The Holy Spirit in Conversion: Part 1

Memory Passage
For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Romans 8:3-4

Scripture Reading: John 3:5-6
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

Insights
"Birth and rebirth, both are the work of the Holy Spirit. Just as nothing can live biologically apart from the power of the Holy Spirit, so no man can come alive to God apart from the Spirit's work." -R. C. Sproul, The New Genesis

Insights
"When a man is converted to God, it is done in a moment. Regeneration is an instantaneous work. Conversion to God, the fruit of regeneration, occupies all our life, but regeneration itself is effected in an instant. A man hates God-- the Holy Spirit makes him love God... And all this is done, mark you, by the instantaneous supernatural influence of God the Holy Spirit working as he wills among the sons of men." "The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit," C .H. Spurgeon

Consider this!
Being born again equals a second Genesis, i.e. a new beginning. When something is started, we say that it is generated. If something is started again we say that it is regenerated. Regeneration for humans is a radical change into a new KIND of being. To be regenerated means we are changed from spiritually dead to God into spiritually alive in Christ.

Personal Reflection

1. Take a moment to make a contrasting list of who you were before the Spirit gave you new birth and who you are as a new being. Can you see the ways God has changed your heart from hating God to loving Him?
2. Do you believe that you are "dead" to the former ways of doing things and "alive" to spiritual things? How does believing the truth change the way you live?

Prayer
Lord God, my heart rejoices in my salvation. Surely what you have done for me in the moment of my new birth is too wonderful for me to understand. Grant to me all that is mine in Christ Jesus so that I may grow in the knowledge of Christ. Blessed be the name of the Lord, who has given His people salvation in Him. Amen.
 

Next: Part 2