KICKSTART PACKAGE
THE NEW BIRTH Lesson Two
Welcome to lesson two of this Kickstart Package.
In the last lesson we talked about discipleship,
that we are disciples of Jesus, and a disciple is like an apprentice.
We talked about that we need to learn to live this amazing life,
the life we read about in the Book of Acts,
powerful life, the normal Christian life, a life with Jesus.
And that is a holy life. That is a life where we learn to be led by the Holy Spirit.
That is a life where we learn to preach the gospel,
where we learn to heal the sick and cast out demons.
In this lesson we are going to talk about what it is to be born again,
because you cannot live this life I talked about, if you are not born again.
I want to start with quoting one of the very famous verses in the Bible.
In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Paul is saying this:
"For I delivered to you as of the first importance what I have also received:
That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
that He was buried and that He rose up on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures." 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
And later we read in 2 Corinthians 5:21
"For our sake He (God) made Him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin,
so that in Him we (you and me) might become the righteousness of God."
This is the foundation. This is the cross. This is the center of Christianity -
that Jesus died on a cross, for you and me,
and that we (you and me) in Him can get a new life,
that we in Him can experience freedom - freedom from our sins.
In Him we can receive the righteousness that is from God.
This is the most important. This is the center. This is why we are here.
And it's not enough that you hear about it. It's not enough that you read about it.
It's not enough that you dream about it.
You, me, we - need to experience it.
We need to experience the new birth.
We need to experience this righteousness that is from God.
The gospel of Jesus is the good news. But...
...it is only life-changing for those who believe in it and those who experience it.
And it's only life-changing for those who experience the new birth -
those who are born again. Jesus is saying:
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again (or born from above)
he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3
When He said this, where He talked about being born again,
about seeing the Kingdom of God, about entering into the Kingdom of God,
He was saying this in John 3 to a guy called Nicodemus.
Nicodemus was the teacher in Israel. He was not just a teacher. He was the teacher.
He was a very, very smart man. He was a priest. He knew the Word.
He knew the Word. Like no one else understood the Word - He understood it, but...
He didn't understand this.
He didn't understand spiritual birth Jesus came with.
So Nicodemus asked Jesus a question. In John 3:4 Nicodemus said to Jesus: "How?"
Like, "How can a man be born when he's old?"
"He cannot enter into his mother's womb for the second time and be born."
Nicodemus did not understand it. He did not understand
that Jesus was not talking about being born again in the flesh,
like a new physical birth, but Jesus was talking about a different born again,
a different birth, a spiritual one.
And He continued saying: "Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born
(born spiritually) out of water and the spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
So, according to Jesus' words, for us to enter into the Kingdom of God,
we need to be born again with the spiritual birth,
a birth that is taking place out of water and spirit.
And therefore I wat to say to you - it is not enough...
it is not enough that you have a faith in God.
Demons believe in God. And there's people who believe in God,
but faith in God by itself will not save you.
It is not enough that you come in a church.
It is not enough that you think that you are good person.
It is not enough that you grew up in a Christian family.
All of this is not enough. You need to be born again.
You need to be born from above, out of water and spirit, as Jesus is saying.
And here the amazing life is starting.
This is where it starts. This is what transforms everything.
And before we are going to look at what the Bible says more about being born again
we want to look at the Bible. And I would like to as you a question.
I would like to ask you: Where in the Bible...
where in the Bible do we see the early church was preaching the gospel,
where in the Bible do we see how people responded to the gospel,
and how they got born again the same way you and me today need to be born again.
Where do we find that in the Bible?
Do we find that in the 39 books of the Old Testament?
The answer is: No.
Why don't we find that in the Old Testament - how people got born again? Why?
Because the Old Testament was all before the cross. We don't see that.
We don't see in the Old Testament the new birth Jesus was talking about.
Where do we then find it?
Do we find it in the four gospels, in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John?
Many people here would say: Yes, that makes sense,
because the gospel means the gospel, but the answer is: No.
You also don't find all of this in the gospels.
You do not find how people were getting born again like you and me need to
experience today in the gospels, because the four gospels:
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are also before the cross.
The four gospels was the time between the Old and the New Testament.
What do we see in the four gospels? We see things, we see that Jesus was preaching.
Jesus was preaching: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent and believe in the gospel!"
So Jesus was preaching that the time was near and people need to repent
and believe in the gospel. We read that in Mark 1:15.
But Jesus did not say: Repent, get baptized and you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit. Why? Because He could not do that at that time.
Because at that time Jesus was walking here on earth.
There was no baptism in the name of Jesus, to Christ.
There was no baptism with the Holy Spirit. Why?
Before it was all before the cross.
Jesus has not yet died on the cross, He has not yet got buried,
He has not yet rose up again, He has not yet ascended to heaven
and sent His Holy Spirit down here.
So that was why He preached: "Repent for the kingdom of God is near."
But He did not do what we read later, after the cross.
So no one, no one, no one in the four gospels got baptized to Jesus Christ.
No one in the four gospels received the gift of the Holy Spirit,
spoke in tongues, as we read after the cross.
So don't use the robber on the cross as an example.
I've heard many people say: "Oh, baptism is not important
because what about the robber on the cross?"
The robber on the cross did not get baptized. That is correct.
The robber on the cross did not get baptized. The woman at the well did not get baptized.
No one before the cross got baptized to Jesus Christ, but...
after the cross everything looked so different.
After the cross we saw everything come together.
So, when Jesus walked here on earth He could only say:
"Repent, for the kingdom of God is near!"
And then He could teach about it that we besides repentance,
need to be born again out of water and spirit.
So He could teach about it. He could talk about it,
but we could not see come together in the fullness.
We could first see that after the cross. And we see that in the Book of Acts.
So we see it in the Book of Acts, not in the 24 letters. Why?
Because the 24 letters we have in the Bible,
we have to understand that 24 letters were written to already believers.
So the 24 letters start with: To the church there, to the church there,
to the church there, to the believers there.
Those people wrote letters to already born again people.
They've already repented, they've already got baptized in water,
they've already received the Holy Spirit.
So the Book of Acts between the gospels and the letters
is actually the only book in the entire Bible
where we see how people, like you and me, got born again,
where we see how the early disciples were preaching the gospel
and how they responded to the gospel and how they repented,
got born again out of water and spirit.
The Book of Acts is where we see it and it's so amazing.
And the first time when we see it so clear, after the cross,
after the Holy Spirit came down here, is Acts 2:37.
In Acts 2 we read that the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit.
They stood up and the big group of people was gathered.
And people came together and they heard some of the things they were preaching.
And we read here in Acts 2:37:
"Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart,
and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles,
"Brothers, what shall we do?" (Acts, 2:37)
So here we see the early apostles, disciples, after the cross,
after the Holy Spirit poured out on the earth,
stood up for the first time, preaching about the Kingdom of God.
And they were preaching in a way so they were cut to the heart
and those people who listened, who heard what Peter and the rest
were saying, they asked: "What shall we do?"
And that is a really, really good question. That is a really, really important question.
When people ask: "What shall we do to get saved?
What shall we do to get born again?" What answer do we give?
In Acts 2:38 we can see the answer Peter gives to those people,
and that is the answer we see again, again and again
through the Book of Acts and what the Bible is saying.
So Peter said to them: "Repent and be baptized everyone of you
in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins
and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
This is the cross. Jesus died on the cross, He got buried and He rose up again.
Now we, you and me need to take up our cross and follow His example.
Now you and me need to die, like Jesus died.
We need to die for our sins, die to ourselves.
And then, like Jesus was buried, we need to bury the old life.
We need to bury the old life and that is what happens
when we get baptized to Christ. And like Jesus rose up,
we need to rise up in the new life, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
And it's really amazing. It's really beautiful when a person is getting born again.
When a person sees their sins and turn away from their sins,
die to themselves and then bury the old life in baptism
and stand up again and receive the Holy Spirit.
And it's so beautiful. It's so amazing, and hopefully it will be so clear to you also
when we move on and look more into it.
So, let's look at some of the other examples in the Book of Acts
where we can see a little more clear of people who repented,
got baptized and received the Holy Spirit.
Paul was out traveling. One time he came to Ephesus and we read that in Acts 19
where he met some believers, and there in verse 2 he asked those believers:
"...Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" (Acts 19:2)
This is a very, very important question. It's actually a question
we need to ask people today, when we meet people who think
they believe in God, who are Christians, come to church, we need to ask them:
"Hey, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?"
Because it's possible to have faith in God without receiving the Holy Spirit.
And I want to ask you the same question, who are looking at me right now:
Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?
In Acts 19... They answered, "No, we have not even heard
that there is a Holy Spirit." (Acts 19:2)
It was the same answer I would have given many years ago.
I was a Christian, or I thought I was a Christian. Why?
Because I came in a Lutheran church, I was baptized as a baby,
I was confirmed later. I had a faith in God but I have not heard about the Holy Spirit,
or let's say - I've heard something about the Holy Spirit,
but I have not received Him. I was not yet born again.
I needed to understand the full gospel. Like the people here in Ephesus.
When Paul heard that they have not yet received the Holy Spirit
Paul took the time to sit down with them and then he explained the gospel to them,
like I want to explain the gospel to you today.
And we read later that on hearing this, "When they heard the Gospel,
they were right away baptized (in the name of the Lord Jesus),
when Paul then laid his hands on them the Holy Spirit came over them
and they spoke in tongues and prophesied." (Acts 19:5-6)
Hallelujah! This is the same today. This is exactly the same today.
What we have just read, there in Acts 19
is what we are seeing all over the world today.
We meet people who have faith in God, who believe in God,
but when we ask: "Have you received the Holy Spirit?"
They said: "No, no, I haven't." And then we take the time
so share the gospel with them, and then, after they've heard the gospel
we see how they repent and get baptized, as you can see in our videos,
and then we lay hands on them and then they receive the Holy Spirit.
And it's so powerful, it's so beautiful. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.
The Holy Spirit is the same yesterday, today and forever.
You can be born again today. You can get baptized to Christ today.
You can receive the Holy Spirit today, like we read in Acts 2,
like we read in Acts 19, like we read all over the Book of Acts
in the New Testament. And it's really amazing.
Another place in the Bible we want to look at is Acts 10.
This time we read about how Peter came to a guy called Cornelius,
and he came into his house and there we read that Peter, he was in the house,
and while Peter was speaking in the house, with Cornelius and his family,
the Holy Spirit fell over all of them. Why?
Because he heard them speak in tongues.
"For they heard them speak with tongues and praising God." (Acts 10:46-48)
So it's so beautiful. And then we continue reading:
..."Can anyone forbid them to get baptized in water now they have received
the Holy Spirit just like we have?" And he commanded them
to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ... (Acts 10:47)
I love it. Why do I love it?
I love it because this is not only something we read happened that time.
This is what is happening today. We are seeing it day after day,
all over again. We see it so many places. This is what we see.
Sometimes people receive the Holy Spirit first and then get baptized.
Other times they get baptized first and receive the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.
The Holy Spirit is the same yesterday, today and forever.
So, as I said, sometimes people repent, get baptized and receive the Holy Spirit.
Other times people repent, receive the Holy Spirit and then get baptized.
What is important that you experience all three -
that you have experienced true repentance, after repentance baptism in water
and the Holy Spirit.
The problem today is religion.
We grow up in religion. We grow up in tradition.
As I said, I myself grew up in the Lutheran church.
It was not because I was in the Lutheran church a lot,
but because I lived in Denmark. It was what I've been introduced to.
And I was told by the priest in the Lutheran church
that we all have the Holy Spirit. Why? Because we were all baptized as a baby.
But that was a lie. It is a lie.
It is a lie that I and my family have been told, what we grew up in.
What they told us was not the full gospel.
What they told us was wrong.
And I was living in a lie for years, but I say to you, I guarantee you:
when I understood the full gospel, when I repented and got baptized
and received the Holy Spirit, my life was changed forever.
I got baptized in water and I experienced freedom.
I experienced freedom when the Holy Spirit came over me.
I experienced freedom from my sin.
But do you know what?
It took me six years to get all of it.
From really a personal faith, repentance and baptism in water and the Holy Spirit -
it took me six years. Why?
Because there was no one there to really explain to me and help me what it was.
So I came to faith, I repented and long time later I got baptized and then...
it took me six years.
It doesn't have to take so long time for you.
Paul is saying about the gospel in Romans 1:16.
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for this is the power for salvation
to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and to the Gentile."
Yes, the gospel we are preaching here is the power for everyone who believes.
It's the power to transform a person from inside and out.
Like it has transformed many people in the times of the Bible,
through the times, and today, it can also transform your life.
So, let's look at it again. There are three things Peter spoke about.
There are three things we see in the Book of Acts,
that come together with having faith in Jesus. And what is that?
That is repentance. You believe, but you also need to repent.
You need to repent for your sins. And then you need to get baptized
in the name of Jesus, for the forgiveness of your sins.
And number three - receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,
or getting baptized with the Holy Spirit.
So we repent from our sins toward God.
Then we get baptized to Jesus Christ and then we receive the Holy Spirit.
This is how it should be.
Let's read a longer place in the Bible, where we can see a picture
of what repentance is. Because repentance is more than
going from not believing to believing. Repentance has to do with sin,
it has to do with turning away from sin, it has to do with feeling sorry in your heart,
turning away, and changing your life.
"Put to death, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:
sexual immorality, uncleanness, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
...You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.
But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander,
and filthy language from your lips...
...Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off the old self with its practices
and put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge
in the image of its Creator." (Colossians 3:5-10)
This is amazing. What we read here really describes what repentance is.
Repentance has to do with burying the old life,
putting of the old life and putting under the new life.
Repentance goes together with baptism.
And here we see what it is.
We see sin and then we decide to turn away from our sins.
We see things we have done, that are not pleasing to God.
We've been living our own life. We see sin in our life.
And then we say: I don't want this old life anymore.
I want to turn away from this life. I want to change my heart.
I want to give it over to God. I want to turn away.
I want to give everything to God.
Repentance has to do with changing your heart, when it comes to sin.
It has to do with hating sin, as God hates sins.
When we repent and turn away from our sins
God is going to come and do something beautiful.
God is going to come and take out that stone heart and give us a new heart of flesh.
He is going to write the law on our hearts.
Oh I remember when I believed and repented.
Oh I remember how it changed everything inside of me.
My conscience became new. There were things before I have done,
I loved to do it, because I was used to do it. I was doing it again, again, again and again,
and I did not feel in my conscience it was wrong at that time
because I was so used to do it.
But when I saw sin, when I turned away from sins, I got a new conscience.
I could not do what I did before.
I could not continue living in sin, as I did before. Why?
That had to do with my old life. That had to do with before God.
Now I got a new heart. I wanted to please God with my life.
I wanted to live a new life.
1 John 3:5-6 is saying this: "You know that he (Jesus)
appeared in order to take away sins, and in Him (Jesus) there is no sin.
No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning;
no one who keeps on sinning has either seen Him or known Him."
This is very radical word we read here, from John,
that when we abide in Him, when we know Him, when we are in Him,
we don't keep on sinning. We cannot.
Why? Because we've got a new heart.
And then he continues here in the next verse:
"Little children, let no one deceive you.
Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.
Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil,
for the devil has been sinning from the beginning...
...That is the reason the Son of God appeared, to destroy the works of the devil.
No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in Him.
and He cannot keep on sinning, because he is born of God." (1 John 3:7-9)
This is beautiful what we read here.
What we've read here is not just written in the Bible, as being there.
It's real, like everything else. It's the truth. And we can experience it.
It's not enough you hear about it, read about it. You need to experience it.
You need to experience this new heart, the seed of God inside of you,
so you cannot keep on sinning the way you did before.
It's very radical text we read here, and I want to say:
in the beginning, of course, you will make mistakes.
You will fall because you need to learn to walk this new life.
There is a difference between learning to walk this life and fall,
and then continue willfully in sin.
Everyone who is truly born again cannot continue living in willful sin.
As a newborn believer in the beginning you can fall, but then you rise up again.
And then you do what 1 John 1:9 is saying:
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
This is also the truth, what we've read here.
When you get the seed of God inside of you you cannot go on sinning.
You cannot have a sinful lifestyle.
But in the beginning, especially in the beginning,
you fall and you need to learn to live this new life.
But then you confess your sins and He's faithful and righteous to forgive you.
Some of you, when I talk about this new heart, know what I'm talking about.
You have already experienced it. You have experienced this new conscience,
where you cannot go on sinning, like you did before.
You know what I'm talking about, when I talk about the seed inside of us.
If you listen to me right now and you don't know what I'm talking about,
you have not yet experienced this - you are lost.
You are lost right now if you don't repent...
...because you have not truly repented,
because if you truly repent and put your faith in God
you will experience what I've just read. You will experience this new life.
So this is where we start. We start with recognizing our sins
and then we turn away from our sins.
But that is not all of it. You also need to get baptized.
You need to get baptized. We want to look a little what baptism is.
If we look at the word "baptized" that is baptizó (βαπτίζω).
That means to dip, or to immerse. Baptism is under water.
It's always under water. It's where you dip under water or you immerse under water.
And not like it had become many places - sprinkling of water.
I want to tell a little story about baptism,
when it comes to baptism as sprinkling of water.
Jesus and His early disciples baptized with full immersion.
But in year 253 AD sprinkling was permitted by a local bishop in a few cases.
753 AD we saw the first official approval of baptism with sprinkling,
but it was only in a few cases, when it was necessary,
when people were laying in a bed, when they were sick.
People were sick and you had to hurry up and other things.
In 1311 AD Council of Ravenna said that this sprinkling of water with baptism
was official way of doing baptism. But I want to say to you out there...
Just because a bishop or council says it's okay - doesn't mean it's okay.
We need to build on the Bible and not tradition.
And there is so many traditions that have come into churches.
The whole idea of baptizing babies is crazy.
I want to show you a picture of me. Here you see me. Am I not cute?
This is me when I got baptized, as a baby in the Lutheran church.
And as you see, they put me in a nice white dress.
If somebody would put me in a white dress today, I would say: No!
No! Don't do that. But that time I did not say anything. Why?
They did not ask me. I was a baby. I did not care.
Even if they took me naked in the church and baptize me naked, I would not complain.
Why? I was not aware of sin. I was a baby. I was not aware of anything.
Like Adam and Eve. Before sin came and opened their eyes...
they were walking around naked and they did not care.
They did not see their shame. They did not see their nakedness, when they walked around.
But when they took of the fruit, their eyes were open and they saw their nakedness.
They saw their shame. And they needed to cover themselves.
The same way, to baptize babies that is crazy.
Because babies are not aware of sin. It's first when you grow up
and become older, 9, 10, 11, 12 years, where you: "Ah!"
You suddenly see your nakedness and want to cover yourself.
So the whole idea that the early church, or let's say like that:
the early church did not baptize babies.
It was first something that came later.
Yeah, you don't find baby baptism in the Bible.
It was something that came hundreds of years later.
So Peter did not baptize his babies, his grandkids did not get baptized,
his grand grandkids did not get baptized,
grand grand grandkids did not get baptized,
grand grand grand grandkids did not get baptized... and then suddenly,
500 years later somebody got that idea: "Hey, let's baptize babies!
That should be the norm." That is tradition. There is so much tradition.
But tradition cannot save. Jesus can save.
So what is baptism? Is baptism just a symbol?
No. That is also tradition, to say that baptism is a symbol.
Baptism is not a symbol. Jesus is saying this in Mark 16:16.
"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,
but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:16)
So Jesus said that one who believes and is baptized will be saved.
What did they say in the Book of Acts? If you go to the Book of Acts
we read this in Acts 2:38. When Peter was preaching the gospel
they asked: "What shell we do?" Peter said: Repent, as we looked at,
and then he said: "Be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins."
When Ananias baptized Paul in Acts 2:16 he said to Paul:
"Rise up and be baptized and wash away your sins."
So here in Acts we see that one place they say that is the forgiveness,
another place says it washes away sins.
Does it sound like a symbol?
I don't think it sounds like a symbol to me.
How can we read what the Bible is saying about baptism and then say
that is just a symbol. I don't understand it.
Let's move on now and look what the letters in the Bible are saying about baptism.
If we start with Romans 6 we read here that in baptism you die with Christ
and you rise up with Christ. Galatians 3 is saying that in baptism
we put on Christ. Colossians 2 is saying that in baptism we are circumcised,
it's a circumcision of Christ. Titus 3 is saying
that is washing of regeneration. 1 Peter 2 is saying that baptism
is the baptism that now saves us. Does this sound like a symbol?
No. How can people read this, read what the Bible is saying
and conclude that baptism is not important, that baptism is just a symbol?
The only reason is that they build on tradition of men
instead of what the Word is saying. This is what the Word says.
So they were very radical, when it comes to baptism.
But we also see that in how they did it, not only in what they believed,
but what they did in the Bible.
Because when did people get baptized, when they came to faith in the Bible?
Did they get baptized first Sunday after coming to faith?
Or, did they get baptized after some teaching in the church, some weeks later?
Or, did they get baptized after many years, when people felt they were somehow
ready for it? No. In the Bible they got baptized right away.
In Acts 2 3000 got baptized in one day. Acts 10, as we read before,
with Cornelius and his household, they got baptized right away.
Acts 16 with the jailer and his house - they got baptized even in the middle of the night.
Come on! In the middle of the night! Why?
Because the baptism was the beginning. It was a new beginning.
That was where you put off the old man,
together with that faith and repentance. That is in the beginning.
Oh! We need to do it God's way. We need to repent
from our own way of doing it and obey the Bible.
We need to do it as Jesus is saying. He is truly saying
that one who believes and is baptized shall be saved.
He is saying: If you want to be born again you need to be born out of water -
that is the baptism, and Spirit - that is the baptism -
the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
What is happening in the baptism in water?
In baptism we read verses like: "put on Christ", "die with Christ",
"rise up with Christ". We read: "washing away your sins";
we read: "for the forgiveness of your sins".
In baptism what is happening is that we experience freedom from our sins.
We bury the old life, that was under sin.
We bury the old life so we can move on and live a new life.
A very good picture is Moses and the Israelites.
Remember in the early church, when they were preaching the gospel
they did not have the New Testament the way we have it,
so they were preaching out of the Old Testament.
That was all shadows and pictures of the New Testament,
the new time we are living in. In the Old Testament we can read
how the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, under pharaoh.
So they were slaves in Egypt.
And then one day Moses came (that is the picture of Christ) and said:
"Let my people go!" But pharaoh did not want to let the people go.
So they were fighting against each other. But then in the end God did something amazing.
He saved them by the blood. Because death went through the cities
and those homes that did not have the blood of the lamb over the door,
they would loose the firstborn.
And that is, again, the picture of Christ, the blood and the firstborn.
And there, by the blood of the lamb over the doors,
death went by and the firstborn in that family did not die.
And there the pharaoh said: Okay, now you can go.
And they were saved out of Egypt. So now the Israelites came of of Egypt
rejoicing: We are saved! We are saved! We are saved! They came out of Egypt,
by the blood. But they were still somehow captives,
they were slaves still to the old life.
So they needed to bury that old life that was following them,
out of Egypt. They needed to get the chains off them.
They needed to stop, to bury the old life.
They were still slaves to the old life. They were still slaves to sin.
How did they bury that old life?
So what happened there was that the Egyptians, the pharaoh
regretted that he has let the people go. And he sent his army after the people.
And the army was sent after the Jews.
They were just been saved out of Egypt. They were rejoicing:
We have been saved! We have been saved! We have been saved!
But now they were like: Oh no! Oh no! We are going to die!
We are going to die!
The old life! The people are coming after us! They are going to kill us!
So they need to be saved one more time to be fully saved, to be fully free.
They need to bury that old life.
So they went down in the water, the Red Sea, that was open for them,
and the old life followed, but when they came on the other side
God closed the water and drowned all the Egyptians.
And they were saved. They were saved, one time for all.
They were not in chains anymore. They were not afraid that the old life
will come and take over them. They were saved from their old life.
And that is what it is - to be baptized to Christ.
By the blood of the lamb we are saved out of this world.
By the blood of the lamb we are saved out of this world but that is not enough.
We also need to go to the water, to bury that old life through baptism to Christ.
And they came out of the water and they rejoiced, they rejoiced, they rejoiced,
because the old life has been dealt with.
The old life is buried one time for all. But that was not enough for them.
Now they need to continue walking by the pillar, the pillar of light, the cloud.
They needed to walk by the spirit to enter into the promised land God has for them.
The same - this is the picture of our salvation.
We get saved by the blood out of this world.
We get saved through the baptism of water from the old life.
And then we need to receive the Holy Spirit and walk by the spirit
and the one who keeps on to the end shall one day be saved.
So this is a picture of salvation and it's so beautiful when you see it,
and this is what we need to experience today.
And that is clear if we continue and read in Romans 6.
We want to read a long part from Romans 6. We read here.
"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Jesus Christ
have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him
through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead...
...through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death,
certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection...
...knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him,
in order that our body of sin might be done away with,
so that we would no longer be slaves to sin, for he who has died is freed from sin."
Hallelujah! This is so beautiful. This is what is happening in baptism.
Him who has died is free from sin. We have buried that old life,
that was a slave to sin, and we are risen up in a new life with Jesus Christ.
We are talking about freedom. Freedom. We are no longer slaves to sin.
We are free from sin. And Romans 6:14 is saying this:
"For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace."
I remember that day I read this verse, Romans 6:14. It changed my life.
I was still struggling with sin. I was struggling with things in my life.
I was not free yet. I've just been baptized, but I have not received the freedom
that was in baptism, because I did not understand it.
I came home and I read Romans 6. And when I read it:
"Sin has no dominion over you. You are not under law but under grace."
It became revelation to me. And I experienced a freedom from sin
I've never experienced before. And I would say, that day in my office...
I really got truly born again. It took me six years
to come to that point where I experienced that freedom...
where I was no longer a slave to sin. And I would say today
I'm still not a slave to sin. It is so different.
It's so different from what I walked in before.
It doesn't mean that we cannot make mistakes and we will fall in the beginning,
we will do mistakes, but then we ask for forgiveness and he's righteous
to forgive us, but we are not slaves to sin, where we keep on going back to sin,
and sin, and sin, and sin, all over again, because we are free.
So I would say to you out there, there are many today
who are still slaves to sin, for different reasons.
One reason is that they have not yet fully repented, turned away from their sins.
Or, they have turned away but they have not got baptized in the right way.
What I mean with "the right way" is that first you need to turn away from your sins
and get that new heart, before you can bury the old life.
Many people today grow up in church and come to church
and get baptized as teenagers, and live in the world,
and first 10, 15 years later they fully understand what repentance is
and turn away. If you turn away 10, 15 years later
the baptism you did that time is not true baptism.
You cannot bury the old life if your old life is not dead.
You need to recognize your sins and turn away, before you can bury it.
So that is why people are struggling with sin.
Some people have not fully repented, or some people have repented,
but after they got baptized. All like me, you repented
and you got baptized, but when you got baptized
you did not understand it.
You did not understand what it was that actually happened,
and you need to receive it in faith.
And you need to go home and read Romans 6, like I did,
and ask God to open your eyes so you understand it,
so you can live this new life.
So, it's so important that we, that you who are seeing this,
experience new birth.
That you experience that you are saved out of Egypt,
that you are saved from the old life in baptism,
and also that you receive the Holy Spirit,
which we are going to talk more about in the next lesson.
So, much more about that in the next lesson where we will put it all together.
I look forward to see you next time. God bless you all out there! Bye-bye!