Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Sun., Jan. 2 Adult Bible Study: You Must Be Born Again, Pt. 2

Birth used to illustrate salvation

Physical Birth

Spiritual Birth

Initiated by parents Initiated by God
You did not will yourself born Not of the will of man (John 1:12,13)
9-month gestation Indeterminate gestation
Life precedes birth Life precedes birth‡
Does not come into the world against his will Does not enter the Kingdom of God against his will.
Infant struggles to enter the world (labor) Infant struggles to enter the Kingdom of God (Matt. 11:12)†

‡ Observable in a sinner under conviction and in his seeking after God. Not to be construed as “viable” life.

† The sinner is not passive in the new birth. His strivings are not the cause of the new birth but means to getting there.

To be continued….