Let's look at three major changes that result from being born again:
A New Creation
According to the Word of God, the remaking of your spirit makes you a whole new type of being.
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Cor. 5:17)
When you are born again, the things that characterized your old lifestyle - your old habits, priorities and ways of talking - pass away. You no longer have to be controlled by the things of your past. You're free!
Down through the centuries, "religious" people have demanded that "sinners" clean up their lives before they come into the church. Many an unsaved person has been told, "Purify your life, then you can be a Christian."
But according to the Word of God, that is completely out of sequence. A person has no capacity to make lasting changes in his lifestyle until he's been made a new creation in Christ Jesus.
Becoming a new creature is what makes it possible for all old things to pass away and all things to become new. Your marriage can become new. Your relationships with your children can become new. Everything becomes new because YOU are a new person!
This new personhood calls for a new way of thinking. Rom. 12:2 calls it "renewing your mind." It means retraining your mind to realize that you don't have to be sick anymore. You don't have to be poor anymore. You no longer have to be defeated. The world may have to live that way, but not you - you're a new creation!
All Things Are Now Possible
"...all things are possible to him that believeth." (Mark 9:23)
It takes an act of "believing" to be born again and as a "believer" nothing is impossible to you. In fact, as a child of God, you can overcome anything the devil or the world can throw at you.
"For whatever is born of God over cometh the world." (1 John 5:4)
"...we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." (Rom. 8:37)
When you've been born again you're not just a survivor, you're not just a conqueror, you're MORE than a conqueror through Jesus!
Your Needs Are Now Abundantly Supplied
One of the most comforting and exhilarating aspects of the new birth is the knowledge that everything you need has been supplied in advance.
If you need healing, 1 Peter 2:24 says, "By whose stripes ye were healed." In other words Jesus bore your sickness and pain on the cross. You don't have to be sick anymore.
If you have financial needs, Philippians 4:19 says "But my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
That didn't say some of your needs. It didn't say most of your needs. God's Word says all of your needs are met in accordance with His amazing heavenly abundance.
These are just a few of the marvelous benefits that belong to the born-again child of God.
Three Keys to Enjoying the Fullness of the New Birth
A vast majority of Christians are "living beneath their privileges." What do I mean by that? I'm referring to the fact that as born-again believers we have inherited enormous rights and privileges. We're children of the King!
Yet far too many believers are content to trudge through life like lowly beggars, consoling themselves in the knowledge that they'll go to heaven by and by.
You don't have to live that way. Jesus said He came to bring you abundant life. The following three keys will help you appropriate all the benefits the new birth brings.
1. Unlocking God's Promises
God's Word is literally filled with promises to you, as a believer. However, those great and precious promises will not become a reality in your life automatically. You must unlock them with the key of faith.
Yes, to receive the fullness of God's promises in your life you must have faith, and the only source of faith is the Word of God.
"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." (Rom. 10:17)
When you focus your time and attention on God's Word, faith is the result. I'm talking about the kind of faith that will bring God's promises down from the realm of the spirit right into your life.
We get a glimpse of how faith works in Hebrews 11:1:
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for..."
When you first read a promise in God's Word, it enters your mind as "hope." This begins the process of faith. Then as you meditate on that promise and confess it over your situation (saying what God's Word says about it), hope drops down into your heart and becomes faith.
2. Understand the Enemy of Your Faith
In discovering the wonderful truth about faith don't make the mistake of thinking all your problems will instantly vanish the moment you are born again. Many new Christians see God's promises in the Bible and assume they can simply float around on a "faith cloud."
The Bible, however, makes it very clear that we have a real enemy to contend with in this life:
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" (1 Peter 5:8)
Satan will try to come against you with sickness, oppression and poverty - the very things Jesus died to redeem you from. But if you'll refuse to listen to his lies and stand firm on God's Word, you'll rise above every circumstance.
The most important thing a new believer needs to be aware of is that Satan's favorite and most insidious tactic is to steal the Word from your heart. Jesus exposed this method in the parable of the sower and the seed:
"When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart." (Matt. 13:18,19)
It is vital that new believers recognize that they have an enemy who is out to steal the Word from their hearts.
3. Be Built Up in God's Word
There is a reason Satan is so determined to steal the Word before it can take root in your heart. That Word will cause you to grow in power, faith and authority.
"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow by it." (1 Peter 2:2)
In this respect, a brand new Christian is no different than a newborn baby. Both must eat in order to grow and gain strength.
Once your spiritual growth and development begins, the new life that is yours in Christ through faith will begin to open to you. Before long the memory of your old life will begin to seem like nothing more than a bad dream. You'll wonder how you could have ever lived without the joy that is available to you through the new birth.
Just be sure to be diligent in your study of God's Word. It's your source of spiritual nourishment.
Getting it Settled
If you've never been born again or if you have some questions in your mind concerning your relationship with Jesus Christ, you're only a prayer away from settling those issues once and for all. Take a moment to pray this prayer. Say the words from your heart. If you mean them, Jesus will come into your heart and you will be born again:
God in Heaven, I come to you in the name of Your Son, Jesus. I confess that I haven't lived my life for You. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that He died on the cross and rose again from the dead so I might have a better life now and eternal life in heaven. Jesus, come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior. From this day forward, I'll live my life for You to the best of my ability. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Now thank God for saving you and know for sure your life will never be the same again.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Mac Hammond is the senior pastor of Living Word, a large and growing church in Brooklyn Park (a suburb of Minneapolis), Minnesota. He is the host of the Winner’s Minute, which is seen locally in the Minneapolis area on KMSP Channel 9 at 6:44 a.m. and 11:11 a.m. He is also the host of the Winner's Way broadcast and author of several internationally distributed books. Mac is broadly acclaimed for his ability to apply the principles of the Bible to practical situations and the challenges of daily living.
