Spiritual Birth

2 Corinthians 5:17-18 (NLT®) 
Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. 

Paul knew what it meant to be a new person in Christ. He once had done everything he could to oppose the name of Jesus. He had hunted down Jesus’ followers and had them put in prison and had worked to have them executed. Then Jesus got Paul’s attention and turned his life around. He had become Jesus’ advocate, and now he faced his own persecution for the sake of the Lord. Paul had no regrets about the turn his life had taken and was completely committed to spreading the good news about Jesus. But he probably looked exactly as he had before. In Christ, you too have been reconciled to God. You may look like the same person you were, but you have been made new from the inside out. You are a completely different creation with a new future, a new purpose, and a new inheritance. This is the power of God at work in you!

THINK ABOUT IT
If you have experienced new spiritual birth through the cross, you can probably make a long list of how you are new and completely different from the person you were. Begin to thank God for the difference Jesus has made!

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank You that Jesus’ sacrifice for my sin on the cross can completely transform my entire life from the inside-out. Thank You that the blood of Jesus is able to make a continual difference in my life for all to see. In His name, amen. 

Source: Pastor Allen Jackson
World Outreach Church