Sermon Illustrations
BORN AGAIN
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BORN AGAIN? IF, FROM ABOVE!
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The Greek words for “born again” may be taken to mean one of two things, either “born again” or “born from above.” But the Aramaic words that lie behind the Greek words *cannot* be translated “born again”; they can only be translated “born from above.” Now the difference in meaning is not significant, but the difference in emphasis is crucial if we are born from above it is not anything to be proud of because it is not anything that we have done. We are born “from above.” I like that, because it puts the emphasis where it ought to be. If we are born from above, it is not our work but God’s. And if that is true, then the experience is not a reason for conceit and arrogance, but for humility and praise. What is there to be proud of, and what is there in it to make us feel superior to
others, when the work is God’s and we are but the recipients of His grace? Sometimes a man who finds himself loved by a good woman will marvel, as the poet does, at the love he has encountered, and will ask with wondering joy, “Why, why and why?” That ought to be the normal attitude of faith. Dwelling in the love God has for us and the mercy that has redeemed us, we ask, “Why, why and why?”
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R. Maurice Boyd, in Permit Me Voyage (p. 61), quoted in the Presbyterian Outlook, 4/23/1990 Vol 172, Number 16