A Necessary Transformation

One of the most exciting things to me is the radically changed life due to the Gospel. When we observe a life that was once hostile to God but now is Christ-centered and focused, it produces joy, confidence in our message, and motivation for the future. I saw this recently happen in my boyhood friend Mike.

We connected for a round of golf during a recent trip home that naturally spurred conversation. I took the opportunity to relate to him and how Jesus utterly transformed my life over 40 years ago. Interestingly he seemed to understand what I was talking about. Mike explained that several months ago, he found himself drawn to Christ for no apparent reason. He had joined a local church body and was pleasantly surprised by how his life changed in significant and life-altering ways. Like the familiar hymn relates, “I was blind, but now I see.” This is what happens when we are born again by the Spirit of God.

In the Letter to Titus, Paul relates the same sentiment in 3:3-7. He says that all of us are initially cut from the same cloth and spiritual messes that were disobedient and enslaved to our sin. But then something happened! Paul says that the love and kindness of God appeared. He unilaterally intervened in our lives and performed a radical surgery that changed our perspective. This is what the prophet Jeremiah described in what is referred to as the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31: 31-34).

Remarkably, this occurrence has nothing to do with us! In fact, the Apostle relates that “He saved us not on the basis of deeds we have done in righteousness, but according to the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” Paul is describing the grace of God invading the life and making the spiritually dead person come alive. He regenerates the individual and brings him or her into the family of God as an heir with all rights and privileges.

Jesus explained this process in John, chapter 3, with a religious leader named Nicodemus. He told the Jewish Pharisee that he could not know, enter, or understand the Kingdom of God unless he was born again. Therefore, being born again is not optional for entry into Heaven, but essential! Jesus was emphatic on this point. I rejoice that Mike has been born again because, without this spiritual rebirth, one cannot see the glory of eternity. It reminds me of the urgency of the hour as I see other childhood friends fall into Christless graves.