{"id":870902,"date":"2012-06-29T06:00:37","date_gmt":"2012-06-29T06:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/?p=870902"},"modified":"2012-04-11T18:40:27","modified_gmt":"2012-04-11T18:40:27","slug":"marveling-at-the-gospel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/?p=870902","title":{"rendered":"Marveling at the Gospel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In John 1:6 Jesus says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Your flesh and human effort cannot attain spiritual life. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That which is born of the flesh is flesh\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Only the Spirit can grant spiritual life and He does it through the proclamation of the gospel.<\/p>\n

Hear the voice of the Shepherd, the voice of Jesus, and follow Him through faith in His finished work on the cross. And thank Him and praise Him for the rest of your life. This is the affection of a regenerate heart toward the Lord!<\/p>\n

When Jesus said in verse 6, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Nicodemus began to marvel. How do we know that?<\/p>\n

Even though there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no recorded response from Nicodemus between verse 6 and verse 7, verse 7 is where Jesus tells Nicodemus, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do not marvel<\/em> that I said to you, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcYou must be born again.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n

So I infer from the words of Jesus in verse 7 that Nicodemus must have been marveling<\/em> at what Jesus has been saying up to this point. The phrase that made Nicodemus marvel in particular were the words, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You must be born again.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Do you remember how we explained the meaning of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153born again?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

We saw that it means \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcborn from above\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 or \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcborn of the Spirit.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 It also means the same thing as being \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcborn of water and the Spirit.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 The word we sometimes give to the new birth is the word \u00e2\u20ac\u0153regeneration.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

This word means to be formed anew, referring to a spiritual birth from spiritual death. You and I are born into this world as spiritually dead.<\/p>\n

None of us are born without sin. We must be born again<\/em> to live spiritually or we cannot see the kingdom of God.<\/p>\n

Seeing the kingdom of God and being spiritually reborn has everything to do with the free will of the Spirit of God as we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see in verse 8.<\/p>\n

Until next time,
\nPastor Kevin<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In John 1:6 Jesus says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Your flesh and human effort cannot attain spiritual life. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That which is born of the flesh is flesh\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Only the Spirit can grant spiritual life and He does it through the … <\/p>\n

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