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You Must Be Born Again · The Pilgrim

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  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Pilgrim Podcast.
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  My name is OO Levin and this podcast is proudly brought to you
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  by God Center Christianity.
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  SPEAKER_00: In today's episode of the podcast, I am starting a series of
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  SPEAKER_00: I don't know when I'm going to finish it,
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  SPEAKER_00: but as the Lord wills,
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  may He use this episode and future episode to lead people to
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  follow Him more and
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  SPEAKER_00: more.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now, the question behind today's episode is,
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  SPEAKER_00: What does it take to be a Christian?
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  SPEAKER_00: Or what does it mean to be a Christian?
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  SPEAKER_00: That is a vast, big question.
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  SPEAKER_00: It will take literally forever to answer it.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because the Christian life is basically rooted in the person of Christ.
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  So to explore the Christian life means to explore who Jesus is,
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  which we take eternity to do.
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  SPEAKER_00: But today I want to focus on something really vital.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it is what Jesus said or what Jesus taught in the book of John.
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  SPEAKER_00: And what he taught is, you must be born again.
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  SPEAKER_00: The question is, what does that mean?
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  We find the conversation between Jesus and a Pharisee named
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  Nicodemus in John 3.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the Bible described him as a ruler of the Jew.
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  SPEAKER_00: He was an expert in Jewish scripture.
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  SPEAKER_00: So when Jesus said,
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  SPEAKER_00: you must be born again if you want to see the kingdom of God,
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  SPEAKER_00: if you want to enter the kingdom of God,
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  SPEAKER_00: and Nicodemus asked,
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  SPEAKER_00: how can a man be born when he's old?
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  SPEAKER_00: Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born again?
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus was kind of surprised because this is an expert of the scripture.
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  SPEAKER_00: He knows what the scripture says about God giving a new heart.
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  So Jesus asked him,
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  are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand
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  these things?
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  So Jesus expected him to understand what it means to be born
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  again without any explanation.
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  So Jesus did not expect him to be baffled,
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  like to be surprised,
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  like you must be born again.
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  One of the reasons why Jesus Christ was,
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  you don't know what it means to be born again.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's from Ezekiel 36,
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  SPEAKER_00: verse 25-27,
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  SPEAKER_00: when God said,
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  SPEAKER_00: I will sprinkle clean water on you,
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  SPEAKER_00: and you shall be clean from all your cleanliness,
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  SPEAKER_00: and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you.
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  And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give
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  you a heart of flesh.
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  And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my
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  statutes and be
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  SPEAKER_00: careful to obey my rules,
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  SPEAKER_00: my laws.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is what it means to be born again.
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  this is what it means if they say define born again this is god
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  defining what it
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  means to be born again first it means that you you're cleansed
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  you you're sprinkled
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  with water then it means you're cleaned from all your
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  uncleanness then you're
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  SPEAKER_00: cleansed from all your idols
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  then you're given a new heart you're given a new spirit god
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  puts a new spirit
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  within you and he removes your heart of stone and gives you a
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  heart of flesh that
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  you know that listens to his spirit that is in alignment with
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  his word and he it
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  SPEAKER_00: being born again means that god has caused you by his grace
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  SPEAKER_00: to walk in his statues and to walk in obedience.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is what being born again means.
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  SPEAKER_00: It means to be recreated after the image of God.
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  SPEAKER_00: So when Jesus told Nicodemus that you must be born again,
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  Jesus Christ was drawing his attention to what God has promised
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  to the Jewish
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  SPEAKER_00: people,
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  SPEAKER_00: that God will cause them to obey,
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  SPEAKER_00: God will cause them to follow,
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  SPEAKER_00: God will put his spirit within them.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is what it means to be born again.
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  SPEAKER_00: It means to be forgiven of sin,
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  SPEAKER_00: it means to be recreated,
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  SPEAKER_00: to be given a new heart and a new spirit,
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  SPEAKER_00: and to have the Holy Spirit living inside of you.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is what it means to be born again.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is what it means to be born again.
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  And if you explore further what Jesus Christ was saying in the
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  book of John chapter
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  SPEAKER_00: 3,
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  you'll find Jesus was trying to explain that flesh gives birth
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  to flesh and spirit
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  SPEAKER_00: gives birth to spirit.
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  SPEAKER_00: Why did Jesus say that?
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  SPEAKER_00: It is because flesh is what we are by nature.
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  SPEAKER_00: It refers to our ordinary humanity.
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  SPEAKER_00: And by our first bet, we are only flesh, nothing like spirit.
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  This natural human condition,
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  as we experience it,
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  is spiritually lifeless.
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  SPEAKER_00: So before someone puts their trust in Christ,
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  SPEAKER_00: which leads to being born again,
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  SPEAKER_00: there was no such thing as spirit.
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  SPEAKER_00: There was no life.
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  SPEAKER_00: Anybody who is not yet in Christ don't have life.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's just it.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is what the Bible says.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is what Jesus taught in John chapter 3.
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  SPEAKER_00: We are not born spiritually alive with a heart that loves God.
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  SPEAKER_00: We are born spiritually dead.
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  SPEAKER_00: So,
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  Jesus was highlighting the fact that if you must be part of the
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  kingdom of God,
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  SPEAKER_00: then God has to forgive your sins.
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  SPEAKER_00: God has to cleanse you from all uncleanness.
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  SPEAKER_00: God has to clean you from idols.
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  whatever those idols are,
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  then God has to give you a new heart and a new spirit.
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  SPEAKER_00: And God has to remove your heart of stone.
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  SPEAKER_00: When the Bible talks about the heart of flesh,
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  SPEAKER_00: God is not actually talking about the flesh that I just explained.
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  SPEAKER_00: No, no.
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  Remember,
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  if you notice the construct here is heart of stone,
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  then heart of flesh.
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  SPEAKER_00: So heart of stone is a heart that don't obey the things of God.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's not in alignment with God.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's not alive.
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  SPEAKER_00: Why heart of flesh?
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  The heart of flesh that God is talking about here is a heart
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  that is brought alive
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  SPEAKER_00: by the Spirit.
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  So it's not like the flesh Jesus Christ was talking about or
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  what I explained about
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  SPEAKER_00: being born of the flesh,
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  SPEAKER_00: like we being flesh,
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  SPEAKER_00: it means we are lifeless.
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  SPEAKER_00: No, don't be confused.
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  So God has promised to cleanse us from sin and to give us a new
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  human spirit by the
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  SPEAKER_00: presence of his own divine spirit within us.
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  SPEAKER_00: So, if you're not yet born again, this is your call.
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  SPEAKER_00: If you want to be a part of the kingdom of God,
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  SPEAKER_00: if you want to follow Jesus Christ,
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  SPEAKER_00: then you have to be born again.
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  SPEAKER_00: You must be born again.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's a command.
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus has commanded it.
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  SPEAKER_00: You must be born again.
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  SPEAKER_00: But the beautiful thing is,
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  SPEAKER_00: When Jesus said you must be born again,
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  SPEAKER_00: he's not saying that this is something you can do yourself.
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  If you take note of what God said in Ezekiel chapter 36,
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  it is God who does it.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is God who brings about you being born again.
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  For the fact that God has commanded it,
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  it means that he is the one to do it.
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  SPEAKER_00: I will,
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  SPEAKER_00: God says,
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  I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from
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  all uncleanness and
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  SPEAKER_00: from all your idols.
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  SPEAKER_00: I will, I, I, God, will cleanse you and I will give you a new.
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  SPEAKER_00: Being born again is something God does.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's not something you do.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because don't forget that we are born spiritually dead.
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  SPEAKER_00: Dead people don't see.
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  SPEAKER_00: Dead people are not alive.
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  That's obvious,
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  but it's still kind of like...
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  This is what many people try to do.
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  They think being born again is something...
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  It's in their own power,
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  in their own jurisdiction.
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  SPEAKER_00: But it is not.
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  SPEAKER_00: Being born again, it's 100% God's work.
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  It is 100% grace because we don't even love God in the first
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  place,
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  naturally.
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  So it takes God to speak to our heart,
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  our dead heart,
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  our dead heart to come alive.
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  SPEAKER_00: It takes the Spirit of God to help us to be alive to God.
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  SPEAKER_00: Remember what Jesus said in John 3.
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus said,
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  SPEAKER_00: in verse 8,
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  SPEAKER_00: John 3,
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  SPEAKER_00: 8,
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus said,
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  SPEAKER_00: The wind blows where it reaches,
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  SPEAKER_00: and you hear its sound,
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  SPEAKER_00: but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.
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  SPEAKER_00: So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.
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  SPEAKER_00: In other words, Nicodemus, you need new life, a second birth.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's what it means.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's not something that you do.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's not of your will.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's not something that you muster.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's not something that you bring about by your power.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's something that God does.
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  SPEAKER_00: So to be born again means that God is at work.
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  SPEAKER_00: God is at work within you.
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  SPEAKER_00: To be born again means God is at work within you.
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  SPEAKER_00: And he will continue to be at work.
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  SPEAKER_00: In reality, being born again does not end, so to speak.
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  As I like to say it,
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  we are born again,
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  we are being born again,
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  and we will be born again.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's a process.
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  SPEAKER_00: We are saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved.
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  SPEAKER_00: God is doing it.
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  SPEAKER_00: God is transforming us and making us more like his sons.
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  SPEAKER_00: So here's the thing.
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  For those of you considering being born again or considering
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  becoming a follower of
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus,
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  SPEAKER_00: look away from yourself.
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  SPEAKER_00: And even if you have been a Christian,
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  SPEAKER_00: like a follower of Jesus Christ for a while,
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  SPEAKER_00: but your Christianity,
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  SPEAKER_00: it feels dead because it's all about religion.
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  It's all about religion because we think that it's about what
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  we do for God that
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  SPEAKER_00: makes us beloved of God,
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  SPEAKER_00: but it's far from it.
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  SPEAKER_00: So look away from yourself, seek from God what he alone can do for you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Moral improvement of the old you is not what you need.
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  SPEAKER_00: New life is what you need.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is radical and it is supernatural.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is outside of our control.
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  SPEAKER_00: The dead do not give themselves new life.
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  We must be born again,
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  not of the will of the flesh,
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  nor of the will of man,
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  but of God.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is what John wrote in John 1.30.
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  Being born again is not of the will of the flesh,
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  of the will of man,
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  but of God.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is what Jesus commanded of us and from all nations of the world.
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  SPEAKER_00: God has commanded you, you must be born again.
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  SPEAKER_00: And this is an invitation to be a part of a supernatural work.
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  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to this episode.
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  SPEAKER_00: If you find it helpful,
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  SPEAKER_00: kindly subscribe,
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  SPEAKER_00: follow,
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  and share this podcast with family and friends or whomever you
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  think might find
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  SPEAKER_00: this helpful.
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  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, I remain your host, OO Living.