Security in life comes from living right, not being right. This is why Jesus directs us to the command, “Be Born Again (John 3:3).” When someone redeems life and lives right with God and others, the outcome is confidence where anxiety and arrogance are crucified and given new birth to where Christian Character Counts.
The term “born again” freaks out many people, but please understand it is a symbol or representation of redemption, and an identification of redemption is restoring something to its original intent or purpose. This is critical to understand and can not be understood as rehabilitation! It’s not about fixing up or cleaning up life. Redemption is about the total death of old attitudes and beliefs, starting all over again with a spiritual new birth or life to establish trust in the confidence of God.
The invitation is open to all people, but the kicker is they, and only they, are the ones who must choose to do so. All people are born into the human race; however, no one is entirely human until they consciously accept the invitation to be eternally redeemed spiritually. It’s the spiritual development path that brings you, God’s creation, back to how it was supposed to be, confident and relying on God the Father, Son, and Spirit entirely rather than humans who can only give partial security, if that.
The way to integrate your physical life with a newborn eternal reality parallels with how life ideally begins biologically, with a trusting, open, unashamed, and safe relationship. Spiritually for a person, this starts with the first command of Jesus, “Repent” (see devotion: Christian Character Counts - Humility). From there, you ask God into your mind, heart, and body to saturate the seed of your soul to receive eternal power to put to death your old spirit. This is giving birth to a new life. Here is where Christ's character trait of confidence ignites in you because you are fully trusting in his ways, truth, and life (John 14:6). This is God’s reality and certainty (faith) to redeem and resurrect a new life in time to experience His kingdom on earth until our reality is with Him ideally in Eternity.
As the Apostle Paul shared, we all missed the “mark,” a biblical term for sin. This means we all have to go through a rebirth and a regrowing-up process, but this time it’s with a choice of life and family. The new family is God’s family, the body of Christ with confidence at the root with a new Christ-like attitude ready to be redeemed through the spiritual process or what is known as salvation. Here we get all the things we missed out on with the physical birth, the belief that a happy, successful, and fulfilled life can exist whatever life throws our way, where Christian Character Counts. This is God's greatest blessing, confidence, where we get to live right rather than be right.
Until our next lesson on “Meekness.”
Cheers!