5 Consequences of the New Birth (being “born of God”)

1. Does not sin habitually with no regard to repentance.

2. Loves the redeemed people of God.

3. The New Birth gives “birth” to faith and love.

4. Overcomes worldliness by faith.

5. Is protected from Satan.

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1. 1 John 3:9 (ESV) ⁹ No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.

2. 1 John 4:7 (ESV) ⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

3. 1 John 5:1 (ESV) ¹ Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

4. 1 John 5:4 (ESV) ⁴ For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

5. 1 John 5:18 (ESV) ¹⁸ We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

My Christmas Message to Elk Point Baptist Church.

Some people think there is a "war on Christmas".  Mostly in western countries in Canada, there appears to be some government, educational or business environments that forbid their employees to use the term "merry Christmas."   "Season's Greetings" or "Happy Holidays" appear to have more public acceptability.  It is politically correct now to say, "Season's Greetings."   That way Christianity is honored and non-Christians are not offended. 

My favorite coffee got into trouble this year when Starbucks removed the Christmas label from their cups.  Of course Christians have not sat idly taking this without complaint.  Social media and the news has been full of irate Christians abandoning stores that refuse to say, "Merry Christmas." Facebook is full of posts that encourage Christians to affirm "Merry Christmas."

Now if Christians really want to be biblical, Merry Christmas isn't the best Advent Greeting either!   Listen to these greetings recorded in the Gospels:

   & Matthew 1:20 (ESV) ²⁰ But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

   & Luke 1:13 (ESV) ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

   & Luke 1:30 (ESV) ³⁰ And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

   & Luke 2:10 (ESV) ¹⁰ And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

The most common Advent greeting in the Bible is, "Do not fear." Now I want you to know that this is not an original idea.  Reading a Christmas devotional book by Warren Wiersbe[1] gave me this concept.  But I think it's an important and relevant idea.  Recently I listened to a news segment by CBC's reporter Neil McDonald[2].  His assessment of 2015 was it was "A Year of Fear."   In his piece

he noted:

     ·         He pointed to our fear of ISIS.

     ·         He pointed to our politicians who amplified the sounds of threat from the Middle East.

     ·         He reminded us of the hundreds of refugees leaving their countries in fear.

     ·         Which in turn prompted our fear of them.

     ·         McDonald suggested that Harper lost the election whereby the former Prime Minister championed fear of the niqab, fear of refugees, fear of the other parties, etc.

     ·         Of course who would forget that in November, for the second time in 2015, Paris was rocked by senseless murder and fear.

     ·         Now Prime Minister Trudeau is looking at the refugees with more fear; and the USA has closed its border.

     ·         McDonald quoted the New York Times that polled its audience and found that 75% of its readers live in constant apprehension.

Neil McDonald called this year a "dark year".   Of course only the insensitive would disagree.  It was a year of fear.  Yet on the front stage of this backdrop, the true biblical Christmas greeting calls out, "Fear not!"

Is the Bible a new novel by a positive thinking guru calling us to ignore reality? Absolutely not.  Rational, realistic apprehension is part of human existence.  But there is a reality that changes our focus.  Not by denying what is real, but by focusing on what is of greater significance.  It's kind of like going to work with a headache and dropping an anvil on your toe.  Suddenly you head doesn't hurt as much!  When we look at the more significant truth of "fear not" its takes the sting out to the lesser truth of real fear.

Here's the more significant truth: Jesus Christ came to earth to take the bite out of fear.  Thus the Christmas greeting to all is "fear not."   There are 3 mammoth fears that Christ addresses:

 

#1.   A fear we all have is a fear of suffering. My mother once told me that she was scared to die, she just didn't like the idea of dying.  We all avoid suffering as much as we can.  Pain is painful. 

Jesus Christ came to earth and lived a perfect life.  Yet as He faced His most painful event, the Cross, He said to His disciples:  ““Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:1–3, ESV) .

Today, those of us who have trusted Christ, are on, what Bunyan would call, a journey to the Celestial City.  Christ has prepared a place for us.   It is so magnificent, words cannot express it's glory.  In fact when the Apostle Paul considered the suffering of this life in comparison, he wrote, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,” (2 Corinthians 4:17, ESV).  Paul's not minimizing our pain, nor marginalizing it.  Paul is saying that the suffering of this life compared to the eternal wonders of Heaven can only be described as "light" and "momentary".

#2.   Another fear we have is regarding the consequences of our wrongdoing.  Each one of us knows in the depths of our hearts that someday we will face God.  The Bible says, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,” (Hebrews 9:27, ESV).  We know God has to be just and fair; and we know we have sinned.  Jesus came to deal with that fear.  The Bible teaches us “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17, ESV).  Through His life and death, Jesus has made full provision for our salvation from God's judgment.

#3.   Lastly, the worst enemy of all is death.  Death is the result of sin.  Death will likely come to all of us.  But Jesus Christ came to destroy death.  The Apostle Paul signaled this truth when he wrote, ““O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:55–57, ESV). Jesus said,  “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,” (John 11:25, ESV) .

Truly we can say, as Christians, "Fear not."  Suffering has hope. Judgment has no condemnation. Death has no sting.  In the Christmas carol, 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' we sing this stanza:

"Fear not, then," said the angel,
"Let nothing you affright;
This day is born a Savior
Of a pure virgin bright,
To free all those who trust in him
From Satan's power and might."

Wiersbe concludes his short devotional by asking, "Ponder what could happen if Christians began to greet others with alternative biblical phrases. What might people think, and how might they respond, to a reassuring 'Fear not!'?"[3]

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[1] Wiersbe, Warren W.; Wiersbe, David W. (2012-10-01). C Is for Christmas: The History, Personalities, and Meaning of Christ's Birth (p. 82-83). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

[2] http://www.cbc.ca/news/thenational/2015-a-year-of-fear-1.3375879

[3] Wiersbe, Warren W.; Wiersbe, David W. (2012-10-01). C Is for Christmas: The History, Personalities, and Meaning of Christ's Birth (p. 83). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Are You Beyond Being Warned?

There are significant warnings in the Book of Hebrews -- warnings that the true "sheep" hear and follow.  So many well-meaning preachers and teachers apply these warnings in a manner that suggests that a born-again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ can be saved and apostatize.  That is hardly the case.  For we read the author's intent so clearly in Hebrews 6:9–12 (ESV),

⁹ Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. ¹⁰ For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. ¹¹ And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, ¹² so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

"The Apostle then testifies that he thus warned the Jews, because he had a good hope of them, and was anxious to lead them to salvation. We hence conclude, that not only the reprobate ought to be reproved severely and with sharp earnestness, but also the elect themselves, even those whom we deem to be the children of God."- John Calvin

Why A Dog Eats Its Vomit

I've had a least one dog, for most of my life.  I may have been 7 years old when I was given Laddie, a little Rabbit Hound. I've had dogs ever since.  A book cannot contain my affection and my appreciation for our canis familiaris. A couple things I've never understood is why my puppies eat grass.  It's kind of a cow-thing, in my opinion.  Even worse is when they chomp on their feces. Yuk! In like manner I am sickened when one of my dogs is caught eating its vomit. Yuk! Yuk!

There is a good reason why dog's re-eat their vomit.  The easiest answer is because they are doing what their nature is created to do.   It has all to do with the right ratio of food to their stomach.  But for us simple dog owners who have good veterinarians for our dogs all we need to know is that they are doing what they naturally do best.

Peter writes of false teachers in the same way. “What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”” (2 Peter 2:22, ESV).   In 2 Peter, the author speaks of a group of people and what he says about them concerns many of us.  Note what he writes in 2 Peter 2:1 (ESV),

¹ But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

This can very quickly sound like these prophets were once Christians but they turned against their Redeemer.  Now they are lost and will be destroyed.  Verse 22 makes that even more significant: 2 Peter 2:1 (ESV) ¹ But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

But then Peter helps us understand that these men are like dogs returning to their vomit.  They are only doing what their nature demands.  Their nature has never been changed.  It, for awhile sounds like they are Christians, but it's all show and polish.    "They appeared to have been saved, but by returning to the vomit and mire of the world, they demonstrated that they were never truly regenerated." [1]

Whenever a professing Christian "apostatizes" it is a revelation of the true heart -- the true nature of that person.  When a person is "born from above" God gives them a new heart. God says,"And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me." [2] 

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1. Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2421). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

2. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Je 32:40). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.