"Only the Beginning"

      "It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."

                                                Philippians 2 :13

      We have seen that it is an absolute necessity that a person be born again if he or she is to enter the kingdom of God. We have also learned that regeneration is performed by God, that it is done without means, that it is mysterious, and that it cannot be revoked. As we close our brief study on this vital topic, it is appropriate that we remind ourselves of one other crucial facet of rebirth-- it is just the beginning of the Christian life.

      Just as none of us would have lives to live if we had not had birthdays, we cannot have new lives in Christ without spiritual rebirth. Yet just as the days of our lives are not the same as our birthdays, our Christian lives are not the same as our regeneration. This seems elementary, but it is a fact that often is not clearly grasped by believers. Regeneration is simply the doorway into the new life. In others words, our new lives in Christ are the result of spiritual rebirth. When He regenerates us, changes us forever. But He diesn't stop there. He continues working in us to move us toward the next stages in the process of our full redemption--- faith in Christ, justification, sanctification, and eventuall glorification.

      A newly born baby has much growing to do. The same is true for newly reborn believers. Great capacity for evil remains in the hearts of the regenerate. It must be resisted and replaced by Christlikeness. This is the lifelong process known as sanctification, or growth in holiness. Whereas regeneration is  work of God alone, sanctification is a work  in which we participate with God. But He gives us tools for the task, for this process is mediate (''having means") rather than immediate ("without means"). As is regeneration. While God primarily uses the word (by reading, studying memorizing and hearing it, we learn His will for our lived and sacrament ( baptism and the Lord Supper ) as our means of grace, He also employs prayer and  wosprship ( by taking ours cares, thanks and praise to Him, we grow in dependence on and love for Him), fellowship ( by spending time with others believers, we tap into their positive influence), and service in the church (evangelism, giving, acts of mercy, and so forth). By making diligent use of such means, we moves on from the starting point of our new birth to a greater experience of God's love for us.

      The Philippian jailer had been born again, bit God had only begun working in his life. The same is true for you. If you have been reborn spiritually, you now have a capacity to live God that you lacked before. Now begin to seek Him with all your being; He promises that if you do so, you will not be disappointed.