The New Birth
Are you born again? How do you know or do you just claim to be born again? And why do so few even consider the question?
Jesus said that no one will see the kingdom of God without this experience. Knowing the answers to these questions is of eternal significance.
Study this page to learn the truth about the New Birth and the connection with speaking in tongues. There are audio clips taken from the New Birth teaching series, as well as sermon extracts. Click on an article title in the box in the right column to read from a range of articles covering different aspects of the truth about the new birth.
New Birth CD Set
But when is a person born again? Are you born again? And how do you know? The Bible contains clear revelation from God about when a person is born again. Learn what had to occur before anyone could be born again. This 3 CD set available at cost price from our eBay store
. This is perhaps the most important knowledge that you can gain.Thought for Today
Apr. 10
PRAYING VS. REPENTING
My father had a way of making statements that seemed so wrong at first but would be proved correct upon close examination. After hearing my father preach one night, one man in Louisville, Kentucky, made the comment to this effect: "That preacher can get the Bible in the biggest mess and then get it straightened out again better than anybody I ever heard." In a recent TFT, I mentioned one of my father's unusual expressions: "Everything you believe could be a lie, as far as you know." That is a true statement, as I explained, but it takes a moment for most minds to comprehend it.
Another such statement is this one, made by the seventy-four year-old Preacher Clark in a sermon at Grandma's house in 1975: "There is no Scripture that tells anyone to pray to get the holy Ghost. There is no Scripture that tells anyone to pray to be born again. The only thing any sinner is ever told to do to receive the holy Ghost and be born again is to repent."
I have tried over the years to think of a verse that tells those who seek God to pray in order to receive the baptism of the holy Ghost, but I haven't found one. Of course, if a sinner repents, he is going to pray. Prayer is part of a godly life. But praying is just a part of repentance. Prayer by itself with no repentance is worthless. Proverbs tells us that "the prayer of the wicked is sin." No one has ever been forgiven by God and washed from his sins because he prayed. But everyone who has ever repented has also been forgiven. Every one.
So, my father was right, again. No sinner is ever commanded in the Bible to pray in order to receive the holy Ghost; they are simply commanded to repent. And every soul from the days of the apostles who has obeyed that holy commandment to repent has been baptized by the holy Ghost into God's kingdom.