Devotion: MARCH 18

Is Christ the “Parent” of Your Life?

Scripture: John 3:6
Topics:

The Scripture makes it plain that as we are born by nature, we are merely flesh—flesh that is corrupting, decaying, and dying. That which is flesh is flesh, and it goes the way of all flesh. We need to have a new birth from above. Jesus said we must be born again in a new and glorious and never-dying life.

I remember one time being interviewed by a reporter who said to me, “Are you...Are you one of those...those ‘born-again’ Christians?” I got the very distinct impression that he was under the impression that “born-again Christians” constituted some new denomination that must only recently have come into existence.

I said to him, “Having studied the doctrines of all of the great denominations of Christendom, I am very definitely under the opinion that there is no other kind of Christian than a born-again Christian. According to the creeds and doctrines of every Christian church, it is absolutely essential that one must be born again.”

To put it bluntly, and let me state it categorically: Unless, you are a born-again Christian, you are no kind of Christian at all, for there is no other kind. Furthermore, you will never see, said Christ, the inside of Paradise. But if Christ has become the parent of a new and imperishable life, that is a life that is spiritual in nature.

Dear Lord, thank You for giving me a new birth, for bringing me into Your family and making me Your child. Thank You that I am no longer a stranger nor a guest, but a child in Your home…

"BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE ARE GOD’S ADOPTED CHILD."