EXCEPT A MAN BE BORN AGAIN . . .
By A. W. Tozer
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3
The miracle of the new birth was foreshadowed in
the Old Testament record: "Create in me a clean heart,
0 God; and renew a right spirit within me."
There was at least a hint of miracle within the human
breastnot the reasoning of yourself into a position,
but something happening that could not be explained!
Coming into the New Testament, there is no longer
any hinting or suggesting about the miracle of the new
birth --- it is boldly and openly declared. Our Saviour
said that if we come to Him and are not born again,
we cannot enter the kingdom of God --- that we must
be born from above.
Paul told the Corinthians: "If any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold,
all things are become new."
You couldn't make it any stronger than that! Something
happens in a man’s nature that no man can explain!
Just the moment that a man’s experience in Christ can
be broken down and explained by the psychologists, we
have a church member on our hands --- and not a Christian!
For that which must happen in the new birth can never
be explained by psychology or psychiatry. The professional
can only stand off respectfully and say, "Behold the works
of the Lord." He can never explain it!
And in that great and terrible day to come, many will be
shocked when they find that they depended upon a mental
assent to Christianity instead of upon the miracle of the
new birth!
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Yours in Christ,
Paul N. F.