Welcome to “Learning and Living the God-centered life” Carmel Baptist Church www.learningandlivingtheword.com February 1, 2009 (Intro notes)

Read John 2:23-3:10 As we have launched into 2009 I ask you to consider the following question that comes from Matthew 7:13-14; Are you on the broad road that leads to destruction or are you on the narrow way that leads to life? And in essence what I have done is to put up my hand and say before you answer that question allow me to ask you another question. Is the direction of your spiritual life being manifested in the ongoing obedience to God’s word?

And again holding up my hand before you answer I am asking you this question; Have you REPENTED and BELIEVED? By repent I mean to turn from sin, so that the sin that you used to enjoy and embrace you now hate and and are convicted when it occurs in your life. Believe in that you have cast your self on the mercy of the Christ and have received Him as Lord and Savior to the point where He is now your prize and treasure. This has now become the direction of your Christian life.

And yes with my hand still up I am asking you from John Chapter 3 based on the discussion that Jesus had with Nicodemus; Have you been born again? Because if a man has not been born again he can not enter the kingdom of God. Or you could say it in the following way Unless a man is born again he can’t and won’t repent and believe and therefore he will not live his life under the obedience of the word of God and therefore will remain on a broad road that leads to destruction.

Born again talk can be unsettling to people because this means it is not something that you do but must be something that is done to you. Therefore in the American evangelical world it means that we can’t plan, establish, make happen, control or bring it about by any man-made device. So as we conclude our launch into 2009 I want to teach on 5 points regarding “born again” or the “new birth” or the doctrine of regeneration.