Can You Blame Them?

Churchgoers all across the nation say the Holy Spirit has entered them.  They claim that God has given them a supernatural ability to follow Christ, put their sin to death and serve the church.  Christians talk about being born again and say that they were dead but now have come to life.  We have become [...]

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One is Evidence of the Other

The practice of sin is the evidence and confirmation that one is not born of God.  Doing confirms being.  Not practicing sin is the evidence and confirmation of being born again. – John Piper, Finally Alive, Christian Focus Publishers, copyright 2009, page 147

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The Links of I John 5:3-4

Now briefly consider I John 5:3-4, and … Consider the way these thoughts fit together.  Here is a three-link chain of thought: “[Link One] For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.  And his commandments are not burdensome.  [Link Two] For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.  [...]

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John is Explicit on This

…[John] is as explicit as any writer in the New Testament that this is not the case: Christians are not sinless and born again people cannot lose the new birth and be lost. – John Piper, Finally Alive, Christian Focus Publishers, copyright 2009, page 128-129

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This Is A Test

…John wrote this letter (I John), wrote this letter to provide the church with tests or criteria for knowing if we have spiritual life, that is, if we have been born again. – John Piper, Finally Alive, Christian Focus Publishers, copyright 2009, page 123

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There is No Other Gospel, No Other Path

You were born again through the living and abiding word of God.  This word is the gospel of Jesus Christ crucified and risen.  Don’t fall prey to another gospel.  There is no other gospel, and there is no other path to God – or to ultimate well-being – than hearing, understanding and believing the scandalous [...]

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New Birth is a Relationship of Effect and Cause

The connection between our action in the new birth (I Peter 1:22) and God’s action in the new birth (I Peter 1:23) is a relationship of effect and cause.  That’s implied in the words “since [or because] you have been born again.”  God’s action is underneath our action. – John Piper, Finally Alive, Christian Focus [...]

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We Are Integrally Invovled in Our New Birth

We are, therefore, integrally involved in the new birth.  It is our new birth.  It involves our believing in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  That’s why I say that my new birth does not take place without me believing.  In believing we are acting out the new birth, we are breathing in the new life. [...]

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Your Involvement Is…

Your involvement in the event of the new birth is to exercise faith – faith in the crucified and risen Son of God, Jesus Christ as the Savior and Lord and Treasure of your life.  The way you are engaged in the event of your new birth is by believing in Christ. – John Piper, [...]

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Submit to That and be Glad

May God give you eyes to see that nothing could make you humbler and nothing could make you happier than the truth that you have been born again, not because of anything you did, but because of the mercy of God.  Submit to that and be glad. – John Piper, Finally Alive, Christian Focus Publishers, [...]

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