Understanding Salvation: Being Born Again

The renewed mindset show with Rick U Haas can be heard every Sunday morning at 9am Eastern right here on WDJY 99.1. Straight Talk Today on renewed mindsets. Remember when you were a child and you were taught childish things that just weren't true. Like Santa Claus comes at Christmas, the Easter Bunny comes at Easter, you have to eat all of your vegetables or little kids in China would starve. And then there were some things that were true but needed updating as you got older and could understand more, like the plan of salvation. Today is that update Right now? Let's go, boys. Hey, welcome to renewed mindsets. I'm Rick and I'm so glad you're here. Today is part two of my born again expanded two part. Very special episode, not unlike the episode of different strokes where the bicycle shop owner, gordon Jump, makes a move on Arnold and Dudley.

My tongue is faster than a hummingbird's wings.

Arnold, please say less right now. So let's go. So I'm willing to bet that every one of you listening right now has heard the term born again. Most church members have to, but I don't know if you've noticed. What I've noticed is most people and let me say that again, most people have no idea what that actually means. Now, the phrase born again is commonly used with Christians today, but if you were to ask a church member for an explanation of what it means, most would struggle to give you an answer. The significance of this term could be understood from Jesus in John, chapter three, verse three Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, jesus is emphasizing that being born again equates to being saved. Now, the concept of being born again as part of the salvation plan that Jesus Christ gave us at Calvary, it's very important. It's crucial that we comprehend what it takes for us to experience this spiritual rebirth. Now, it's acknowledged everywhere among Christians that when Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross, that he provided salvation for all those who accept it. What exactly occurred at Calvary, though? How does it impact you personally, and how can you embrace its significance in your own life? Well, at Calvary, there was three steps in Christ's work His death, his burial and his resurrection. That's from 1 Corinthians 15, verses one through four. Now, these three steps align with the process that Jesus described about being born again in John chapter three Rising spiritually alongside Christ on the cross, symbolically burying our old selves with him through baptism or immersion in water, and then rising spiritually new, just as Christ rose from the dead. All of that leads us towards experiencing that rebirth Now. Through his death and resurrection at Calvary, jesus secured that plan known as being born again, which results in receiving salvation. And I hope you heard that Jesus secured the plan known as being born again, which results in receiving salvation. The realization that Jesus purchased a plan of salvation should be received as remarkable news. I mean, it's got to be the greatest message ever delivered to humanity. But not only do we need to recognize that something was done by Jesus, but also understand that it's absolutely vital for us to respond to it actively and participate in what he achieved. In John 3.7, jesus told Nicodemus plainly you must be born again. Now let me put it to you like this If someone gave you a ticket to a concert, that's great, but a ticket is just a piece of paper. I'm actually kind of showing my age, because they don't even give paper tickets anymore. It's all done online so it's on your phone. But you get my drift. You get a ticket. You thank your friend for it. You thank him for thinking about you and for buying it with his own money. But to fully receive that gift, you have to do more than just acknowledge that you're holding a piece of paper that says you can go to a Van Halen concert. You need to get up, shower and get dressed, drive to the Civic Center, buy a t-shirt, clap and sing and shout. You need to be an active participant. To really get that concert, to really receive that gift, you need to be an active part of it. The ticket was just a promise of the concert. The ticket isn't the concert. You have to be in a totally different place, physically and mentally, to experience the whole show, acknowledging Jesus on the cross and his resurrection. That's the ticket, that's the promise of eternal life. Living in Jesus means more than your mental state, though, just saying that he's real and it happened and that's it, I'm good to go. Truly believing is Following what he said and taught and allowing that to change you inside and out. Jesus said if anyone would come after me, he will deny himself. Take up his cross and follow me. That's Matthew 16 24. Follow him, follow his lead, just follow my lead, okay, huh, follow him to where? Eternity in heaven. Now let's talk about Nicodemus. Great name Nicodemus. I don't know why people don't name their kid Nicodemus. He was a big-time religious leader back then. He had no understanding what it truly meant to be born again. Now what's really sad is that same lack of Comprehension persists today among many women and men who hold positions of spiritual leadership in churches. Like Nicodemus Inquiring in John 3 4, about how one can be born again when you're old, pondering if it's possible to re-enter the mother's womb for rebirth, people continue to grapple with this concept. Now Jesus replied to him saying truly, truly, I say unto you unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Actually, I, I love verily, verily from the King James version. A lot of that's hard to read, but, man, I miss my verily, verily's. But I'll say truly, truly, being born again does not involve physical birth from a woman. Rather, it signifies a spiritual rebirth. Now We've got to note here that Jesus stated without being born again, we cannot see or enter God's kingdom. In essence, what he's saying is that salvation is unattainable without this experience. On the day of Pentecost, when Peter preached his message Right after Calvary's events unfolded, those who were listening were deeply, deeply moved and asked him with urgency what should we do Now? That's an Acts 238. He also emphasized receiving the Holy Spirit as a gift and by discussing these steps with them which align with being saved or born again, peter was saying, he was absolutely addressing their need for salvation. Now remember that Calvary involved three steps death on the cross, followed by burial and resurrection. To accept Calvary within our individual lives means Embracing Christ's death spiritually as our own demise alongside him on that cross. Symbolically burying our old selves through baptism signifies putting away sin and emerging from the water Spiritually renewed, just as Christ rose from death. Now we need to understand that we don't physically die. I hate that I have to make that statement, but you know how the world is. It is important to understand that we do not physically die or resurrect like Jesus did, since he served as our substitute. Instead, we need to accept what he accomplished by spiritually dying, symbolically burying ourselves through baptism and experiencing spiritual rebirth. Now, overall, being born again, is a concept that encompasses the plan of salvation that Jesus initiated at Calvary. We have to recognize our need for a spiritual rebirth and actively respond to what Christ has done on our behalf. We do it through repentance. We embrace his death through repentance, which is a spiritual death. Repentance means to turn away from when a person truly repents. They die to their own will, they renounce it forever and they make a vow to live according to the will of Jesus from that point forward. We do it through baptism and we participate in his burial through water baptism by being fully immersed In his name. Romans 6.4 says Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism. Baptism must be administered through immersion, because sprinkling a little dirt on top of something cannot bury it effectively. It's so inefficient and it would become very apparent after a few days. Also, every biblical account of baptism it's being done through immersion. Now, there's always been a controversy of whether you could sprinkle someone or dunk them, and it's in the Bible, I mean that pretty much says it for me. This should guide our decision regarding this matter. Next is the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Finally, we experience the resurrection of Jesus through the infilling of the Holy Spirit. This is the new life that empowers us to live as Christians are supposed to live. So, from all this understanding, being born again entails spiritual dying, which is repentance, symbolically being buried, which is baptism, and spiritually rising again, receiving the Holy Spirit. To make it simpler, you need to repent of your sins, be baptized into the name of Jesus Christ through immersion and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now, in 1 John 5, verse 8, it says and there are three that bear witness on earth the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree as one. What is it that these three elements agree on? Is it not rebirth? Blood covers our sins during repentance. Baptism washes them away completely so that we become clean vessels for accepting the indwelling of God's Spirit into our lives. When Roman soldiers pierced Jesus' side after his death, blood and water flowed out from him. That's John 1934. That symbolized cleansing for all nations. It takes both blood and water to eliminate sin. Blood is the purifying agent, while the water functions as the flushing agent. Just like a mason jar is cleansed using soap and water before you fill it with fruit for canning, our souls require blood and water to be cleansed in order to receive the Spirit of Christ, which is the Holy Spirit. This teaching was confirmed by Peter when he said Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins In Acts 2.38,. Repentance and baptism are both absolutely necessary for receiving forgiveness of sins. Nepal taught that the gospel we should preach consists of three steps the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15, 1-4, he declares this gospel to the brethren, emphasizing that it's through this message that they are saved. He states that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scripture, was buried and then rose again on the third day. In 2 Thessalonians 1-7 and 8, paul further emphasizes the importance of obeying this gospel. He mentioned that those who don't know God and disobey the gospel will face vengeance when Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, and that's happening very soon. People To obey the death, burial and resurrection of Christ that they talk about in the gospel repentance, baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit are necessary steps, and it's crucial for everybody to be born again by obeying these three elements. The Old Testament provides a parallel lesson for that, for being born again. The actions that the priests performed during their duties in offering sacrifices serve as types and shadows of things to come, and there's three major steps. First, they would kill an animal for sacrifice on an altar and they capture the blood in a container. Then the flesh of the animal would be consumed by fire. That symbolizes repentance, where we present ourselves as living sacrifices before God and have our sins covered by Jesus' blood. After shedding blood on the altar, the priests were required to wash themselves at a bowl using water for cleansing before entering into the holy place. That bowl had a mirror at the bottom and it allowed the priests to examine themselves while they were washing, just like baptism now. But when you do that now, you're also you're examining yourself and making sure that you're leaving behind your worldly past during the process. These actions represent water baptism, which cleanses individuals, just like how blood cleansed the priests. Both of these processes purify individuals in readiness for receiving God's presence into their lives. Once they were clean, the priest would take the fire from the altar and enter through the veil into the holy place. The holy place didn't have any doors or windows for light. It relied on light produced by candlesticks that was fueled with oil from seven different bowls and to ignite the wicks in these bowls they would use that fire that they brought in. That combination of the oil and fire is a representation of the Holy Ghost and the fire that's promised to New Testament believers Matthew 3, verse 11,. Without the guiding light of the Holy Ghost, christians cannot effectively live in the spiritually elevated state of the presence of the Lord. The Old Testament uses these types and shadows to reveal God's great redemption plan. In contrast to that, the New Testament presents His will plain as day, without any doubt. Remember 1 John, 5 and 8 states that there are three witnesses on earth spirit, water and blood. This Old Testament lesson confirms that being born again is absolutely necessary for salvation in each person's life. So there is a lot of misconceptions about salvation, and the biggest one is the belief that all that's required is to believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. Now, that's true that believing Jesus as a Savior is essential for salvation, but there's other aspects to consider. In Acts, chapter 16, verses 30 through 31, paul's talking to the jailer and he tells the jailer to believe on the Lord, jesus Christ, for salvation. But then later, in Romans 10, 13 through 15, paul goes on to explain that calling upon the name of the Lord requires faith and hearing about him and merely believing in Jesus without knowing anything about him is not enough. Really, when Paul spoke to the jailer, he also shared with him the word of God before baptizing him, and that man's whole household. Another misconception that some people have and that some churches teach is that faith alone saves us, and a lot of y'all are going what Now? While we are saved by faith, true faith always produces action. James, chapter 2, verses 14 through 22, talks about this point, stating that faith without works is dead. When a person believes in Jesus, they also believe in his gospel, his death, his burial and his resurrection. True belief and all that should lead them to repentance and obedience through baptism and receiving of the Holy Spirit. Now, a lot of people object to this kind of teaching because they say it's works. That involves works. But I'm going to tell you, being born again through repentance and baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit are not considered works. According to the book of Titus, chapter 3, verse 5, these actions are part of God's mercy toward us for salvation. Now there's an example of that in the book of Acts, chapter 8. It talks about this more Simon believed and was baptized, but did not yet receive the Holy Spirit. He was not fully born again or saved. Now you got to remember. Salvation requires more than just believing in Jesus as Savior. It involves understanding his gospel and repenting and being baptized and receiving the Holy Spirit. All of these together are necessary to consider yourself born again, slash saved. So now people always go to. Well, what about the thief on the cross? They always wonder how that thief on the cross was saved, considering that repentance and baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit are what's necessary for salvation. Luke 23, verse 38 through 43. Now you have to note that during that time, being born again was not possible Because Jesus had not yet completed his plan of salvation by dying, being buried and then rising again. God has always provided a specific plan of salvation for each period in history. During Noah's time it was entering the ark. During Moses' time it was following the law, and in the church age we're in right now, being born again is the only way to be saved. Jesus slam dunked it when he told Nicodemus that being born again is a necessity. So as we come towards the end of this, we need to recognize that we've been given the first church and the teachings of the apostles as our model for teaching and practices and every recorded conversion under their ministries, in acts, repentance, baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit were evident. You can see it all through the book of Acts, chapter 8, 10, and 19, where people were taught about being born again and experienced it themselves. Now, considering that we're meant to build our faith on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone, there should be no reason for us to deviate from this practice. It's written in the book, the manual. If you read the manual, it's right there. Don't let anything deter you from accepting this truth. You must be born again. If you haven't done so already, you need to make sure you do it today. If you cried at the altar when you were sixteen and someone told you you were saved, you were lied to. If you got baptized afterwards and think that's it, you're misled. You're not saved. You must receive the Holy Spirit to be born again and then saved from damnation after your physical death. You're not actually saved until you die. We call it being saved, but it's actually being born again. Being born again is what saves you after you die. When you receive the Holy Spirit, you receive the power of the Holy Spirit. It's electric. I'm talking from experience. The power of the Spirit is different than the authority that Jesus gave all believers. He gave us authority in His name, but the power of the Holy Spirit is an anointing An anointing in one or some of all of the following gifts of the Spirit wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, speaking in tongues and interpretation of unknown tongues. The gifts that you get are suited to your calling. But in Acts, chapter 2, on the day of Pentecost, all 120 believers in the upper room that received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit received the gift of tongues and nothing has changed since then. That gift is a way to communicate or commune with the Lord. The Holy Spirit speaks when there is something to say and there's power in the tongue. Your prayer life will be so much deeper if you just hone that gift. I say this just to acknowledge it and to confirm that speaking in tongues is real. We can go into it more in a future episode. If you'd like, send me a message on the renewedmindsetscom website. If I see enough interest, I'll move it up on the schedule. It's down the line, so if you're patient you'll hear it. I just wanted to say it. You must be born again. These words by Jesus are not hard to understand. It's plain as day. I am so sorry if no one ever explained that to you before. The good news is you didn't die already and you're not burning in a lake of fire. Oh, that was harsh, but it's truth. If you need more information, talk to your pastor. Take the scriptures that I've given you with you. I'll list them all in the episode description on the website or in whatever app you listen to a podcast on. They'll all be there. If you don't like what he has to say, talk to another pastor. If you're still not satisfied with the answer, message me on the website. Don't make sure you get the truth, just like you heard today and now Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy from Rick Uhaas. If you ever fall off the Empire State Building, just go real limp, because maybe you'll look like a dummy and people will try to catch you. Hey, free dummy.

Hi, well, I just woke up. My day is going fine. I had a rough week to begin with, though, because I had some anxiety. I work with kids, I teach them some lessons, and there had been some concerns of safety at some of our locations. Wow, I'm really realizing I should not be saying that, because if it's traced to my company, I could be un-picturable, but nobody was hurt or died. We just had some incidents where people were a little bit rocked and something could have happened, but it didn't happen. Anyway, yeah, and I just didn't want any of that to even come close to happening to me. So I had a ton of anxiety about it. But now I'm feeling much better because I had a couple of great classes and I have class again this afternoon. Then I kind of get my weekend with the space. This is a really useless call on my part. Well, this is cool. Can't wait to see what comes with it. Bye.

Um, yeah, so, Linda, if you can hear me right now. Um, yeah, thanks for listening. Yeah, thanks. If you like what you heard, do me a favor and tell someone about it or text them a link. I can only do so much. You have the real influence over them and their salvation. Until next time, I'm Rick. I love you, see ya. The intro and outro music for the renewed mindsets podcast is Are you Ready? By Floodgate From the album Are you Ready, copyright 2002, offbeat Ministries Incorporated. Floodgate is available on Apple Music and iTunes. Music used with permission. The renewed mindset show with Rick Uhaas can be heard every Sunday morning at 9am Eastern right here on WDJY 99.1 Straight Talk.