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NASB | John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 3:3 Jesus answered him, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless a person is born again [reborn from above--spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified], he cannot [ever] see and experience the kingdom of God." |
Subject: baptismal regeneration? |
Bible Note: Zach, I am afraid you misunderstand my understanding of the sacrament of Baptism. Sacraments are encounters with God. It is God that does the work in them, sanctifying us, not the person sanctifiying him or herself. Even the minister of the sacrament is merely a "stand in" acting "in persona Christi" in the administering of the sacrament. When a person is Baptised and the minister (priest or lay) speaks the words "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" it is the power of God's saving word in the sacrament that accomplishes the purpose God intened. Somewhat reminiscent of this passage, Is 55:10-11 10: "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11: so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it. " The way I see it Jesus is the ultimate sacrament in which all sacraments subsist. The sacraments are all encounters with Christ. Your comment that "a corpse cannot birth itself by any act or ritual" is of course to the point. The sacrament of Baptism is called a "sacrament of the dead." The "act" in Baptism is God's as he works through an element of his creation. Jesus is the ultimate sacrament. God became flesh to save us through his death in the flesh and his resurrection of the body which he promises also to us. On earth the earthly and the spiritual work together because that is how God created us and Jesus came to redeem and restore all creation, physical and spiritual. I saw you profile. My earlier comment was just an observation on the content of your posts not a guess about your church affiliation. It was a little bit of a tease. No offense intended. I see you are a fan of Tozier. I too have read him and find him very astute and appealing. I was only recently reading over again The Pursuit of God. Emmaus |