Give Rebirth its significance - Love Pulse Devotion
Love Pulse Devotion Guide by Sampson R. Ampiaw
Friday Morning Devotion, October 6, 2018
Give Rebirth its significance
Main Story : Titus 3:5-9
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. - John 3:5
Unlike the Catholics, Protestants have maintained that there are only two ordinances for the church, which were instituted by Christ Himself, and enjoined upon all His followers to the end. Baptism replaces circumcision as the act of initiation into the Church (Col 2:11,12). And the Lord's Supper succeeds to the passover.
Since baptism serves as a point of entry in symbolic description, we are often tempted when drawing the line between regeneration and this rite. Just as circumcision did not confer on Abraham the "righteousness of faith" but remained as "a sign"; for Abraham had already been justified by His belief in God (Romans 4:3), so of baptism. Baptism by itself does not wash away sin; neither it is a condition pre-required in order for a rebirth; it is as "a symbol" amplifying the fact that, for all believers, sin has been put away by the sacrificial death of Christ.
For us to inherit the kingdom of God, being born again is a non-negotiable. We are required for rebirth through water and the Spirit. The missing link is, when we attempt to substitute "water for baptism" with "water of purification" which is a spiritual act that the believer receives from the gospel and the blood shared for mankind, we misplace a very cardinal point in the transformation process. Prophet Ezekiel prophesied that by the sprinkling thereof God would cleanse His people from all their filthiness and from all their idols. You are born again if you first believe the message of Christ and the significant of his death on the cross, if you have given the Spirit a place in your heart, and pledged of a good conscience toward God as Peter put this (1 Peter 3:21). The true rebirth represents the righteousness of Christ. Hallelujah !
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for making me a new creation through your word and Spirit. Amen
Further Readings: Ezekiel 36:25-27, Psalms 51:7, 1 John 5:6-8
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