Christianity is not about a tradition, a religion, or a family heritage. Christianity has to do with realizing that we are a sinner in need of a savior. Through the fall of Adam & Eve, sin entered the world and it separated us from a holy God. Jesus the perfect one paid the penalty of sin to reconcile us back to God. Jesus expects us to become born again!
Human beings are tri-part beings who have spirit, soul, and body. Our soul is made up of mind, emotions, and will. As natural people, our spirit man is doormat. As a result it does not have the ability to communicate with God. To a natural man, God is an idea or a distant person. They hope God hears their prayers, but they have no understanding of what He is speaking to them or what He desires of them.
A true Christian has a new nature
having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, 1Peter 1:23
In John 3, the Bible tells us about a religious Jewish person named Nicodemus and his encounter with Jesus. When Nicodemus came to Jesus, he was intrigued with Jesus’ ability to teach, but Jesus wasn’t impressed by that complement because there was more to Him than being a teacher. Jesus had come to save Nicodemus and other religious Jewish people from the bondage of sin and the law. Jesus told Nicodemus unless one is born again he could not see the kingdom of heaven. Then He explained it by saying that one must be born of water and spirit.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17
When we receive Jesus as our Lord and savior and believe that He died for our sins, the seed of life enters into our hearts. Our spirit man comes alive for the first time, and we become born again. We are transformed from the corruptible seed of Adam into the incorruptible seed of Christ. We now are a new creation. The new creation is pure, holy, and righteous because we have the seed of Christ in us.
Our new nature comes alive by the power of the Holy Spirit. Since our spirit man has come alive through salvation, we now can communicate with God through the Holy Spirit, and we learn to hear His voice in our inner parts.
I will continue with this subject in the next devotional. In the meantime, please read Chapter 3 from the book of John. If you have never received Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord, you can pray that prayer today. At the top of this page there is an option called Salvation Prayer. You can click on that option and pray that life-changing prayer!
For comments, please email me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com.