The New Birth & New Nature

"Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.  My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.  God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day." -Psalm 7:9-11 [KJV]

 
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6).  What, then, is the new birth? It is not the removal of anything from the sinner nor the changing of anything physical or fleshly in the sinner; instead, it is the communication of SOMETHING NEW to the sinner. The new birth is the impartation of a NEW NATURE. When we were born the first time, we received from our parents their nature; so too, when we are born again, we receive from God His nature. The Spirit of God begets within us a spiritual nature (Galatians 5:17; II Peter 1:4). That which is born of man is human; that which is born of God is divine and spiritual (I John 3:9).

Nicodemus was startled. He was amazed at the Saviour’s words. Yet he ought not to have been. Man, by birth and nature, is blind and opposed to the things of God. And no amount of religious training can change this evil nature. His chief need is a NEW NATURE – to be born again! It is a must! A man must have a spiritual nature before he can understand, enter, or enjoy the kingdom of God (John 3:3).

-preacher Henry T. Mahan

 

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