Who Are You, Really?

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. —Romans 5:8–9 NKJV

While you were yet a sinner, Christ died for you. Jesus went to the cross for you and shed His blood when you did not deserve it. He did it because of the unconditional love He had for you. Notice, it was while you were a sinner. You were a sinner, but because of His death, you are no longer a sinner. The sinner died or passed away, and you are now justified by the blood of Christ! You have been legally declared “not guilty”! Is it possible to be justified, yet believe you are still a sinner? . . . a failure? . . . unrighteous? Because of lack of knowl- edge, many Christians, even though they are born again, claim to be “a sinner saved by grace.” They choose to believe who they really are based on their performance rather than basing who they really are on the Blood. You are now justified; you can live “just as if” you’d never sinned. Here’s where your delegated right to “choose and become” comes in. You must believe who the Word says you are! And you can. You are not a recovering alcoholic, an angry man, a non-practicing drug addict, or a sickly person. The alcoholic, the angry man, the drug addict, the sickly person died the day you were born again. He has passed away, and you have become new—justified by the Blood. But you have been given the right to choose—the sinner or the saint, the healed or the sick, the bound or the free. You can be a new creation, justified by the Blood, and still claim and believe that you are the old sinner you were! What you believe, you will get. Choose today to be what the Word says you are, simply by believing the promises provided by the blood of Jesus. The choice is yours!

Pastor Tom Kehres

Be Who You Were Meant to Be!

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. —2 Corinthians 5:17

Big changes came to you when you were born again and born of God. You are no longer the person you used to be. At the moment of your new birth, you looked the same in your body and thought the same way in your soul, but you were totally re-created in your spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23). You are a new creature, or a new species of being that never existed before. You will now spend the rest of your life discovering who you have become by the grace of God! Notice that old things have passed away. Along with the new birth, there was a death that took place. The old person you used to be “passed away.” The sinner, the weak person, the person subject to sin, sickness, demons, fear, and worry has passed away, and all things are become new; “all things are of God” (2 Corinthians 5:18, emphasis added). You have been born into a Kingdom and an inheritance that are of God. You are now His child; you have the ability to grow to be like Him. Dominion and authority have been restored to you, the same as man had before Adam fell. You are not who you used to be. You are a new creature—not becoming a new creature, not struggling to be a new creature—you are a new creature! As you renew your soul (mind, will, and emotions) to the Word of God, the “new you” will start to come out of the inside of you. You will one day be totally “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2, empha- sis added). You will slowly become who you really are because of the new birth and the renewing of your mind.

Pastor Tom Kehres

What Does It Mean to Be Born—Again?

Read John 3:1–7. 

Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.—John 3:7

When you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, the Bible declares you to be “born again.” Jesus told Nicodemus that we must be born again. Nicodemus did not understand how a person could go back into his mother’s womb and be born, again. He was thinking about a physical rebirth; Jesus was talking about a spiritual rebirth. You are a spirit being; you have a soul (mind, will, and emotions); you live in a physi- cal body. The spirit of man, or the real you, can be born again from death to life (Ephesians 2:1) by making a decision to choose Jesus as his (your) Lord. When this happens, you become born of the Spirit and born of God (John 3:6). Your spirit is instantly born into the image and likeness of God Himself, with authority and dominion to rule on this earth (Genesis 1:26–28). You can then see the kingdom of God (John 3:3) and enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5). This brings a whole new lifestyle and a new position to a person. You can now claim and choose what is legally yours, because you have been born into the family of God. Right now, you are either born again or you are not—there is nothing in between. Going to church will not save you, being good will not save you, your denomination will not get you into the Kingdom. You personally and individually must be born again. You must understand that Jesus freely paid the price for your deliverance from death to life and confess Him as your Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9–10). You must be born again!

Pastor Tom Kehres

The Qualifying Key

. . . except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. —John 3:3

Nicodemus came and asked, “How can You do such miracles? How can You do such mighty works? Why is God with You and not with us? We are religious! We wear the right clothing! . . . eat clean food! . . . keep all the rituals and traditions we know! We pray the right prayers! We spend hours in the synagogue! Why You and not me? Why is God with You and so far away from me?” Jesus replied, “You must be born again.” It seems here that Jesus avoided the question, that He completely ignored poor Nicodemus. Yet He was giving him the answer to the question, to the cry of his heart. Do you, Nicodemus, want to have God with you? Do you want to do these miracles? Then you must be born again. Why? Because this new birth qualifies you for the signs and wonders and miracles. Because when you are born again, God is with you. You may go to a church, you may serve there faithfully—but you must be born again. You may be at every church function, you may serve as an usher, greet at the door, be an elder in the church—but you must be born again. You may be Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, nondenominational—but you must be born again. It is the new birth that allows God to be with you, and once He is with you, His power will also be with you! What is the key to spiritual living? It is this—you must be born again! Are you? If you aren’t, what are you waiting for?

Pastor Tom Kehres