FORBIDDEN SCRIPTURES No.

10

Try this test: Read the verses below from the Bible and then think back and try to remember the last time you heard a sermon taken from this text. Probably you never have. That is because these verses are among a good number which contradict the beliefs of most modern preachers and churches. Because of this most preachers have never preached on these verses. Probably they have never dealt with them except to try to explain them away, assuring their hearers that they do not mean what they say. Think of it! Modern professing Christians who refuse to believe all that the Bible teaches while claiming to believe that the Bible is Gods Word. So, take the test. Read these verses and decide if you and your preacher and your church really do believe all that the Bible says. Perhaps you will decide that some changes need to be made not in the Bible but in your thinking and understanding. Here are some of the Forbidden Scriptures about salvation that only a few people believe.
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:13). There is much confusion about the new birth. Many think that if they will do something (believe, pray a prayer, open their hearts door to Jesus, etc. ad naseum) God will save them. Baptists of bygone days did not believe this. They believed the new birth was not of the will of man, but of God as our text says. To prove this we quote from The New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith (A.D. 1833). We believe that, in order to be saved, sinners must be regenerated, or born again; that regeneration consists in giving a holy disposition to the mind; that it is effected in a manner above our comprehension by the power of the Holy Spirit, in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel; and that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance, and faith, and newness of life (Article 7). We believe that Repentance and Faith are sacred duties, and also inseparable graces, wrought in our souls by the regenerating Spirit of God (Article 8). These quotations show that the old Baptists believed differently about salvation than most modern ones. They believed that regeneration precedes repentance and faith and that it is the cause of both. They believed that the new birth causes people to repent of their sins and to believe in a saving way on Christ. The confession says that regeneration or the new birth changes mens minds so that they desire holiness. It says the new birth is a work of the Holy Spirit accomplished in a way beyond our understanding. The confession goes on to say that the evidence of the new birth is three-fold: repentance, faith and a new life. Then the first part of Article 8 says that while repentance and faith are duties their cause is the regenerating Spirit of God. Somebody is wrong! Either the old Baptists or the modern ones who have changed their doctrine and who think they bring about their new birth by faith.

Our text says folk are born of Gods will, not as a result of mans will. Do not think that you were born again as a result of your faith or other actions. Give God the glory if you are regenerated! The new birth is a sovereign act of God whereby He saves lost men and women. Have you been truly born again? Did the Spirit of God birth you into Gods family? Has He caused you to repent and believe on Christ? Do not base your hope for the future on what you have done. Ye must be born again (John 3:7).