Born of the Spirit

 John 3:5-6 says, "Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

In order to be saved, we must be born of the Spirit.  This is Jesus' answer to Nicodemus.  We are often confused about what this means.  Many people talk about "inviting Jesus into your heart" or "making Jesus Lord of your life" or "praying the prayer" to be saved.  None of these things aline with what the Bible teaches.  God does the work of our salvation, we just have to repent and believe.  Jesus already is Lord of everything, including our lives.  We repent because we have rebelled against that Lordship.  His Holy Spirit chooses to take up residence in us because, by the faith God has given us, we believe that we are sinners and Jesus died, was buried, and rose again to pay the price for our sins so we are now covered in His blood making us righteous.  

Ezekiel clarifies a lot of this for me:

Ezekiel 36:24-27 says,

24 For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

God does the work of cleansing us.  He does the work of making us new.  He puts His Spirit within us.  All His action by His choice.  We just need to cooperate.  Surrender.  Believe.  Watch Him work.

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