There is More to the Gospel Message

I often say Christianity cannot be approached like the Burger King slogan: “Have it your way.” Christianity and what it takes to be a Christian is well defined in Scripture. To be a Christian, you MUST be Born Again. In John 3, a Pharisee named Nicodemus went to see Jesus at night. He did not want to be seen. The encounter is recorded the following way,  

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” 3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

John 3:1-3 (NIV)

To be saved, we must be Born Again; to see the Kingdom of God, we must be Born Again. Nicodemus needed help to understand what Jesus was talking about. The conversation continued,

How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”

John 3:4-6 (NIV)

To be born of water is flesh, that is, giving birth to flesh. The miracle of salvation takes place when our spirits are born again. Now we can communicate with God, and now we can worship him (John 4). In addition to our spirit experiencing a rebirth, we also share the indwelling of the Holy Ghost (Ezekiel 36:27 / 1 Corinthians 3:16)

I must point out that only our spirits are born again; our flesh will never cooperate with God (Romans 8:7). The transformation occurs in our souls; there, we have our mindset, decision-making, and emotions. These are three aspects of us that MUST change.

As we surrender to the Holy Ghost, we will experience transformation. Being born again does not mean you will not sin; however, you will not be able to embrace a lifestyle of sin. First John 3:9 tells us, “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.” (NIV) You cannot be a born-again believer and continue to sin as you did before. Why? Because the Holy Ghost is doing some powerful things within you, such as:

1. Convicting you of sin (John 16:8)
2. Guiding you into all truth (John 16:3)

But I can’t explain the miracle of salvation and the born-again experience with a few verses. The doctrine of the meaning of the gospel is profound. We will ask the Apostle Paul for help and give us the insight to continue our explanation. In Romans 10:9, Paul states, 

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

So, the Bible tells us in this verse that two things must take place for us to be saved; in other words, Paul is explaining how to be Born Again:

1. We declare with our mouth the Lordship of Jesus. 
2. We believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead.

Based on these two verses alone, we get the impression that if we declare the Lordship of Jesus, we will be saved. But we must understand this doctrine in its totality and not marginalized Bible verses. We must add to the confession and believing another aspect: repentance. 

There is no salvation without repentance. John the Baptist’s message was about repenting our sins (Matthew 3:1-2). You may say, “Ok, Angel, we get it, but do you? Let’s go further. Ephesians 2:8-9 cannot be ignored in this discussion:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (NIV)

We learned from these words that, contrary to common practice in our churches, salvation is not a human choice. It is gift by grace and states that it is not by works. So, what is happening in Romans 10:9? There it tells us clearly that “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (NIV) However, if we adopt this doctrine, we ignore the later part of this verse, “…and believe in your heart….”

Many believe that it only takes the sinner’s prayer for salvation to occur; in other words, for somebody to be born again. However, let’s go a little further; Romans 10:10 tells us,

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (NIV)

Justification is the act of grace by God through Jesus Christ, who provided the sacrifice needed for the forgiveness of our sins. We are justified ONLY through Jesus. Romans 5:1 tells us, “Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (NIV)

Justification or salvation takes place in our hearts. That is where the gift of God is provided. The Prophet Ezekiel helps us understand this point as he states, 

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26 (NIV)

As we continue to speak about the heart, another prophet helps us understand another critical point: only God knows our hearts. As Prophet Samuel is getting ready to anoint the replacement for King Soul, Jessie brings his oldest sons and does not even consider bringing David. However, God tells the following to the prophet, referring to one of David’s oldest brothers, 

“…Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV)

We look at appearance, only God can see the heart, and only He knows what is in our hearts (Romans 8:27). Let’s then look at Romans 10:10, “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” (NIV)

Our declaration or sinner’s prayer does not save us; the sinner’s prayer reflects what God has already done in our hearts. A sinner’s prayer without the miracle of justification cannot save anybody. 

We find that so many people think they are saved when they are not. Perhaps they were manipulated into repeating a prayer, and everybody told them they were safe, but how do you know they were not? They don’t believe; they don’t trust God for anything; there is no fruit in their lives, there is no love for God, there is no conviction of sin, there is no desire to know Him; they don’t study His Word, they don’t pray nor Worship Him. 

In conclusion, at the heart of our salvation or born-again experience is the fact that we used to see the things of God as foolish (1 Corinthians 1:18). We could not understand the Kingdom principles. (John 9:25 / 2 Corinthians 4:4). However, “…whereas I was blind, now I see.” John 9:25 (KJV)