. Then our focus shifts from worldly things to
                            The Word of God.
                            As a result we begin to see and understand the spiritual things.
    Ephesians 4:23-24. Talks about putting off the old self and being renewed in the
                                    spirit of the mind
                                    So that we put on the new self which is created in righteousness
                                    and true holiness. This is God regenerating us.
    The spirit is connected to the mind - spiritual mind.
    (Don't miss out on Heaven by one foot)
     2 Peter 1:4 God allows us to be partakers of the divine nature and
                       we can escape the corruption in the world.
     Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness we have done, but according to His mercy
                     He saved us,
                     by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of The Holy Ghost; ....

Regeneration is...
2. necessary because all people by nature are sinful.
    Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
    Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:
                           who can know it?
    Romans 8:7-8 vs8 they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Shows the desperate
                            need for regeneration in our lives)
    1  Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for
                                    they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,
                                    because they are spiritually discerned.
                                    (Things of the spiritual world don't make sense to the people of
                                   the world)
    Ephesians 2:3. Shows the need for regeneration

Regeneration is....
3. something which comes to those who repent of sin, turn to God and put their faith
     in Jesus alone.
      Matthew 3:1-2 John The Baptist was preaching a message of repentance in
                              preparation for Jesus
       Repentance = sorry in action. Don't do it again.
       Jesus forgave people and told them to go and sin NO MORE.
       It's not a feeling only but a turning around to God.
       John 1:6-13 vs 12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave power to
                                          become the sons of God, even to them that believe
                                           on his name; which were born, not of
                                          blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.


Saturday 13 January 2018

Salvation - regeneration

12th January, 2018

Salvation is a regeneration.
Why are people so excited to share their faith
when they first follow God?
They are overflowing with joy from their salvation.
They long to tell others of their new hope and
that living for God is so exciting - far better than the fun of sin.

We must understand our point of salvation.

Luke 7:36-39
Jesus went to the house of a Pharisee called Simon.
A sinful woman came to the house looking for Jesus.
She cried and wet Jesus' feet with her tears and wiped his feet with her hair.
Then she kissed his feet and poured perfume on them.
The Pharisee was talking to himself wondering how Jesus didn't know what kind of woman was touching him. He was judgemental
- is Jesus really from God?
- This woman is a sinner. (Worse than himself)

Luke 7:40-43
Jesus explains the situation to Simon.
He tells him about 2 men owing debts and neither could pay. One owed a lot and the other a little.
The moneylender cancelled the debts of both men.
Jesus asked Simon which man would love the moneylender more? Simon knew it must be the one who owed the most.

Luke 7:44-47
Jesus compares the woman to the Pharisee.
It was not the woman's home but she was doing so much for Jesus because she was in a desperate need of Salvation. The man felt he was more righteous and he didn't feel the same desperate need for salvation. So he didn't respond to Jesus with the same love, joy and appreciation as the sinful woman.
Jesus concluded with Simon:
Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven- for she loved much.
But he who has been forgiven little loves little.

Check also Luke 18:9-14
Some were sure of their righteousness and were looking down on others. In Jesus' parable ,
It was the tax collector, in his brokenness and humility, who went home justified.
It wasn't the self righteous Pharisees.

Isaiah 64:6
.. all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. (Without Jesus)

Salvation is about Jesus making us righteous - it is nothing that we have done.
Ephesians 2:8-9 no one can boast about what they have done - only what God has done for us.

How we approach God on a daily basis is really important.
Do we come humbly with an attitude of gratitude and thankfulness.
Or are we like the self righteous Pharisees - thinking we are better than others?

Psalm 51:12
Restore to me the joy of your salvation....

When we remember how God has saved us, we can have a renewed joy.





Tuesday 9 January 2018

Salvation

5th January, 2018

Salvation: being saved begins with a need for a saviour. Knowing we are sinners,
we want to be made right with God by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

Titus 3: 3-8
Vs 4-5 But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us
not because of righteous things we have done, but
because of his mercy.....
7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope
of eternal life.

John 3:16 .....whoever believes will not perish but have eternal life

It's supposed to be a simple faith in what Jesus has done and open to everyone.

John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father DRAWS him .....

'Sozo' = saved and 'soteria' = salvation in Greek

When we receive salvation, we are saved and delivered
from the power and effects of sin in our lives immediately.

John 3:1-6
V5-6 ....the spirit gives birth to spirit ....
It's the Holy Spirit who leads us to that place and births something of the spirit in us.
That's why we start to care about what the Spirit cares about.
We look and feel with the Spirit.

Acts 4:12 no one else gives Salvation besides Jesus.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me."

1 Timothy 2:1-7 God wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
who gave himself as a ransom to all men ..

.

 4991. sótéria 
Strong's Concordance
sótéria: deliverance, salvation
Original Word: σωτηρία, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: sótéria
Phonetic Spelling: (so-tay-ree'-ah)
Short Definition: deliverance, salvation
Definition: welfare, prosperity, deliverance, preservation, salvation, safety.
HELPS Word-studies
Cognate: 4991 sōtēría (from 4982 /sṓzō, "to save, rescue") – salvation, i.e. God's rescue which delivers believers out of destruction and into His safety.  See 4982(sōzō).