El Monte Vietnamese SDA Church
New Life
What hope do I have for a new life? It’s in the Bible, Isaiah 43:18-19, NKJV. “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.”
How does someone get a new life? It’s in the Bible, 2 Corinthians 5:17, NKJV. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”
We can’t earn or make a new life, it is a gift from God through Jesus. It’s in the Bible, Titus 3:4-6, NKJV. “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior”
When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we leave our old life and take on a Christ-like life. It’s in the Bible, Ephesians 4:21-24, ESV. “assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
How will I be able to do what is right? God promises He will put a new heart and His Spirit in us. It’s in the Bible, Ezekiel 36:26-27, NKJV. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
How do I receive this new life? It's in the Bible, Revelation 3:20, NKJV. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."
What if I don’t have the will or strength to do what is right? Let Jesus live in and through you. It’s in the Bible, Galatians 2:20, NKJV. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
What are some of the things of my old life I will leave? It’s in the Bible, Colossians 3:5-10, NKJV. “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,”
You can’t have a new life, and hang onto your old ways. It’s in the Bible, Mark 2:21-22, NKJV. “No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”
Die to self by keeping your mind on heavenly things, and let your life be covered by Christ. It’s in the Bible, Colossians 3:2-3, NKJV. “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
What symbol does the Bible use to represent a new life? Baptism. It’s in the Bible, Romans 6:3-4, NKJV. “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
What does Jesus promise to those who are born again? It’s in the Bible, John 3:3,5-8 NKV. “Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God"
How does Jesus describe getting a new life? It's in the Bible, Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Don’t get discouraged at your mistakes – the walk of faith is by steps, not leaps or bounds. It’s in the Bible, Psalm 37:23-24, NKJV. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand."
As we behold the character of Jesus, we’ll be changed into His character, step by step. It’s in the Bible, 2 Corinthians 3:18, NKJV. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
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