Going to Jesus

Daily Thoughts

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Thought for the Evening
8-10

What Happens at the Moment of New Birth

The experience that Jesus described as being “born again” is so great that it cannot be fully described in a few words. Just as Jesus has many titles, such as Savior, Master, Lord, Prince of Peace, etc., so also, the new birth which he gives is so full of meaning that it cannot be described in a few words. The following is a list of fifty of the things which take place the instant we are born again. Amazingly, all fifty, and more, take place simultaneously, in “the twinkling of an eye”, when we are born of God.

1. We receive God’s Spirit at the moment of new birth.
   
   Gal. 3:13–14.  In Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham comes to the Gentiles, namely, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
   
   Acts 1:4. Being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem but to await the promise of the Father, “which”, he said, “you have heard about from me.”
   
   
2. We are baptized with God’s Spirit at the moment of new birth.
   
   Acts 1:5. [Jesus to his disciples] “John indeed baptized with water, but you will be baptized with holy Spirit not many days from now.”
   
   
3. The Spirit makes a sound through us at the moment of new birth.
   
   Jn. 3:7–8. [Jesus to Nicodemus] “Do not marvel that I told you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it’s coming from or where it’s going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
   
   Rom. 8:16. The Spirit itself bears witness, together with our spirit, that we are the children of God.
   
   
4. God becomes our Father at the moment of new birth.
   
   Gal. 4:6–7a. God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba!” (that is, “Father”). So then, you are no longer a slave but a son.
   
   Rom. 8:9b.  If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.
   
   
5. We become children of God at the moment of new birth.
   
   1Jn. 3:1.  What great love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! The reason the world does not know you is that it did not know Him.
   
   
6. We are adopted into the family of God at the moment of new birth.
   
   Rom. 8:15. You received the Spirit of adoption, by which we cry out, “Abba!” (that is, “Father!”)
   
   
7. We are made joint-heirs with Christ at the moment of new birth.
   
   Rom. 8:16–17.  The Spirit itself bears witness, together with our spirit, that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God, and heirs with Christ.
   
   
8. We are made new creatures at the moment of new birth.
   
   2Cor. 5:17a. If anyone be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are gone; behold, all things are new.
   
   
9. We are given a new past at the moment of new birth.
   
   2Cor. 5:17b.  Old things are gone; behold, all things are new.
   
   
10. Christ and the Father enter into us at the moment of new birth.
    
    Jn. 14:23. [Jesus to his disciples] “If anyone loves me, he’ll obey my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
    
    
11. We enter into Christ and the Father at the moment of new birth.
    
    Jn. 17:20–21, 23a. [Jesus to God] “I am not asking for these disciples alone, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they all might be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may also be one in us. . . . I in them, and you in me.”
    
    
12. We are united with all God’s children at the moment of new birth.
    
    Gal. 3:28.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor freeman, nor male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
    
    Zeph. 3:9b. [God, concerning the last days] “I will turn to the nations a pure language so that they may all . . . serve Him in one accord.”
    
    
    
    
13. We are made able to call upon God at the moment of new birth.
    
    Zeph. 3:9a. [God, concerning the last days] “I will turn to the nations a pure language so that they may all call on the name of the Lord.”
    
    
14. Our sins are washed away at the moment of new birth.
    
    Acts 22:16. [Ananias to Saul of Tarsus] “So now, why are you waiting? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord!”
    
    1Cor. 6:11a. You were washed in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
    
    
15. We are converted at the moment of new birth.
    
    Mt. 18:3. [Jesus to his disciples] “Truly, I tell you, unless you are converted and become like little children, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
    
    Lk. 22:32 [Jesus to Peter] “When you are converted, strengthen your brothers.”
    
    
16.  We are refreshed at the moment of new birth.
    
    Isa. 28:11b–12. [God] will speak to this people with stammering lips and another tongue, to whom He said, “This is the rest with which you will cause the weary one to rest,” and, “This is the refreshing.”
    
    Acts 3:19. [Peter to the Jews] “Repent, and be converted, that your sins might be blotted out, so that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord!”
    
    
17. We are circumcised from a sinful nature at the moment of new birth.
    
    Rom. 2:28–29. One is not a Jew outwardly; nor is circumcision outward in the flesh. But one is a Jew inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit, not the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God.
    
    Col. 2:11. You are circumcised with a circumcision performed without hands, in the removal of the nature of the flesh given to sins, by the circumcision of Christ.
    
    Phip. 3:3. We are the circumcision who serve God in spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh.
    
    
18. We are grafted into the Vine of God at the moment of new birth.
    
    Rom. 11:17. Some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them and have become a partaker of the root and of the fatness of the olive.
    
    Jn. 15:5a. [Jesus to his disciples] “I am the vine; you are the branches.”
    
    
19. We become part of the true Israel of God at the moment of new birth.
    
    Gal. 6:16. As many as will conform to this rule, peace be upon them, and mercy, even upon the Israel of God.
    
    
20. We become members of the body of Christ at the moment of new birth.
    
    1Cor. 12:13a. By one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free.
    
    
21. We enter into the kingdom of God at the moment of new birth.
    
    Rom. 14:17. The kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the holy Spirit.
    
    
22. We enter into God’s New Covenant at the moment of new birth.
    
    Heb. 12:23b–24. [Believers] have come to God, Judge of all, and to spirits of righteous people made perfect, to a mediator of a new covenant, Jesus.
    
    
23. We drink the real blood of Christ at the moment of new birth.
    
    Jn. 6:53–54, 63. [Jesus to his followers] “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I’ll raise him up on the last day. . . . It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The things that I am telling you, they are spirit, and they are life!”
    
    1Cor. 12:13b. Whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, all were given to drink of one Spirit.
    
    
24. We eat the real bread of Christ at the moment of new birth.
    
    1Cor. 10:17b.  We, being many, are one bread, one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
    
    Jn. 6:48. [Jesus to a multitude] “I am the bread of life.”
    
    
25. We partake of God’s divine nature at the moment of new birth.
    
    2Pet. 1:4. Precious and great promises are given to us, so that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature.
    
    
26. We have communion with God at the moment of new birth.
    
    1Cor. 10:16. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not the fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ?
    
    2Cor. 13:14.  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
    
    
27. We are redeemed at the moment of new birth.
    
    Tit. 2:14. [The Lord Jesus] gave himself for us so that he might redeem us.
    
    Gal. 3:13a. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, becoming a curse for us.
    
    
28. We are sanctified at the moment of new birth.
    
    Heb. 13:12. Jesus, that he might sanctify the people with his blood, suffered outside the gate.
    
    1Cor. 6:11b. You were sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
    
    
29. We are justified at the moment of new birth.
    
    Rom. 5:9. Being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
    
    1Cor. 6:11c. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
    
    
    
    
30. We are purchased by Jesus for God at the moment of new birth.
    
    1Cor. 6:19b– 20. You are not your own, for you were bought with a price; so then, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
    
    Rev. 5:9. [The saints in heaven] sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slaughtered, and with your blood, you purchased us for God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”
    
    
31. We are delivered from the realm of darkness at the moment of new birth.
    
    Col. 1:13. [The Father] delivered us from the domain of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of His beloved Son.
    
    
32. Our old nature is crucified at the moment of new birth.
    
    Rom. 6:6. Our old man is crucified with Christ so that our sinful body might be rendered powerless so that we no longer are slaves to sin.
    
    
33. We are buried with Christ and risen with him at the moment of new birth.
    
    Col. 2:12. You are buried with him in baptism, in which you also are raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
    
    
34. God’s law is written on our hearts at the moment of new birth.
    
    Heb. 8:10. I will put my laws into their mind and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.
    
    
35. God’s love comes into our hearts at the moment of new birth.
    
    Rom. 5:5. The love of God is poured out in our hearts by the holy Spirit which is given to us.
    
    
36. We become alive to God at the moment of new birth.
    
    Rom. 6:13b. Present yourselves to God as alive from the dead, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness.
    
    Eph. 2:1, 4, 5b.  You were dead in transgressions and sins, but God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, made us alive together with Christ.
    
    
37. We become dead to sin at the moment of new birth.
    
    Rom. 6:11. Think of yourselves as completely dead to sin, yet alive to God through Christ Jesus our Lord.
    
    Rom. 7:6. Having died to that by which we were bound, we are released . . . so that we now serve God in the newness of the Spirit.
    
    
38. We become witnesses of God at the moment of new birth.
    
    Acts 1:8a. [Jesus to his disciples] “You will receive power after the holy Spirit comes upon you, and then you will be my witnesses.”
    
    
39. We become “gods” at the moment of new birth.
    
    Ps. 82:6–7. [God] “I have said, ‘You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High.’ Nevertheless, like men, you will die, and you will fall like one of their princes.”
    
    Jn. 10:34–35a. Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said you are gods?’ [So then, God] called them ‘gods’ to whom the word of God came.”
    
    
40. We become a chosen race, royal priesthood, and a holy nation belonging to God at the moment of new birth.
    
    1Pet. 2:9a. You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.
    
    
41. We become living stones, used by Jesus to build a temple for the worship of God at the moment of new birth.
    
    1Pet. 2:5. You, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
    
    
42. We become the temple of God at the moment of new birth.
    
    1Cor. 6:19. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit that is in you, which you have from God?
    
    
43. We are no longer enemies of God at the moment of new birth.
    
    Rom. 5:10a. When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son.
    
    Col. 1:21–22a. You, who by disposition were once alienated and enemies of God with evil deeds, he has now reconciled through death in his fleshly body.
    
    
44. We are delivered from spiritual bondage at the moment of new birth.
    
    Lk. 4:18. [Jesus] “The Spirit of the Lord has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach liberty to those held captive.”
    
    Gal. 4:6–7a. God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba!” (that is, “Father”). So then, you are no longer a slave but a son.
    
    Gal. 5: 1. Therefore, stand fast in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and do not submit again to a yoke of bondage!
    
    
45. We are made able to say that Jesus is Lord at the moment of new birth.
    
    1Cor. 12:3. No one speaking by the Spirit of God is saying, “Jesus is accursed.” And no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” but by the holy Spirit.
    
    
46. We are given access to God at the moment of new birth.
    
    Eph. 2:18. Through [Jesus], we have access to the Father by one Spirit.
    
    Heb. 6:18b–20a. Hold fast the hope, which we have as an anchor for the soul, both secure and steadfast, and which enters into that which is within the veil, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered for us.
    
    
47. We are given a new heart at the moment of new birth.
    
    Ezek. 11:19b–20. [God to Israel] “I will take away the stony heart from their flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh so that they may walk in my statutes and keep my judgments and do them. And they will be my people, and I will be their God.”
    
    
48. We are given the mind of Christ at the moment of new birth.
    
    1Cor. 2:16.  [It is written,] “Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who will instruct Him?” Yet, we have the mind of Christ.
    
    
49. We are given hope of eternal life at the moment of new birth.
    
    Col. 1:27. God has willed to make known among the Gentiles what is the richness of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
    
    Eph. 2:12. You were once without Christ, having no hope, and without God in the world.
    
    Tit. 3:7. Being justified by His grace, we became heirs of the hope of eternal life.
    
    
50. We are given a promise of reigning with Jesus at the moment of new birth.
    
    Rom. 4:13. The promise that [Abraham] would be the heir of the world was not made to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but his seed through the righteousness of faith.
    
    Dan. 7:27. The sovereignty, and dominion, and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven was given to the people, the saints of the Most High.
    
    Rev. 20:4. I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them, . . . and they reigned with Christ a thousand years.