THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BEING A CHRISTIAN #1<\/p>\n
“A PERSON REBORN”<\/p>\n
INTRODUCTION:<\/strong><\/p>\n A. When it comes right down to it, what does it really mean to be a Christian?<\/p>\n 1. There are many different views in our world today<\/p>\n 2. But, of course, the Bible view is the only correct view<\/p>\n<\/p>\n B. “Christian” occurs three times in the New Testament<\/p>\n 1. Acts 11:26 … new relationship of the Christian is in view<\/p>\n 2. Acts 26:28 … new character of the Christian is in view<\/p>\n 3. 1 Peter 4:16 … new way of life of the Christian is in view<\/p>\n C. Obviously, a person could not really be a Christian without knowing the steps he took to become one.<\/p>\n 1. Hearing …Romans 10:17<\/p>\n 2. Believing …John 8:24<\/p>\n 3. Repenting …Luke 13:3<\/p>\n 4. Confessing …Roman 10:9-10<\/p>\n 5. Baptism …1 Peter 3:21<\/p>\n D. It is important for Christians to grow in their understanding of the real significance of what they did when they became a Christian<\/p>\n 1. For instance, Christians are those who have “trusted” in Christ, having heard “the word of truth” (Eph. 1:13)<\/p>\n 2. Christians are those who have obediently “received the word of God” (1 The. 2:13)<\/p>\n 3. Christians are those who have been “enlightened,” have “tasted of the heavenly gift,” have become “partakers of the Holy Ghost,” and have “tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come” (Heb. 6:4-5).<\/p>\n E. Questions like these ought to be asked and meditated on:<\/p>\n 1. What did I do? What did I receive? What are the implications and consequences of what I have done? What happened to me?<\/p>\n 2. What have I become? What is different about me? What is the meaning, significance, importance, and value of becoming a Christian? What am I now to do?<\/p>\n F. These matter have much to do with the Christian’s sense of identity.<\/p>\n 1. We will not be successful as Christians without have the right “slant” on ourselves<\/p>\n 2. We need the peace and strength of an accurate self-understanding, a healthy sense of personal worth. “Our greatest need is to be – not simply to have.”<\/p>\n 3. Overcoming temptation requires an adequate perspective on self. Who am I and why am I here?<\/p>\n 4. A distorted self-image will cause us to project a distorted picture of Christianity to outsiders<\/p>\n a. Misunderstands are prevalent about religion and about those who are religious<\/p>\n b. The world desperately needs more people who genuinely are Christians – and genuinely understand what that means.<\/p>\n DISCUSSION:<\/strong><\/p>\n A. A NEW LIFE<\/p>\n 1. The Christian needs to think of his life as a “new” life<\/p>\n a. Romans 6:4<\/p>\n b. 2 Corinthians 5:17<\/p>\n 2. The newness is not physical, but spiritual – it has to do with the “inward man” … 2 Corinthians 4:16<\/p>\n 3. The character of this inner man is the most important thing that distinguishes one human being from another<\/p>\n a. Alexander the Great, seeing Diogenes looking attentively at a parcel of human bones, asked the philosopher what he was looking for. Diogenes replied, That which I cannot find – the difference between your father’s bones and those of his salves.<\/p>\n b. Ecclesiastes 9:2-3, 11-12<\/p>\n 1) Solomon is troubled as he views death – he sees that it comes to all, whether rich or poor, good or bad<\/p>\n 2) He sees that death comes unexpectedly – to the rich and to the poor<\/p>\n 3) We see then is there is something much more important to be concerned with than physical life – it is the new life enjoyed in Christ<\/p>\n 4. The Christian values the renewal of his thinking<\/p>\n a. Romans 12:2<\/p>\n b. “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind” (Eph. 4:23)<\/p>\n 5. In effect, the Christian is a “new creation”<\/p>\n a. Galatians 6:15 … “new creature”<\/p>\n b. Ephesians 2:10 … “created”<\/p>\n B. A NEW PERSON<\/p>\n 1. We are a “new person” because we have been “born again.” The “born again” person is not special kind of Christian – if a person is a Christian at all he has experienced the new birth<\/p>\n a. John 3:3-6<\/p>\n b. Titus 3:5<\/p>\n c. The Christian has been born to a new hope by the word of God … 1 Peter 1:3, 23<\/p>\n 2. In the new birth we are brought from death to life<\/p>\n a. The Christian is “alive” in the truest sense<\/p>\n 1) John 5:24-25<\/p>\n 2) Romans 6:3-11, 23<\/p>\n 3) Colossians 2:12-13<\/p>\n b. “Eternal life” can be thought of in both a present and future sense<\/p>\n 1) Titus 1:2 … there is “hope of eternal life”<\/p>\n 2) 1 John 5:13 … “ye have eternal life”<\/p>\n 3. In the new birth we are brought from darkness to light<\/p>\n a. Acts 26:18<\/p>\n b. Ephesians 5:8<\/p>\n c. Colossians 1:13<\/p>\n 4. The new birth places us in Christ<\/p>\n a. Galatians 3:27<\/p>\n b. Romans 8:1<\/p>\n C. A NEW LOYALTY<\/p>\n 1. The Christian is indeed a “converted” person<\/p>\n a. 1 Thessalonians 1:9<\/p>\n b. Conversion inherently involves change – that is, change for the better. When change is successful, we look back and call it growth<\/p>\n c. Without genuine conversion, including repentance, “Christianity” is meaningless<\/p>\n 1) Matthew 4:17<\/p>\n 2) Romans 6:16-18<\/p>\n d. By God’s grace, the convert to Christ has won a crucial victory – but he needs to continue to make good that victory … 2 Peter 2:20-22<\/p>\n 2. The Christian’s conversion is to Christ and His will<\/p>\n a. Colossians 3:1-4, 16<\/p>\n b. Christians are activated by new values – Philippians 3:4-8<\/p>\n c. Christians decide their conduct by a new criteria … Ephesians 5:17<\/p>\n 3. Christ lives in the Christian<\/p>\n a. Galatians 2:20<\/p>\n b. The “old man” has disappeared, and the “new man” has taken his place … Romans 6:5-8<\/p>\n 4. The Christian’s new loyalty to Christ is a matter of loving devotion<\/p>\n a. Matthew 15:8-9 … lacking in true devotion<\/p>\n b. Matthew 22:37-38<\/p>\n CONCLUSION:<\/strong><\/p>\n A. The Christian is indeed a person reborn. He has reason to think of himself as “blessed” (Eph. 1:3)<\/p>\n B. The experience of becoming and being a Christian fixes one’s attention on the glorious future …<\/p>\n 1. Philippians 3:12-14<\/p>\n 2. The word hope takes on a whole new meaning<\/p>\n 3. 2 Corinthians 5:17<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sermon on the New Birth THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BEING A CHRISTIAN #1 “A PERSON REBORN” INTRODUCTION: A. When it comes right down to it, what does it really mean to be a Christian? 1. There are many different views in our world today 2. But, of course, the Bible view is the only correct view … Continue reading “Sermon on the New Birth – A Person Reborn – Bible Outlines”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43338\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}