We were born with a sin nature, and our own goodness is as filthy rags compared to God’s holiness. Without Jesus, we cannot come into God’s presence and live.
If we were baptized as infants, we were dedicated to the Lord, but at that time we had not heard the Word, conviction of sin had not been worked in our hearts, and we had not confessed Jesus as Savior and as the Lord of our lives. Our parents said these words for us. Also, if baptized as infants, we were not immersed (the correct meaning of baptizo) in water. At some point the baptized person must make those declarations for him/herself. In denominational churches, those declarations are made in the rite of confirmation (confirming of baptismal vows taken for you by parents), but for many children they are just words, and the necessary heart change, which can only be worked by the Holy Spirit, has not yet taken place.
People who have gone through this process are all too often not interested in reading the Bible, find church either comforting or boring in its ritual and possibly entertaining if they like the music. Many drop off in church attendance and have little or no desire towards the things of God; these do not spend time in daily devotion and prayer, and they cannot articulate or comprehend a personal relationship with Jesus. Starved of God’s spiritual food, they are not offended by the secular culture. They do not understand what Jesus came to do for them, they do not heed God’s calling in their lives, and they either do not perceive or they run from the spiritual gifts and callings He has prepared for them. Finally, they have little or no power to resist the temptation to sin
Other people coming out of the traditional church, having been sprinkled as infants, grow up proud of their particular church and its denomination. Without the baptism of the Holy Spirit however, many of these are susceptible to derailment by a religious or control spirit. These believe there is power in their rituals and that they are superior to other believers in some way. They have a form of religion but no real power. They have not “heard” the Holy Spirit speaking to them and generally believe that those who claim to hear from the Lord are either religious fanatics or are deceived. These folks do not understand what Jesus came to do for them, and they may not properly understand God’s calling in their life or the spiritual gifts He has prepared for them. They refrain from some obvious categories of sin with a self-righteous and prideful spirit.
Both of the above-described groups are apt to consider any more than an hour in church on Sunday to be too long. Spiritually both groups are in danger and are in a perpetual state of spiritual starvation.
The heart change that occurs when we are truly born again MUST happen at some point in our lives for us to enter the Kingdom of God. This may happen when one is still a child or may not be until decades later. Jesus says that we must be “born again” because that is when the great exchange takes place. Many do not fully comprehend that great exchange.
As the Holy Spirit works the new birth in us, Jesus trades His righteousness for our sin. He gives us His live to live in exchange for ours. He gives us a new past, present and future for the trash of our pasts. He gives us citizenship in the Kingdom of God as He becomes sin for us. He writes our names in the Lamb’s Book of Life and makes us ambassadors for His Kingdom.
When all this takes place, we become hungry for God’s Word. We understand passages of the Bible as we never did before. We desire to please the Lord and walk in His ways. We have a new attitude toward people, desiring to act on their behalf and being slow to anger or offense. We progress in this walking in His love as He continually cleanses us of self-focus. We become His disciples – people who sit at Jesus feet studying to become ever more like Him. As God’s ambassadors, we claim territory for God everywhere we walk.
The Kingdom of God is the dominion and operation of God in Heaven (where it is total and unopposed) and on earth (where it resides in His people and works to His glory). Except for where God’s people operate, satan still has dominion – human beings gave up their God-given dominion over the earth when Adam and Eve fell. Jesus retrieved that dominion for us when He died a sinless being, went to hell to get it back, and rose from the dead to give it to us through His Holy Spirit. God’s Word says, “unless you be born again, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” We enter the Kingdom of God by having become the righteousness of God in Christ through faith in His atoning blood. This is not accomplished merely by a sprinkling of water as an infant and later offering mental assent to Jesus’ existence, death and resurrection.
To walk in love, our gifts and callings and in the power of believers’ authority, we must understand. Here is a partial list:
Set Free seeks to know the truth of these matters, believing that the truth will set us free to fulfill Jesus’ vision and mission for His people and hasten His soon return.