From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Nominal Christians have little time for God. They’re too busy with daily living to be concerned with Bible reading (to know what God says) and prayer (being in fellowship with God).

The new birth (John 3) is something that God does for people when they are willing to yield to Him. The Bible teaches that man is dead in trespasses and sins, and his great need is redemption. We do not have within ourselves the seed of the new life; this must come from God Himself.

The great Christian writer Oswald Chambers said, “Our part as workers for God is to open men’s eyes that they may turn themselves from darkness to light; but that is not salvation [but] the effort of a roused human being … nominal Christians are of this order; their eyes are opened, but they have received nothing. … When a man is born again, he knows that it is because he has received something as a gift from Almighty God and not because of his own decision.”

God pleads with man to turn to Him. The new birth is not just being reformed, it’s being transformed. People are always making resolutions to do better, but the Bible teaches that through the new birth we can enter a new world. The contrasts used in the Bible to express the change that comes over us are graphic; from lust to holiness; from darkness to light; from death to resurrection; from stranger to the kingdom of God to now being its citizen. The Bible teaches that the person who is born again has a changed will, changed affections, changed objectives for living, changed disposition, new purpose. He receives a new nature and becomes a new creation.

(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

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