Born Again Again

Recently, I was reminded by someone, how the Word has helped her through the years. I remember the first time many years ago when we had a conversation about God and salvation. There are many varied takes on what it means to be 'born again'. It is a popular expression. My friend had a lot of questions about salvation and the topic of the confession of sin came up. She was really scared that if she didn't confess her sins she'd never obtain salvation. God knows we all sin or miss the mark and he knows our hearts, but His wholeness and salvation is not about sin, it is about what we believe and who we look to for answers.

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

In Romans 10:9 Paul writes about salvation and never mentions sin. He uses the word 'confession' (homologeo -see link) which means 'to speak the same word'. God is the one to look to to settle the salvation question.

Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

When I was designing curriculum for school, I used to love sharing things that worked with others. I loved it when they believed in what I was doing, used it and it worked for them too. What if instead those people shook their heads and began confessing how they had missed it and started crying about all the mistakes they had made? Why in the world would I want people to tell me what they were doing wrong? God is omniscient, he doesn't need us to tell Him what we are doing wrong. Repentance involves a change of mind in forward motion toward the high calling of God. People who lock into that mind-set tend to leave sin-consciousness behind.

There are religious people who believe that people need to be broken back before they can ever obtain salvation. That is not humility. That is about control. The true God does not control. Humility is freely committing to God's curriculum, not crying ones eyes out at the altar. God's curriculum is found in His Word. God committed Himself to His Word and that is where we find out about Jesus Christ. We love God because he first loved us. We are drawn to him because of love not because of sin. 

God desires success for our lives beyond what we can ever imagine. Jesus Christ is the key and represents the power that is ours when we recognize his lordship and utilize the same power that got Jesus Christ up at the resurrection.

My friend believed Romans 10:9 many years ago. God is a part of her life and her family's and it is evident. Why would we want to offer any less to people?