Two Minutes With The Bible

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Spiritual Understanding
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Honest, prayerful study of the Word brings us to spiritual maturity and understanding. But does it not require superior intellectual powers to understand these “deep things of God”? No indeed. Superior intellects among unsaved men are unable to appreciate even the “simple” truths of the Word, for “they are spiritually discerned” (I Cor. 2:14). And as to the “mystery” made known to Paul by the glorified Lord, the Apostle declares that it is now “revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (Eph. 3:5).

The mystery is not merely something more difficult to grasp intellectually, for the Apostle specifically states that it is “not the wisdom of this world” but “the wisdom of God” (I Cor. 2:6,7), and that only by the Spirit of God can it be understood and appreciated. This explains why many of the humblest believers rejoice in the mystery and understand it so clearly, while so many great theologians and religious leaders fail to grasp it and keep confusing it with God’s prophesied program regarding the kingdom of Christ.

The mystery is not “hard to be understood” because men are slow of mind to understand, but because they are “slow of heart to believe,” because the devil, who “hath blinded the minds of them that believe not” also seeks to keep God’s people from seeing and rejoicing in the truth of the mystery with its riches of grace, its “one body” and its “one baptism.” This is why the Apostle prayed so fervently that the believers to whom he ministered might be given “spiritual understanding” to take in the glorious message he was commissioned to proclaim (See Eph. 1:16-19; Col. 1:9,10).

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The Christ Bell
by Anonymous


I KNOW WHO I AM
I am God’s child (Rom. 8:16)
I am a light in the world (Phil. 2:15)
I am sealed by God (II Cor. 1:21-22)
I am bought with a price (I Cor. 6:19,20)
I am a saint (set apart for God) (Eph. 1:1)
I am a personal witness of Christ (Acts 22:15)
I have peace with God through Christ (Rom. 5:1)
I have been saved in order to bear fruit (Rom. 7:4)
I am a member of the Body of Christ (I Cor. 12:27)
I am a citizen of Heaven living on earth (Phil. 3:20)
I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8:31-34)
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realm (Eph. 2:6)
I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18.)
I am a minister of reconciliation for God (II Cor. 5:17-21)
I cannot be separated from the love of God (Rom. 8:35-39)
I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28.)
I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3:12)
I have been crucified with Christ and He liveth in me (Gal. 2:20)
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)
I am God’s temple (I Cor. 6:19). I am complete in Christ (Col. 2:10)
I have been justified (Rom. 3:24). I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3)
I am God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works (Eph. 2:10)
I am confident that the good work God has begun in me will be perfected (Phil. 1:6)
I am redeemed and forgiven (Col. 1:14). I have been adopted as God’s child (Eph. 1:5)
I belong to God. Do you know. Who you are?

Without Christ you are blind and lost (II Cor. 4:3,4), but the good news is, God loves you and Christ died to pay for your sins (I Cor. 15:3,4). The only question is, do you believe He died to pay for your sins, or are you still trying to pay for them in your own way, by doing good works? God says, “to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Rom. 4:5). Why not “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”(Acts 16:31).

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The Secret Of Spiritual Victory
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Believers in Christ have been made “free from sin” by grace (Rom. 6:14,18.) in the sense that they need not, indeed, should not, yield to sin when temptation arises (Rom. 6:12,13). Believers have also been made “free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2) for Christ, in grace, bore the death penalty for them.

But no believer is free from what Paul calls “the law of sin which is in my members” (Rom. 7:23), that is, the old Adamic nature, with its inherent tendency to do wrong. Nor is he free from the conflict with the new nature which this involves. If the Christian would be truly spiritual and deal in a scriptural way with the sin that indwells him, he must clearly recognize its presence; he must face the fact that while, thank God, he is no longer “in sin”, sin is still in him.

But this conflict should not discourage us, for it is one of the true signs of salvation. It is unknown to the unbeliever, for only the additional presence of the new nature, along with the old, causes this conflict, for the Bible says about these two natures: “these are contrary the one to the other” (Gal. 5:17).

But not only is this conflict within the believer a sure sign of salvation; it also creates within him a deep and necessary sense of our inward imperfection and of the infinite grace of a holy God in saving us and ministering to us daily in helping us to overcome sin. And this in turn gives us a more understanding approach as we proclaim to the lost “the gospel of the grace of God”.

Paul’s epistles show clearly that there is nothing that will so help us to overcome sin and live pleasing to God as an understanding and an appreciation of what He has done for us in Christ. As we are occupied with these “things of the Spirit” we find ourselves “walking in the Spirit”, and Galatians 5:16 says: “WALK IN THE SPIRIT, AND YE SHALL NOT FULFIL THE LUST OF THE FLESH”. How much better to have our lives transformed by occupation with Christ (II Cor. 3:18.) and our position and blessings in the heavenlies with Him (Col. 3:1-3), than to assume the hopeless task of trying to improve the “old nature”; always engaged in introspection; always occupied with the flesh!

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Sealed With The Spirit
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the Word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise” (Eph. 1:13).

Most careful commentaries of the Bible make it clear that the words “after that,” in the above passage, actually have an immediate result in view. Upon hearing (or heeding) we believed, and upon believing we were sealed with the Spirit.

What is perhaps even more important to note, is the fact that upon believing “the gospel of… salvation,” we are “sealed with” the “Holy Spirit,” not “by” the Spirit. There is a difference between the two, which can be simply illustrated.

Here is a housewife, let us say, who is “putting up” jam or preserves and sealing each jar with wax. Now, the jars are being sealed by the woman, but she is sealing them with wax. Thus the Holy Spirit does not merely cause believers to be sealed and made secure. Rather He Himself is the Seal that keeps us eternally secure as God’s beloved children. We are sealed, not “by the Spirit,” but “with the Spirit,” — the Spirit Himself the Seal!

It is wonderful indeed to know that before the bar of God, the simplest believer in Christ has been fully justified (Acts 13:38,39). But this is a court action, a matter of law and justice. Besides this, the Spirit, who first brought the sinner under conviction, now gives him life — eternal life. This is why Rom. 8:2 tells us that “the law of the Spirit, [that] of life in Christ Jesus, hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Thank God for the Spirit, who convicts, regenerates and seals every believer in Christ!

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What Grace Is
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Never let the devil deceive you into supposing that God planned sin as “a gracious means to a glorious end,” for then salvation from sin would be simple justice, not grace. No, you cannot legitimately charge God with your sin. It is to the guilty, the undeserving, far and wide, that God offers “the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7).

There are two significant phrases in Eph. 2 which shed clear light upon the character, the nature, of grace. They are found in Verses 2 and 3, which speak of the unsaved as “children [Gr., huiois, full-grown sons] of disobedience” and “children [Gr., tekna, born ones] of wrath.”

Meditate for a moment on these phrases: “Children of disobedience” and “children of wrath.”It is against this dark, black background of deserved wrath, that we read further:

    “BUT GOD, who is RICH IN MERCY, for His GREAT LOVE wherewith He loved us,

    “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us [given us life] together with Christ (BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED),

    “And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

    “That in the ages to come He might show THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARD US THROUGH CHRIST JESUS” (Eph. 2:4-7).

Somehow it takes a load off one’s heart and mind to come to the end of his rope, as it were, and admit that he is a sinner, deserving God’s wrath. How sweet to the ears of such is the wonderful message of redemption by grace, through the finished work of Christ at Calvary. We were all the “children [full-grown sons] of disobedience”: and therefore “by nature the children [born ones] of wrath”: “But God!” When hope seemed gone, He intervened and now offers salvation to all by grace, through faith.

    “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

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Enemies Reconciled To God
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “When we were enemies” (Rom. 5:10).

Think of it! God has good news for us even in our willfulness, our enmity against Him! “When we were enemies”, says Paul, “We were reconciled to God by the death of His Son”.

Here we can almost hear some reader object: “Of all things, don’t charge me with being an enemy of God. I’m a religious person, I go to church regularly, I even give to the church”. Ah, but God does not say that the unsaved are not religious. Perhaps 999 out of 1,000 are religious. The point is that by your ungodly, sinful life, and certainly by rejecting God’s gift of salvation, you have made yourself an enemy of God. You may not be an enemy against the “God” you have conjured up in your won mind, but you are certainly an enemy against God, the God of the Bible.

But despite all this God still sends His ambassadors out to offer reconciliation to all His enemies everywhere — “by the death of His Son”. Think of it! We who believe are reconciled to God, not by some effort or payment offered by us to placate God, but “by the death of HIS Son”. He bore the enmity as His own creatures mocked Him, spat in His face and nailed Him to a tree. This is grace indeed! And this is not all, for the whole passage reads:

    “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

    “And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement [Lit., reconciliation]” (Rom. 5: 10,11).

The argument of this passage is that if, as His enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more “being reconciled”, we may be assured that our living Savior will keep us safe. And not only are believers safe in Christ, but all the while we “joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received”, not only help in our helplessness, or the forgiveness of our sins, but “the reconciliation”, by which we are brought nigh to God and experience His love toward us.

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True Revival
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


In the days of Ezra the prophet, Israel was in much the same state as the Church today. Happily, however, some of the leaders became convicted that they had been neglecting the Word of God — especially that part which was addressed to them: the law of Moses.

As a result they built for Ezra a pulpit on which to stand and read the Scriptures to the people (Neh. 8:4). “From morning until midday” he read to them, while others mingled with the audience and “caused the people to understand.”

    “So they read in the book, in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense,” with the result that “all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions [gifts], and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them” (Vers. 8,12).

Similarly, after our Lord had explained the Scriptures to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, they said to each other:

    “Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32).

Well-meaning groups and individuals have for decades been praying in vain for a true spiritual revival in the Church, but the only sure road to revival is a renewed interest in the Bible, and especially in what God there says to us in the Epistles of Paul.

When we become convicted of our neglect of God’s Word to us as found in the Epistles of Paul; when men of God “study” to “rightly divide” the Word and begin teaching it from the pulpit, a great spiritual revival will inevitably follow but, alas, most of God’s people are too complacent, too satisfied with a shallow profession to enter into this blessed experience. However, as we study the Word of God for ourselves, and especially that part of His Word which applies particularly to us, we, like the Israelites of Ezra’s day, will experience the joy of understanding God’s love letter to us.

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God's Faithfulness And Ours
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Many people suppose that salvation is God’s reward to those who do their best to live good lives. This is not so, for God’s Word says of those who are saved:

    “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (II Tim. 1:9).

Referring to this “salvation which is in Christ Jesus,” St. Paul says:

    “It is a faithful saying, for if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him” (II Tim. 2:10,11).

In other words: The believer, viewing Calvary aright, has “died with Christ.” Viewing the Cross, he has said: “This is not Christ’s death. He was no sinner. He had no death to die. He is dying my death!” And so by faith he is “crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20). The penalty for all his sins has been fully paid, for he died — in Christ, and thus has also risen with Christ “to walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:3,4).

This is all God’s doing, and only now is the believer in a position to do good works that will please God. Thus the Apostle writes of believers, in II Tim. 2: “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us” (Ver. 12). When the believer’s service for Christ is reviewed some, indeed, will “receive a reward,” but others will “suffer loss,” though they themselves will “be saved, yet so as by fire” (I Cor. 3:14,15).

It will be deeply embarrassing, in that day, for unfaithful Christians to face empty-handed the One who gave His all, Himself, to save them. Yet salvation is by grace, thus the Apostle hastens to conclude his statement in II Timothy 2, with the words:

    “If we are unfaithful, yet He abideth faithful: He cannot deny Himself” (Ver. 13)

Thus our rewards as believers depend upon our faithfulness, but our salvation, thank God, on His!

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Your Labor Is Not In Vain in the Lord -- Or Is It?
by Pastor Ricky Kurth


    “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (I Cor. 15:58.).

Many years ago, my good friend Pastor John Fredericksen gave me a plaque engraved with this text, a plaque that sits on my desk here at Berean Bible Society to this day. As I labor for the Lord, it is such an encouragement to me to know that, no matter what, my labor is not in vain in the Lord.

But if that be so, why did Paul tell the Galatians,

    “Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain” (Gal. 4:10,11).

And what about what the apostle told the Philippians:

    “Do all things without murmurings and disputings…that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain” (Phil. 2:14-16).

And don’t we find the same thought in I Thessalonians 3:5?

    “…I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain.”

If it was possible that Paul’s labor for the Lord might have been in vain, how could he tell the Corinthians that their labor could not be? How could the labor of a godly apostle be in vain, but not the labor of the carnal Corinthians?

We believe the answer is found in the context of the verse, where right before telling the Corinthians that their labor was not in vain, Paul spoke to them about the Rapture (I Cor. 15:51-57). In that day, when we stand before the Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ, no believer’s labor will be in vain, for all of our labor for Him will be richly rewarded.

And so it is that, if the Galatians persisted in their legalism, if the Philippians continued to do things with murmurings and disputings, if the Thessalonians abandoned the faith, Paul’s labor among them would have been in vain in this life, but not in the next life! And if you are feeling discouraged about your labor for the Lord because people whom you have led to Him have departed from the faith, or believers to whom you’ve introduced the grace message have turned their back on that blessed truth, you too can rejoice that your labor is not in vain in the Lord!

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The Christian Home
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15).

There is no place in all this world so wholesome and refreshing as a Christian home, a home where Christ is truly loved and honored.

This writer was brought up in such a home. There were ten of us: dad, mother and eight children. There was lots going on all the time, but a truly happy home it was, for dad and mother never let us get so busy with temporal things that we brushed eternal values aside.

On the basis that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4), we read some small portion of the Bible before every meal, and had family devotions before retiring at night.

Result: all eight children have blessed the dear dad and mother who led them aright, morally and spiritually, and best of all, taught them the importance of trusting in the Savior who died for all our sins. More: five of the children and many of the grandchildren have given themselves for full time Christian service, and have become pastors, college deans, Christian writers and missionaries in various parts of the world.

This is not because we are one whit better than others, but because we have experienced the help and grace of God in our lives. And it all began as, one day, a young American, like Joshua of old, came to a decision and declared:

    “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

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Who's To Blame?
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


This writer was a bit irked, recently, to read the following paragraph in one of our leading Chicago newspapers:

“Professional thieves and joy-ride-happy teen-agers are not to blame for most auto thefts. It’s true that they are the ones who do the stealing — but the careless motorist must bear the blame… When not in use, cars should be locked.”

Just think this through: More than 1,000 cars stolen every day throughout the nation, but those who steal them should not be blamed — the owners should be blamed for not making it impossible for the thief to steal his car!

Man has always been a master at “blame shifting.” Adam said to God, in effect: “It’s not my fault; it’s that woman you gave me.” Eve said: “Don’t blame me. The serpent deceived me,” and ever since, the descendants of the first couple have been adept at shifting the blame.

But now it’s getting so that the courts defend and protect the criminals and even blame the innocent for not making it impossible for the criminal to act! It is a shame that we have to lock our cars against theft — and it is a stigma on our society. Some judges don’t see it that way, but God does. Read Romans 2:2:

    “But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who commit such things.”

We may all be grateful, though, that it was the very justice — as well as the love — of God, that caused Him to take on Himself human form and pay for our sins at Calvary. God cannot overlook sin, yet He loves the sinner. This is why He paid for all our sins at Calvary, and this, too, is why we may now be “justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

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A Christian Obligation
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Three times in Rom. 1:14-16, the Apostle Paul uses the phrase “I am,” and each one carries an important message for every true believer in Christ.

First he says in Verse 14: “I am debtor” — debtor to all men, to tell them about the saving work of Christ. But why was he indebted to people he had never even seen? For several reasons.

First, he had in his hand what they needed to be saved from the penalty and power of sin. If I see a drunkard lying across the railroad track and I do nothing about it, am I not a murderer if he is killed by the train? If I see a man drowning and I have a life buoy in my hand but do not throw it to him, am I not a murderer if he goes down for the last time? If I see millions of lost souls about me and, knowing the message of salvation, do not tell them, am I not guilty if they die without Christ?

Further, Paul felt himself a debtor to others, because the Christ who had died for his sins had also died for the sins of others. As he says in II Cor. 5:14,15: “Christ died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto Him who died for them and rose again.”

Finally, the Christ who had died for Paul’s sins, had commissioned him to tell others of His saving grace. Thus he says in I Cor. 9:16,17:

    “Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel! For… a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.”

Paul could say further what every true believer should be able to say: Not, “I am debtor, but,” but rather, “I am debtor… So, as much as in me is I am ready” (Rom. 1:15). He was ready to discharge his debt because he had that with which to discharge it — the wonderful “gospel of the grace of God.” And he did indeed make this message known to others with all that was in him.

And now the third “I am”: “I am debtor… so I am ready… for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…” (Ver. 16). Paul was always proud to own Christ as the mighty Savior from sin. Do you know Christ as your Savior? Do you tell others about Him?

[nChrist]

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Rescued!
by Pastor Paul M. Sadler


I am sure we have all stood breathless as we have watched rescue efforts being undertaken by daring men.  One of the more memorable rescues of late has been that of little Jessica McClure from a well shaft in Texas.  Jessica had accidentally fallen into an abandoned well shaft and was trapped for two and one-half days without food or water.  With her fragile life hanging in the balance, rescue workers labored tirelessly around the clock to free that precious little soul from danger.  The heroic efforts of those men and women will be remembered for many years to come.  After all, they saved a life.

Another rescue effort that is above all others and deserves our special attention is when God rescued us from the depths of iniquity.  Ever since the Fall all of us have staggered under the terrible penalty of sin; sin, that would have sunk a world to the blackness of hell forever.  But, while we were under the sentence of condemnation God undertook the greatest rescue effort this world has ever known.

THE BLOOD OF CHRIST

    “In whom we have redemption through His blood…” (Eph. 1:7).

It is important to notice Paul’s emphasis here on the person of Christ as he uses phrases such as “In Whom” and “His blood.”  Why did God send His only begotten Son to redeem us?  Why didn’t He call on someone from the human race?  You see, one from the human race could never save us because sin has condemned the entire race.  The testimony of Scripture is true, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).  I could not possibly die for your sins, because I have sins of my own that placed me under the sentence of death.  I could not redeem you nor could you redeem me, because we are all in the same boat and it is sinking from the weight of our iniquity.

Understanding that the “wages of sin is death,” we conclude that death had absolutely no claims on Christ.  But who is this hanging on the Cross writhing in the agony of pain?  Why, it is the form of one dying, whose visage is marred beyond recognition—dying for us!  To our amazement, it is God’s only begotten Son!  But this cannot be.  He knew no sin; death cannot claim this Holy One of God!  True, except for the fact that He was not dying for His own sins, but rather, for our transgressions.  Our sins were transferred to Christ and the wrath of God fell upon His Son who voluntarily died our death.

So then, we have redemption through Christ’s shed blood.  Spiritually speaking, His precious blood cleanses us from the disease of sin that plagues us.  Christ was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

HOW TO BE SAVED

Have you submitted yourself to God’s wonderful rescue operation?  Dear sinner friend, won’t you come to Calvary?  It was there that God reconciled the world to Himself.  In His infinite love He provided a plan of salvation based on the precious shed blood of His Son.  Please bear in mind that, “you must come to Christ in God’s way!”  He will not accept your good works, church membership, baptism or confirmation.  If these things could save us, then Christ died in vain.  It was because these things were not acceptable in themselves that God sent His Son to earth to die for the sins of the world.

Lay hold of the Savior, for only He can rescue you from eternal condemnation and bring you safely to the shores of eternal life.  Simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that He died for your sins, was buried and rose again the third day (I Cor. 15:1-4).

Do you have questions about your salvation?  Contact us using our Ask A Question page and we would love to share with you more about what God’s Word has to say.

This article is also available as a tract from our bookstore.

[nChrist]

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The Visiting Preacher
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Paul and Barnabas had seated themselves in the large synagogue in Pisidian Antioch. They were soon recognized as “clergymen,” however, for “after the reading of the law and the prophets” they were asked whether either of them might have some word of “exhortation” for those who had gathered.

These details are important, for as Moses, in giving the Law, had declared God’s moral standards, the prophets had for centuries challenged the people to obey the Law and had warned them of the dire consequences of breaking its commands. Hence, in the synagogues passages were generally read from the Law and the prophets, and the religious leaders would then “exhort” the people to heed the prophets and obey the Law.

Paul and Barnabas, the visiting preachers, therefore, were asked whether either of them had a “word of exhortation for the people.” Paul responded to the invitation but, rather than merely exhorting his hearers to keep the Law, he proclaimed Christ, who in love had died for all lawbreakers, closing with these words:

    “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38,39).

How we need this message today! We may forever exhort one another to keep the Law, but who of us has not already broken it? Let us thank God, then, that He is a loving Savior as well as a just Judge and that as God the Son He paid for our sins Himself at Calvary so that we might be “justified freely by His grace.”

    “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13).

    “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

[nChrist]

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Paul And The New Birth
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


The Pauline revelation leads us into glorious truths respecting both our position and experience as believers. Indeed, the new birth itself, as it takes place in the believer today, is directly related to the divine baptism by which Christ and the believer are made one.

How was Christ made one with mankind? He was baptized into the human race. He did not merely come to dwell with men. He became man. How? By being born into the race. Was this by natural birth? No, by supernatural birth. He was begotten of the Holy Spirit. But His baptism into the human race did not end with His birth and life on earth. So fully did He become one with man, that He even died man’s death on the accursed tree. He was baptized into death (Luke 12:50) and, as we now know, into our death.

And it is there, at the Cross, that we become one with Him. The moment one looks in faith to Calvary, acknowledging: “He is no sinner; I am the sinner. Christ is dying my death”; that moment he becomes one with Christ; baptized into the crucified, risen Lord Himself (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:26,27) not only positionally, in the reckonings of God, but exponentially, by the Spirit. And thus a new life is begotten.

By natural birth? No, by supernatural birth. Some hold that the Epistles of Paul do not teach the new birth, but this is an error. His familiar word teknon, generally translated simply “child” in our English Bibles, means literally, “born one.” And he uses this word with regard to our spiritual relationship to God.

Furthermore, the Apostle teaches the very truth of the new birth in Titus 3:5, where he says:

    “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost.”