Bible Commentary Forever คำอธิบายความเข้าใจในพระคัมภีร์ไทยสำหรับชีวิต

Guidance for the New Birth of a Believer in the Lord Jesus

What do Gospels Teach about the Lord Jesus?

The Bible presents us with a complete teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and about His mission on earth. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John complement each other, so we must read and meditate on all the Gospels’ writings to understand the salvation work that God the Father has provided for us through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Reading the Gospels, we find seven essential things about the Lord Jesus Christ.

  1. The birth of the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, on earth from the Holy Spirit. In Luke 1:26-35, we find how the Lord Jesus was born from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. Specifically, Luke 1:35 tells us, “And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the being born will be called the Son of God.” This verse tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God through the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God the Father, and the Son of Man through Mary; therefore, we must believe He is a complete Man and God simultaneously.
  2. The mission of the Lord Jesus on earth. He came on earth in human form to save all humans, give us the way to eternal life, and teach us how to become children of God. In John 10:10, the Lord Jesus tells us, “I came that they may have life and may have it more abundantly.” For those that have accepted the beloved Son of God and put all their trust in His mercy, the beloved Son of God will receive them to be with Him, and they will have life for eternity with Him because it is for eternity, that is “more abundantly.”
  3. The teachings of the Lord Jesus. The Lord teaches us through His Word how to live as believers, and He gives us in the Bible examples to follow. In our Christian walk, we must follow Him in everything He taught us to do. In Matthew 16:24, the Lord Jesus tells His disciples, “If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”
  4. The Kingdom of God. The Lord Jesus, through His word, teaches us what the Kingdom of God is and how a person can become part of the Kingdom of God through faith in Him. In Luke 17:20-21, the Lord Jesus tells us that “The kingdom of God comes not with observation; neither shall they say, Behold, here! Or, There! For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you”, essentially telling us that the Kingdom of God is among the true believers in the Lord Jesus.
  5. The crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. The Bible tells us how it happened and teaches about the importance of the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and the significance of His shed blood on the cross; specifically, that through the blood shed on the cross, all humans can receive forgiveness of sins and make peace with God the Father. The Bible tells all humans clearly that no one can come to the Father without faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and without forgiveness of sins through His shed blood on the cross. In John 14:5-6, we read, “Thomas says to Him, Lord, we do not know where Thou go; how are we able to know the way? Jesus says to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, if not by Me.”
  6. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross and was placed in a tomb, but after three days, He rose again in the body; the same body that was put in the tomb has risen in the palm of the Father Himself; the belief in the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus is essential for a true believer in the Lord Jesus. Moreover, after the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared to His disciples and many others, and He ascended in the body to heaven, where He is seated at the right hand of the Father. In Acts 2:32-33, we read, “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”
  7. The Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Trinity of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is One with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. In John 10:30, the Lord Jesus Christ tells us, “I and the Father are One.” We should note here that the Gospel of John presents a complete and complex teaching about the Deity of the Lord Jesus, the beloved Son of God. Therefore, faith in the Trinity of God, meaning that God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit are One God, is the solid foundation of a true believer.

The New Birth

This article will briefly explain how a person can be born again. We will use a familiar Bible passage from the Gospel of John chapter 3. Specifically, we read in John 3:5-7 that the Lord Jesus answering Nicodemus, says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Except anyone is born of water and of Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That having been born of the flesh, flesh is, and that having been born of the Spirit, spirit is. Marvel not that I said to you, It behooves you to be born from above.” This Scripture tells us that a person must be baptized in the water and Holy Spirit to experience the new birth of their soul; this is true, especially since the Lord Jesus Himself told us this way. Thus, we can understand from the Word of God that a person, in order to be born again, must be conscient of their sinful state and must make a public declaration of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the Trinity of God. That person must ask forgiveness for their sins from the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ on the basis of the Lord Jesus’ blood shed on the cross, and they must baptize in the water in the name of the Father, of the Son Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit. We learn, from the Bible, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only human without sin, but even though He is without sin, He Himself went and baptized in water to give us an example that we should follow. Moreover, every Gospel describes the water baptism of the Lord Jesus and how the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, came down on Him. In particular, we find the water baptism of the Lord Jesus, performed by John the Baptist, in Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22, and John 1:29-34. Specifically, in Matthew 3:15, the Lord Jesus Christ, answering to John the Baptist, says, “Suffer it now: for thus it befalls us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he allowed Him”, meaning that each Christian must fulfill this step. Furthermore, in Matthew 28:19, the Lord Jesus entrusted His disciples before He ascended to heaven to go and make disciples from all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Then, in John 1:33-34, we find the testimony of John the Baptist about the Son of God, “But I knew Him not; but the One having sent me to baptize with water, He said to me, Upon whom you will perceive the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. But I have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” Moreover, if we follow the teaching of the Lord Jesus, we understand that the infant water baptism that some Christian churches practice is only a church tradition and is not the water baptism that the Bible speaks of in John 3:5-6. For this, any true Christian who wants to experience the new birth of the soul, as described in this passage of Scripture, must be baptized in water, by immersion, following the example of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In this article, we will not elaborate on all things pertaining to the water baptism of a believer; however, you can read our article entitled Water Baptism for a Christian to learn more on this subject. Still, this article will explain a step that a person seeking the Lord can take to establish a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. After that, the Holy Spirit will guide that person in all things, of course, if that person will pray, read, and meditate regularly on the Word of God. The Bible shows us that any person, independent of their religious status (baptized in water by immersion or not), if they seek the Lord, can establish a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus through the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Christ; through this relationship, that person can feel the Holy Spirit working into their hearts and testifying about the Lord Jesus. In order to establish this personal relationship, we can apply the teaching from John 15:26, which says, “When the Intercessor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness concerning Me.” Therefore, when we accept the Holy Spirit in our hearts, He will guide us and teach us in all things pertaining to becoming true children of God. He will give us love for the Lord Jesus, for the Word of God, and He will plant in our hearts the wish to follow the commandments of God and become more and more like our Lord and Master, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, the question is, how can we have the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Christ living in our hearts? To understand this, we can go to John 14:22-23, where we read, “Judas (not the Iscariot) says to Him, Lord, and what has occurred that Thou are about to declare Thyself to us, and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make a home with him.” Then, in order to experience this living of the Trinity of God in our hearts, we must love the Lord Jesus from our hearts and keep His Word and invite Him into our hearts. Therefore, when we are ready to accept the Lord in our hearts, we must pray, from our hearts to the Father, something in the following manner: “Holy Father, who is in heaven, have mercy on me, a sinner, forgive all my sins in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and wash me clean with His blood shed on the cross of Calvary. I believe that Jesus is your Holy Son, the only begotten from the Father and the Virgin Mary, and I believe that you sent Him on earth to show us the way to heaven and give us eternal life through faith in the Trinity of God (God the Father, God the Son Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit). Therefore, Father, Lord Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit, I give my heart to you, and I beg you to come and live in my heart and teach me your Word.” Of course, this prayer here provides only a template of what we need to believe to have the right faith, so the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Christ can come and live in our hearts, but we can add much more to this prayer to show true love to the Lord.

After this invitation, the next step is to read and meditate on the Word of God daily by praying to have the Holy Spirit guide us in understanding all things about our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. As we read in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I speak to you are Spirit and are life”, meaning that the Words of the Bible are spirit and life for our soul. Therefore we need to read and meditate daily on the Word of God to feed our souls with spiritual food, and then our spiritual being will grow and mature.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the question would be, what is the difference between being born again and having the Lord live in a person’s heart without going through the water baptism by immersion? From the Bible, we understand that to be born again, we always need to go through the water baptism by immersion and the Spirit baptism, but to have the Lord live in the heart, a person only needs to invite the Lord to be the leader of their life. Therefore, the difference is clear; when a person is born again, the soul of that person has been washed by the blood of the Lord Jesus when they received the water baptism by immersion, and in the spiritual world, a new person is born; but when the person has only invited the Lord into their heart, only their body will be cleansed from their sins so that the Lord can live in the heart of that person. The body and soul sins are different.

Read on our website the page Making Peace with God and check our other Articles and comments that we posted on our BCF website.