THE BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN - PART 1
FRIDAY 12 AUGUST 2022
The born again Christian is a new creation in Christ Jesus. According to 2 Corinthians 5:17, the Bible says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (NIV). Old things passing away signifies that the desires of sinful nature have spiritually expired or come to the end of the period of their validity because there is newness of life now.
Reference: 1 Corinthians 6:11 New King James Version (NKJV) "...But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
Why did Paul establish the truth in the above verse? It happened that he was addressing the Corinthian Christians on consequential spiritual matters about their Christian faith and lifestyle because they were living like the rest of the world. Then he reminded them that giving expression to their old life was very unrighteous and will put them in danger of perishing, since wrongdoers will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Then He admonished them saying, "Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NIV). Then the Scripture continues, "Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (Referenced Scripture).
Look at it this way: God settled the relationship between us and Him by sending Christ to die for us. Through Christ's atonement for sin, which denotes His death and resurrection, God made peace with us by washing, sanctifying and justifying us, who believe in Christ, thereby giving us a fresh new life to live in Him. In the context of this topic, we are going to look at the three important dicta that have taken place in the life of a born again Christian as a result of their new birth experience. As noted, we have been (1) washed, (2) sanctified and (3) justified in Christ's precious and saving name. As simple as they seem, no one could become a new creation without any of the dicta.
Now what does Paul mean by the born again Christian being washed? The Bible says, "But when the kindness and love of God our SavioUr appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:4-5 NIV). To expatiate on the washing of rebirth and renewal, think of what a washing machine does to dirty clothes while spinning round inside the machine. During the washing cycle, it restores the clothes to fresh appearance and brings new and more vigorous, fresh life to it. It is the Greek word, "apolouó" which implies the complete removal of sin. So this washing took place as we received salvation that is in Christ. Furthermore, the act of washing includes the ability of the Spirit at work in us to constantly purify us from sin, and then renew and baptise us with His strength. Stay tuned for part 2. Shalom!
Scripture Reading - Isaiah 1:16-17; Acts 22:16; Ephesians 5:25-27; Hebrews 10:10.
Guided Prayer: Thank you Father for the power of Christ's name and renewal by the Holy Spirit, who has washed me to become holy and righteous, thereby purging me of impurity and unrighteousness, which are now far from me. I therefore, affirm that I live as Christ Jesus on earth, and I experience the sum total of all the benefits of salvation made possible by the manifestation of Christ in me, in Jesus' Name, Amen!
