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Abundant Life in the Son: A Study of Salvation

In each of the preceding examples, we see that the individuals were
good, upright people, but they needed to receive spiritual life. Sometimes
people feel that they don’t need
a Savior. There is a saying
about such people: “Those who
“Those who think lightly think lightly of the disease will

of the disease will linger linger on the way to the doctor.”

on the way to the doctor.” Advocates of most religions
outside of Christianity compare
people’s search for salvation to
a struggle up a mountainside. They say that although multitudes struggle
up the mountainside by many different paths, all paths lead to the same
place. In their teaching, we can almost hear the serpent hiss: “You will be
like God” (Genesis 3:5). They seem to feel that they are saved by their own
efforts, that they will eventually become gods through their own striving.

But in Christianity we see the true picture. People are all in the desert of
sin, seeking and thirsting for reality. The answer to their spiritual problems
demands that they come to the oasis, to the source of life. Some see
mirages or illusions and refuse to come to Christ, the Oasis. Here the claim
is not that Christ is one way among many; He is the only Way. For in Jesus
Christ, God comes down to people and reaches them in the depths of their
corruption. He gives them spiritual life, raising them to a new life.

The new birth brings a new nature and the ability to live a life that is
pleasing to God. And only the new birth can produce the holy nature in
people that makes fellowship with God possible. Holiness is an absolute
requirement for people to be accepted by Him (Hebrews 12:14). Thus
regeneration changes the nature of people, and then their new divine
life is acceptable to a holy God.

Experience of Regeneration

While regeneration is a mysterious experience, it is nevertheless real.
“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot
tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born
of the Spirit” (John 3:8). We can see the results of regeneration even
if we cannot fully explain all of the operation. But we can experience

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