“You must be born again” (John 3:7)  

The subject of today’s devotion is false conversions. When Charles Spurgeon wrote this in the late 1800’s, the main problem was church-goers thought they were saved without being born again. Today, the bigger problem is “you must be born again” has been replaced with “you must make a decision for Christ”, resulting in far more false conversions than in Spurgeon’s day. To learn how the salvation paradigm evolved in the last 130 years, please read The Graham Formula by Patrick McIntyre. You can download the free PDF at https://www.christianebooks.com/the_graham_formula.html

 Regeneration is the heart of salvation, and you should be sure you’re really "born again", for many church-goers think they are, but they’re not. Be assured that unless you’re “born again”, you’re not saved. Being "born again" is a mystery. Human words can’t describe it. “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). It’s a change which is known and felt: known by holy behavior, and felt by a Divine experience. This great work is supernatural. It’s not something man does to himself through natural causation. It’s not just the tipping point of the understanding. A new nature is given by God, which works in the heart, renews the mind, and changes the whole person. 

 If you’re born again, you’re not what you used to be. You are what God made you. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). You can wash and dress a corpse, but it doesn’t bring it back to life. Only God can do that. If you’ve been "born again”, you’ll be able to honestly say, "Oh, Lord Jesus, unless Your Spirit had breathed into me the breath of a new, holy, and spiritual life, I am ‘dead in trespasses and sins’ ( phesians 2:1). My new life is completely Your doing. My life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3), so It’s no longer me that’s living, but Christ living in me (Galatians 2:20). 

 Help us Lord, to be sure of this, for if we’re not regenerated by God, we’re not saved, without forgiveness, without God, and without hope.