Meditating On The Word

It's a good idea that if we're going to become involved in anything to say, what am I getting out of this? Why am I part of this? The same thing is true when we think about spiritual matters. It can be a great blessing when we realize the benefits that we receive.

There are numerous blessings that the scriptures speak of that come to someone who has been born again. Jesus talked about being born again when he discussed the matter with Nicodemus in John 3. Being born again simply means that one is baptized into Jesus Christ.

There he said that one had to be born of the water and the Spirit. The water is the water of baptism. The Spirit is God's Holy Spirit through which convicts us of our sins, not directly but indirectly through the Word of God.

As we listen to the Word of God, we are convicted of our sins. As we listen and read the Word of God, he tells us how to be born again by being immersed in water to have our sins washed away. When that happens, God offers us numerous blessings.

We can just stop and think about the number of blessings that are found in being born again. The first one, of course, is going to be that we are forgiven of our sins. Paul said in Ephesians 1.7 that we are forgiven of our sins.

Stop and think about that. Sin is against God. We have offended him.

We have violated his law. And forgiveness must take place in his mind, not just my mind. I can think I've been forgiven and it may never have happened in God's mind.

I need to make sure that it's right in God's mind because he's the one I have sinned against. You know, people do different things and think they're saved and think they're forgiven and their conscience becomes clean, and yet it really hasn't happened. How sad.

And so we need to make sure that we are forgiven because we have obeyed the gospel. The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. And when we obey that by dying to sin, burying the old man in the waters of baptism, and arising to walk, we have obeyed the gospel and Jesus Christ gives us his blood and we are forgiven of our sins.

And our consciences can be made clean. You know, there's a great statement in the book of Hebrews, a contrast between what the Old Testament people received and what we received today. When they did what God wanted them to do then, it says it was a cleansing of the flesh.

They simply were ceremonially clean. In reality, their conscience really wasn't clean because in reality, the blood of Christ had not been shed at that time to pay for their sins. Hebrews 9, verse 13 says, For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of an ever-sprinkled, those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh.

Now notice verse 14, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit of offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead work to serve the living God? When you and I are obedient to the gospel and we have committed our life to God and we have been washed, had our washed sins washed away by the blood of Christ, by being baptized into the death of Christ, we can have a clean conscience. It is right in God's sight. We are no longer an enemy to God.

We have been reconciled to God through the blood of the cross, Colossians 1 and 20 says. And so even Peter speaks about this clear conscience. He says in 1 Peter 3, verse 21, The like figure who earned even baptism doth also now save us.

Not the putting away of the filth of flesh, but the answer for good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's great to be able to say my sins have been removed. I have forgiveness in God's mind and my conscience can be clear.

That's a great blessing from having been born again. The second great blessing that we find is that we have become a new person. The old person of sin and corruption, bad attitudes, sinful actions, language that's corrupt, all that has been washed away.

And now then I'm a new person. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, 17, any man is in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away.

They hold all things and become new. Isn't it great to be able to, in a sense, to start over? That's what we find when we're in Christ, we get to start over. Ian, a symbolic sense, hands us a clean sheet of paper and says we're starting all over and we have that blood of Christ that cleanses us.

And that promise of a great blessing is also found in 1 John 1, in verse 7, when he says, if we walk in the light, as he's in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us. That's new, that's continuous, cleanses us from our sins. When we are born into God's family, the blood of Christ continually flows with us so that we can be made clean constantly.

And if we commit a sin, we can confess our sin, as 1 John 1, verse 8 says, and he will forgive us of our sins. We don't have to be re-baptized every time we sin, but we have that constant cleansing when we have this constant willingness to repent of anything that's wrong in our life. And so a great blessing that we become a new person.

Now that doesn't happen overnight. That doesn't happen in a one-time event. Ephesians 4.17 talks about putting on the new man.

It takes a while to change our habits, to change our language, to change our understanding. But it is a great blessing that we have become a new person. We're not like we were before.

And when we stand before God in the Judgment Day, he'll not see the old man, he'll see the new man. That's a great blessing we receive after being born again. We also have the great blessing in that we're added to a spiritual family.

We all need people around us. I know when God said in Genesis 1, it's not good for man to be alone. He was talking about marriage, but that same principle is very true today.

We need people around us. God made us social beings. We need people.

And when God forgives us of our sins, He adds us to His family. We see that in several places. And in Acts 2, when the people cried out who had killed Christ, and they said, what have we got to do? Peter said, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Then in verse 41, it says, then they that gladly received His word were baptized, and the same day they were added unto them about 3,000 souls. They were added. They're now God's family.

The King James Version says in verse 2, verse 47 of Acts 2, that praising God and having faith with all the people and the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved. When we are forgiven of our sins, we become a new preacher. And God adds us to a new family.

We have a spiritual family. And not only is God our father, and Jesus Christ our elder brother, but all faithful New Testament Christians are our brothers and sisters. And we have that family of God.

It's the house called the household of faith. Paul calls it in Galatians 6 and verse 10. That's a great blessing.

To be able to gather with people who have the same mind who are living and striving to live the same way, striving to be faithful servants of God. And so a great blessing when we're born again, is that we now have a spiritual family. That's the reason John says in 1 John 3 and verse 1, behold what manner of love the fathers foretold of one us that we should be called sons of God.

What a great blessing this is. We can also see that blessing described as Paul described it in Romans the eighth chapter. Let me read a few verses about what Paul said about that family that we have.

This is Romans eight. I'm going to begin in verse 14. He says, we for all who are being led by the spirit of God, these are sons of God.

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry, Abba, father. The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.

If indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. Notice all the blessings he spoke of there. Now the spirit leads us through the word that the spirit revealed.

The work of the Holy Spirit was to record and have these men write down God's word. The spirit is not going to lead us by working on our minds. The spirit is not going to lead us by giving us visions or God whispering in our ears.

We are led by the spirit who wouldn't follow the word that the spirit gave. And so we have this great blessing. Notice all that we looked at with regard to those blessings.

For you have not received the spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received the spirit of adoption. God has adopted us as sons. And he says, as that we can cry, Abba, father.

Abba, father was a special, tender, intimate phrase that children use when they spoke of their father. I hate to translate it as daddy. That's too informal, but that sort of conveys the idea.

It's something special. It's not as formal as saying father. We have that relationship with God when we have been born again.

And then not only that, but we're heirs of God. We're going to inherit something. He has that place reserved in heaven for us.

We're going to inherit it. And he says, and he compares it with Christ. He simply says that if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

A great blessing after being born again, we are children added to the family of God. We have brothers and sisters all over the world. We have Jesus Christ as our mediator.

And that would be another blessing that we could talk about. 1 Timothy 2.5 says that there's one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, a mediator. A mediator is someone who stands between two parties.

The best mediator is someone who is equally related to both parties. And that fits Jesus Christ perfectly. He understands our perspective because notice the passage says the man Christ Jesus.

When Jesus took on, when the Son of God took on humanity and became Jesus Christ, he became a man. And he never put that manhood off. He's in heaven.

He's sitting at the right hand of God. But he is a man. But he is also God.

So being a man, he understands our situation because the Hebrew writer said he was tempted in all points, like as we are, yet without sin. So he understands the struggles we have. He understands the temptations we face.

He understands the times we fall. But he is also God. So therefore he understands God's perfection.

He understands God's holiness. He understands what God wants of his people. And so he is that perfect mediator.

And that's the reason as a child of God, we can go to God in prayer through our mediator, Jesus Christ. He is our mediator. You know, that's a sad thought to some degree.

He is not the mediator of those who have not been born again. They're not in his family. God is not their father.

And so he is not the mediator for them. We have a great blessing in recognizing that we have the mediator who understands us and who understands God. And he is also called our intercessor in Hebrews 7.25, that he intercedes for us.

He pleads for us and begs for us. That's a blessing we have because we have been born again. We also see that as we mentioned a little earlier, we have that constant cleansing of sin.

If we walk in the light, as he's in the light, we have fellowship one with another and blood of Jesus Christ, his son cleanses us from all sins. And also we have the Holy Spirit. When we are baptized, God sends us the Holy Spirit.

That's what Jesus promised in Acts 2, verse 38. When the people who had killed Christ wanted to be forgiven, they said, what have we got to do? And Jesus, excuse me, Peter said, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. There were two commands, repent and be baptized.

There were two promises, you'll be forgiven and you'll be given the Holy Spirit. Now the Holy Spirit is not going to do anything miraculous for us. The Holy Spirit is not going to help us understand the Bible.

The Holy Spirit is not going to lead us in any miraculous way. The Holy Spirit though is given to us as Ephesians 1, 13 and 14 says, as the seal, and a seal is a stamp of approval. It's a seal, it's a stamp that which's genuine and real.

And then he said, not only is it a seal, but it's also the earnest of our inheritance. And that's a King James phrase, and I like it because of what it conveys. He said, the Holy Spirit is the earnest.

Those of us who have bought houses gave them some money called earnest money. It was money that said, I am in earnest about giving you the rest of the money. In fact, it's so strong that if we backed out, they get to keep the earnest money we've given them.

He said that Ephesians 1, 13 and 14, that the Holy Spirit is given to us as an earnest of our inheritance. The idea is God said, I'm gonna give you the Holy Spirit as a pledge that I've got heaven waiting for you. That's a great blessing to be able to have that Holy Spirit within us as that seal and as that earnest of our inheritance.

That's the reason Paul in 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20 says our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. That's where the Holy Spirit lives. And we are going to bless us.

We also have the blessing that we have an assurance of security. We as a child of God can be assured we will have our eternal home in heaven. He said in John 10, that when we're in the hands of God, no man can pluck us out of there.

And that doesn't mean once saved, always saved. He simply is saying, nobody can get you out. Now we can live unfaithfully and God will spew us out but no man can force us out.

And so we have that assurance that we're in the hands of God and we're protected there. And he's doing all that he can to protect us from the evil way and from people getting to us. What a great blessing we have and being born again.

We also have the promise that he will not allow us to be tempted above that which we're able but will with the temptation provide a way of escape that we may be able to bury it. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 13. And so as we close this lesson, let me assure you that when you enter into Jesus Christ by being baptized into his body, you have numerous blessings to come.

Thanks for joining us this week and spending time in God's Word. Special thanks to Mac Graham, John Kachelman and LightWay Media for recording, producing and making this podcast possible. If you're ever in the Littleton, New Hampshire area, we'd love to have you join us for worship and Bible study on Sunday afternoons at four at the Senior Center.

You're always welcome. For more information about this podcast, visit lightweightmedia.com/meditating-on-the-Word and find the link there to email me to subscribe to my free weekly newsletter with more information you can use in your personal Bible study. Be sure to like, subscribe and follow us on your favorite podcast app so that you never miss an episode.

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