Who Is On The Lord's Side?

We ought think about the ultimate question, are you on the Lord's side?  We can determine this by understanding the doctrines of the Bible.  Let us never compromise this!

Who is on the Lord's side?
Who will serve the King?
Who will be his helpers,
Other lives to bring?
Who will leave the world's side?
Who will face the foe?
Who is on the Lord's side?
Who for him will go?
By thy call of mercy,
By thy grace Divine,
We are on the Lord's side,
Saviour, we are thine.
Not for weight of glory,
Not for crown and palm,
Enter we the army,
Raise the warrior psalm;
But for Love that claimeth
Lives for whom he died:
He whom Jesus nameth
Must be on his side.
By thy love constraining,
By thy grace Divine,
Jesus, thou has bought us,
Not with gold or gem,
But with thine own lifeblood
For thy diadem:
With thy blessing filling
Each who comes to thee,
Thou hast made us willing,
Thou has made us free.
By thy grand redemption,
By thy grace Divine,
Fierce may be the conflict,
Strong may be the foe,
But the King's own army
None can overthrow:
Round his standard ranging,
Vict'ry is secure;
For his truth unchanging
Makes the triumph sure.
Joyfully enlisting
By thy grace Divine,

God's Love: A Basic Study of 1 John 4:8, Pt 3

21.  The love of God is a awesome hidden truth.  It is hid in Jesus Christ our Lord and Deliverer.  It has an inexhaustible height to the love of God.  The depth of the love of God is unfathomable and no one can reach it or know it in its complete sense, because the love of God is incalculable.  The love of God is the beauteous light and awesome gift of eternal and awesome truth.  We ought to reflect on the Cross where the love of God is.  We sigh at the inestimable gift of the Cross.  We must find our rest in Jesus Christ our Lord and Redeemer and Savior.  There is no rest apart from Him or adding to Him with something else. Christ is the awesome Creator and Savior of the world: the very Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world.

22.  The ocean is a great sight to see, but the Cross of Jesus in its love surpasses the ocean in its fullest sense.  However, the ocean is often described as a place where God puts our sins because it is so vast.  I understand this, however, since the Cross is eternal it is greater in depth then the ocean.  Yet it is okay to say God has cast my sins in the depths of the sea!  And surely He has!  What a Savior!  What a Redeemer!  What a Deliverer!  What a God!  What a Friend!  Jesus' Cross is also greater than the space of the sky and even space itself.  The Cross is infinite or eternal and nothing in all creation can outdo it.  The love of God comes from above, yea, even from heaven itself.  It came in the incarnation of the God-child in the manager as a baby boy.  It came in the childhood of Christ when He taught the leaders in the temple at the age of 12.  It came in Jesus' perfect life and especially in His perfect death.  Romans 5:5 says that God has richly poured out the very love of God into our precious hearts.

23.  We can depend on the love of God because the love of God is eternal.  Space is not eternal; however, many evolutionists say it is eternal, but we know that the Cross is greater than space.  God's love has no beginning and the love of God has no end.  The Bible says that God has loved us with an eternal and everlasting love.  The lovingkindnesses of the good Lord is everlasting or eternal.  There is indeed no end in God's love.  We know what the Bible says about the eternal love and security of the Cross.  No death, life, no principalities, nothing present, nothing to come, no powers, no height, no depth, no created thing can separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ (Romans 8f).  The greatest evidence or proof of the love of God is God's sovereignty in spiritual redemption.  The Bible says He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.  He desires for us to be holy and blameless.  He is willing to carry it out.  God predestined us in His awesome love to holy adoption as contrite sons through Christ to Himself.  This was because and for the kind intention of His awesome will.

24.  God calls us to Himself because of His sovereign good pleasure.  The Bible is clear on this that God in eternity past called us us to Himself according to the kind intention of His will.  We did absolutely nothing to earn His love or receive His love, but we can never lose His love.  God loved us before we came to Christ.  He also loved us as believers in Him with an everlasting love.  Salvation is the unbreakable chain that guarantees God's love for us in and through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  There was no way we could merit esteem because in us is nothing but badness or non-goodness.  There is no righteousness in us.   We fall short of the glory of God.  We could never give the good Lord delight because there is no delight in us; that is, we lack inherit sanctification or inherit goodness to merit heaven.   However, we must sing to the Father of lights who designed spiritual salvation and redemption for His people.  Salvation occurred because it seemed good in the sight of God the Father through His Son by His Spirit.

25.  This life is passing away, but we are eternally embraced in the open arms of love at the Cross of Jesus Christ because it is intended for His people.  We must understand that the love of God is without influence.  The love of God is giving and God supplies it.  There is no way that He would not supply it because it is by virtue of His giving.  The love of God is also infinite, eternal and immutable.  That is, it is without change.  If God loves a person, He will never stop loving that person.  The love of God is eternal and it has no end.  Jesus loves His people close to His heart.  Jesus loves His people equally and as the apple of His eye.  Beloved John and David are pictures or glimpses of how God loves us and each and every person in Christ.  The love of God at the Cross makes us secure in Him.  We are not secure in Christ because of who we are.  We are secure in Christ because of who God is.

26.  Suppose you have a good day and suppose you have a bad day.  Which day did God love you more?  If you pick the good day, you are striving on performance.  You do not understand the love of God as free.   You do not understand the unconditional love of God.  You do not understand the unevoked love of God.  I submit again, you do not understand the uninfluenced love of God.  The Bible says that obedience is commanded because it is expected due to God's love for us (John 14:15).  The disobedience of a Christian brings God's displeasure; however, it never brings a separation to us in relationship to God because He loves us without condition or personal merit, but the real issue is that the merit of Jesus comes to us by faith alone.  God will potentially discipline us if we have sinned, but this suffering of the saints is not meritorious.  However, we may forfeit blessings and negative consequences may come upon us.  However, once someone is a child of God He can never love us less.  He loves us just as the same as He did before.  His love never fails.  We may think sometimes that He will stop loving us, however, we are mistaken.  It does not matter if we sin greatly because God loves us no matter what.  We ought to demonstrate our charity due to the Cross.  The Cross is the greatest act of charity the world has ever known.  We ought to secure the love of God.  It is about a holy acceptance of God's love for His people.  Parents love their children in the same way, and our Heavenly Father loves us like that.  Our actions do not matter because God loves us today, yesterday and tomorrow.  There is no limit to God's love because there is no limit to the love of the Cross.

27.  The Bible says that God loved us first.  The love of God was not based on any conditions in our past.  It will not be based on anything we do in the future.  However, God sees all that we are.  Martin Luther described the nature of man as a dunghill.  We are dunghills of radical corruption and total depravity.  We are in many ways, by God's viewpoint, unlovable because of our radical pollution.  However, God has chosen to love us according to His good pleasure and sovereign right.  He continues to love us and He will never stop loving us.  He hugs us to Himself at the Cross where He paid the penalty for our sin.  He took the radical and eternal punishment and wrath upon Himself and bore it upon the tree alone.  No one else bore our sin upon themselves but Christ Jesus the Lord and Lamb of God.  God accepts us not because of what we have done but because of what God has done in Christ on our behalf.

28.  The love of God is giving.  That is, He always supplies it to lost and guilty sinners.  The love of God is infinite.  That is, His love is eternal and will never end.  The love of God is unconditional.  That is, there is nothing we can do to remove His love from us.   The love of God is based on God's immutable character.  That is, His love will never change because it is based on His immutable character.  We can depend on God for the love we have for our neighbor.  We can depend on God for the love of God.  We ought to understand that God is love is mightily bestowed.  The love of God is only bestowed upon us through the Father's only Son.  Jesus obeyed the will of the Father to heed the death at the Cross.  His purchased a world in sin and ruined.  He paid the ransom to the Father.  He gave us His own blood at Calvary's Cross.  The blood was shed for me and you by the spotless Lamb of God.  The love of God moved Jesus to die on the Cross.  It was to make us ready for a land of eternal bliss.  Jesus satisfied divine justice at the Cross and walked as perfect righteousness before God.  There was no other who could satisfy divine justice but Jesus Christ.  Moses, David and the Virgin Mary never walked as God Incarnate.  But Jesus did!  He represents God to God and man to man, and He is the bridge to eternal life.  The sorrow of the divine Cross was great.  He took our sin upon Himself.  He took our sorrow upon Himself.  He took our pain upon Himself.  What wondrous love is this!  I submit there was no great teacher that loved the way Jesus loved!   He wore the crown of thorn to represent sin to us.  He took the fullness of our sin upon Himself.  I submit no religious teacher has done this!  Can anyone explain in full detail the love of Jesus?  I submit to you that the love of Jesus is unexplainable in a comprehensive sense, but in a limited sense we can understand that God surely loves us because of His dear Son.  He took our sin upon Himself and bore it in its grave and serious consequences.  The Cross supplies all our spiritual needs.  To have the gift of the Cross is to possess everything.  There is no greater gift than the very Cross of Jesus Christ.   The Cross is our divine shelter, and our holy refuge.  We are all helpless and undone.  We are all sinners in desperate need of a divine Redeemer to set us free and save to the uttermost.  There is no greater conqueror save Jesus Christ who paid the debt and removed wrath from us as far as the east is from the west.  Amen.  (Information was used from Pastor Randy Smith's sermon "The Love of God" on the verse 1 John 4:8 on July 30, 2006).

God's Love: A Basic Study of 1 John 4:8, Pt 2

11.  Jesus Christ accepted our sins upon Himself; that is, it states this in 1 Corinthians 5:21a that He received the wrath of God upon the Cross alone.  Romans 5:9 says that we are saved from the wrath to come through Jesus Christ and His eternal sacrifice.  1 Thess. 1:10 says that we are rescued from the wrath to come.  John 5:24 says that through the gift of faith and repentance we can receive the free gift of forgiveness.  Forgiveness is received through contrite confession of sin to God through His dear Son.   There is no way for anyone (not even ministers of the Gospel) to take away our faith that is in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.

12.  We ought to understand that wrath is removed from us because of the Cross alone.  The Cross is the personification of God's ultimate love for His sinful people.  The love of God is available through the person and work of our Lord and Deliverer Jesus Christ.  The love of God moved Him to send Jesus, live a perfect life and die a perfect death.  1 John 4:10 says that God's love is the propitiation for our sins.  God reconciles us to Himself through His dear Son.  Sin is removed forever through the Cross and God now sees us through His eternal Son.  God required divine and full satisfaction for our sins because He is satisfied with His love toward us.

13.  All of us want to see God's love in us and through us.  It is sometimes hard to see the love of God in nature because of earthquakes and things like that.  It is also hard to see the love of God in wars and abortions.  It is also hard to see the love of God in churches when their is self-esteem and backsliding.  We ought to know if God loves us or not.  We want to see the love of God.  We ought to look no further than the very Cross of our Lord and Savior.  Romans 5:8 says God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.  Ephesians 2:4 and 1 John 4:19 speaks of the love of God in the cross though He died for sinners.  He came to rescue sinners from the world, the flesh and the devil. 

14.  We stand before God and we seek proof of God's divine love.  The proof of God's love is the Cross of Jesus Christ.  God offered up His Son as a sacrifice for sin.   There is no other demonstration of God;s love than the Cross of Jesus Christ.  There is no depth to the love of God in the Cross.  There is no refusal at the Cross but there is full acceptance through Jesus Christ.  Augustine referred to the Cross whereas Christ preached the love of God from the Cross as a "pulpit."  In the Cross is all the riches of redemption and freedom from sin.  It is in the Cross of Jesus Christ where God sets us free from sin.  We are forgiven of all our sins at the Cross and it is God's bridge for sinful humanity to directly come to Him by the simple obedience of faith and repentance toward God through His dear Son.

15.  God's love does not exist outside of the Cross.  There is no OT or NT verse or passage that speaks of God's love outside the Cross of Christ.  Jesus gave Himself so we might believe in Him and everyone who believes will never perish but have eternal life.  Gal. 2:20, 1 John 4:10 and Revelation 1:5 speaks of the centrality of the Cross and its power and effectiveness in pardoning sin.   God loves fallen sinners but He never compromises His holiness.  In the Cross is where the holiness of God is revealed.  God sent His Son to die on the Cross for the sin of the elect alone so that He might demonstrate His absolute holiness.

16.  Can we trust God's ultimate love at the Cross of Jesus Christ?  There is no doubt that we have been hurt by people who claimed to love us.  We have been scared by them and tormented.  But is there hope in the Cross of Jesus Christ?  If we give our hearts to God for love, how do I know He will not let me down?  There are many people promise to love and do not love.  There are many vows made for marriage but few kept.  However, if we feel that God will not continue to love us, if we have made a true profession, it could be possible that we have made a god after our own image.  Scripture defines His character.  I submit to you that we can trust God's ultimate love at the Cross of Jesus Christ.  In the Cross is security, endurance and preservation for God's people to live as a forgiven people. 

17.  We must understand that God's love is a "giving" kind of love and it is also free.  The love of God is giving. True love gives.   God sent His Son and He gave us Jesus Christ.  He gave us the greatest gift of all.  The greatest gift is His dear Son Jesus Christ.  God gives us Himself and this is the greatest gift.  2 Corinthians 5:19 says that God was reconciling the world to Himself.  God gave us Himself and by doing this the Triune Lord gave us Himself.  I submit there is no higher or deeper gift than God Himself.  God is the center and essence of all goodness.  There is no greater gift then Himself.  The most loving thing God could do is give us Himself to love.  There no greater love than Himself and He could not give us anything greater.  He would not be ultimately and supremely loving if He did not give us Himself. 

18.  God's giving is practical.  That is, we experience it in our daily lives.  God's love is compassionate.  That is, He gives us mercy.  God's love is unsurpassed.  That is, there is no equal to God's love.  God's love is sacrificial.  That is, He came to give Himself up to save lost and dark sinners.  God did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all and He gives us all things because He gave us His Son (Romans 8:32).  The supreme gift was Jesus because He is God Incarnate.  He gave us our greatest need and He provides for all our degrees of needs.  There is nothing that the Cross cannot deal with.  The Cross is where love is.  The Cross is where we see God giving humanity a second chance.  People sin often but God gives us His Son at Calvary and He forgives everything wrong we have done.

19.  We love because His Spirit and His Word.  God is truly happy with us when we love Him.  We cannot love Him by our sinful flesh but we must love Him by His Spirit.  He is happy when we are happy in His love.  To be happy in Jesus is to trust and obey; however, if we have sinned the Cross is there where Jesus our Advocate stands ready to forgive.  We matter to God.  There is all resources at God's disposal.  God gives us His Son; God gives us His love.  We may not feel happy but God is happy with us.  We may feel rejected and abused but God still loves us.  We are to be happy in Jesus for His sake and our sake.  There is no greater love then the Cross of Jesus Christ.

20.  The Bible says that God's love is infinite.  There is no limit to God's love (Ephesians 3:18).  God's love is infinite and it is more eternal than eternal sin.  We ought to come to a higher understanding of His love.  God's love cannot be fathomed.  It is too great for our human minds; however, we can never stop growing in His ultimate love of the Cross for His people.  It was God the Father's joy to see His Son take on the sin of His people.  It is our joy to have holiness imparted to us from the Cross in His forgiveness, cleansing and compassion.  Nothing can reach the heights of God's love.  Nothing can reach the depth of God's love. The love of God is infinite.  His love is without limit.  His love is without measure.  We cannot express or comprehend the love of God but we can grow in understanding it.  There is no great sin that we can commit to take us out of God's love at the Cross of Jesus Christ.  God never ceases to love His people in Christ.  God never exhausts His love for us, but He always has enough of it for His people, because the Cross is infinite love for His children.   God loves us as much as God loves Christ.  That means His love is deeper than the sea, greater than the measurement of space and higher than the sky.  Amen.

Loving the Mentally ill

Let me tell you a story.  There was a minister of the Gospel and he was excelling in his ministry.  Everything was working out for him and he was beginning to write books again.  People were responding to his ministry and he even had people join his cause, but this wise minister despised the mentally ill. 

He would not associate with them and ran from them like they had the plague.  He ignored them and repeatedly asked them to stay away from him.  Now listen to what the minister did: he broke the relationship and slandered the people because they were different than him. 

In all the minister's posterity, was it worth his fury against the mentally ill?  Did he have just cause to break ties with them and slander them?  I submit that the minister has no idea of love and he is self-centered and self-concerned. 

We are called to love the mentally and emotionally ill.   These kinds of people are people as well.  They have just as much right to live as the wise minister.  The sin of the minister is like many today: the politics of experience change people around them and they judge the mentally and emotionally ill from subjective standards instead of loving them as their neighbor.  This was a true story.

God's Love: A Basic Study of 1 John 4:8, Pt 1

1.  The love of God is the most loved thing of all creation.  We love the love of God.  The love of God comes directly from God's heart.  The Bible says that God is love and everything He does is in love.  God is not a God of tyranny.  He is not cruel or evil. The love of God is a awesome truth of God.  The love of God is comforting to us because it is a profound and divine truth of God.

2.  We think of the love of God and the sin of man and judgment.   We think that we deserve His judgment but we remember that God is a God of love.  God loves us who are by nature children of wrath because of His Son's Cross as the crucified God-man.  How can God be just and still love sinners?  How can God take His holiness seriously and forgive unworthy sinners?

3. We must worship the God of divine Scripture because only then do we ponder justification of guilty sinners.  People worship a god of sentimentalism rather than the God of the divine Word.  God does not abandoned other divine and holy attributes of His nature when He loves.  God does not abandon holiness and justice, but these are all seen in the Cross and if they are not seen in the Cross, the Cross, I submit, is not seen rightly.  We ought to never worship ourselves but we ought to worship God alone.

4.  People love but they love imperfectly.  People who loved us in the past have broken our hearts and caused us pain.  How can we understand love?  How can we understand true love?  True love is the Cross of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  Those who love us greatly have the greatest potential to harm us.  We ought to love God supremely because He will never harm us; however, people will harm us.  Some of forsaken love and they do not love at all, because they worry they will be crushed.  We ought to love in light of the fact that people are sinners and that it is possible for them to betray us.

5.  We ought to understand that if we love we will be vulnerable.  We ought to trust the hope that if we love Jesus He will surely never deny us love.  Will God's love let you down?  He says in His Word "I will never leave you nor forsake you."  He will never abandon us.  He will never ask us to depart from Him, because He loves us with the love of the Cross of Jesus Christ.  God accepts everyone who comes to Him through His dear Son.  No one is cast out.  No one is wronged.  No one is harmed.  Everyone is welcomed with the open arms of the Cross.

6.  We might think, "how can God love me and still be just?"  He loves through the Cross.  In the Cross is His justice, His holiness, His righteousness, His forgiveness and His cleansing power.  There is no way for someone to be virtuous or holy without the Cross of Jesus Christ.  God cannot tolerate sin, but sin was punished on Jesus at the Cross.  We cannot keep His law because we are sinners, but God's law points us to His Son at the Cross who welcomes us to Himself.  When we comes we ought to come to God alone.  We all fall short of the glory of God.  We are all sinners.  No one is perfect before God.  When someone has His goodness and mercy, we have it only by His love of the Cross.  Without the Cross there is no hope, but thanks be to God for the great transaction of sin and meritorious righteousness.   

7.  There is an eternal chasm or gulf between us and God; that is, we are eternally separated from God because of sin, transgression and iniquity.  He is holy and we are not.  He is just and we are not.  He is pure and we are not.  He is beautiful and we are fallen.  No human being deserves God's love.  Some may say we earn God's love.  This is impossible.  No one can earn God's love except Jesus Christ.  Christ earned salvation for us in His perfect life.  No one else could do this because Christ was sinless.  Sinners cannot earn salvation because of radical corruption.

8.  James 2:10 says if we fall at one single point of the law we have broken all of the law.  This is the doctrine of total depravity.  1 John 1:8 says we ought to confess that we have sinned otherwise we deceive ourselves and there is no truth in us.  And the OT says that there is not a righteous man on earth that does not sin (Ecc. 7:20).  Sin is said in the Bible to bring spiritual death and this deserves eternal punishment.  If we believe the Cross, we will see the satisfaction of the justice of God placed upon Jesus Christ.  He took our eternal punishment and God was pleased to accept Him in our place.  There is no other well-beloved Son but our Lord and Deliverer Jesus Christ.

9.  God and humankind are not spiritual lovers; that is, we are not born loving God; however, we have been called from our mother's womb by God the Holy Spirit.  God executes judgment upon sinners who have rebelled against Him and His truth that is based on His majestic nature.  We are alienated, enemies and non-reconciled people before God if we do not know Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior.   The Bible says that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against our sin.  We cannot negotiate through another intercessor or mediator but we have Jesus who makes intercession to the uttermost. 

10.  How can someone be right with God?  How can someone be just before a holy God?  We can be right before God by Jesus Christ and we can be holy by His Spirit.  God must not give us wrath but He must give us love.  He can give us love only through Jesus' efficacious atonement at Calvary.  Our sin must be removed, but how can it be removed?  It can be removed by God's imputation to His Son at the Cross.  God gave Jesus our sin and He has given us His imputed righteousness in justification.  Jesus offered up Himself as a pleasing sacrifice to God and it was as a fragrant incense before God.  This means in light of the Cross no one can take our sin into account.  It means no one can accuse us anymore, because Jesus has taken it upon Himself.  Amen.

Biblical-Centered Repentance, Pt 1

Genesis 6:6 KJV

And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart 

The Lord repented for making mankind on earth and it caused the Good Lord to be grieved.  This does not mean that God admits a mistake or sin, but it means it condescends to us through human language so we might understand that mankind has sinned in His awesome, omnipresent presence.

 
Genesis 6:7 KJV

And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 

 

Again, God repents in making man because He uses anthropomorphic language so we understand that man has committed serious wickedness and he must reform by God's divine grace.

Exodus 13:17 KJV

And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:

Exodus 32:12 KJV

Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

Repentance should only be used for good purposes unto God's glory.  We ought to never repent of right things that we do, but it does not mean that those good deeds are not stained with corruption and also need forgiveness and cleansing.  God promises that through His Son He is able to take away our sin.

Exodus 32:14 KJV

And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

Here the Lord repents again: it never means He made a mistake or sin but He sometimes relents of His justice and stops His progression of His indignation against His people.

Numbers 23:19 KJV

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

God never repents of sin, but He repents to turn the people onto justice or to remove justice from them.

Deuteronomy 32:36 KJV

For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.

The Lord has mercy on His people.

Judges 2:18 KJV

And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.

The Lord repents and removes His justice against the people.

Judges 21:6 KJV

And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.

Judges 21:15 KJV

And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

We ought to never stop repenting.  Death ends repentance, but everyone who repents seeks to be pleasing to God and also do works of repentance to honor God in small or great ways.

1 Samuel 15:11 KJV

It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night.

Again the Lord puts it into our understanding: He regrets that He made Saul king.  

1 Samuel 15:29 KJV

And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.

The Lord never sins nor makes a mistake.  He only repents to teach us about what He is doing and He puts it into our language so we comprehend His divine message.

1 Samuel 15:35 KJV

And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

The Lord puts it into human language: Saul should not have been made king but it was judgment upon the people of God because they sinned in wanting a king.

2 Samuel 24:16 KJV

And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.

We ought to remember mercy in judgment.

1 Kings 8:47 KJV

Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;

We ought to always remember our sin before God and acknowledge our sin before God and man and His angels.  We ought to confess our sin to the Lord and He is faithful to forgive. 

1 Chronicles 21:15 KJV

And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the Lord beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

The Lord stops the judgment because He remembers mercy in His judgments.

Job 42:6 KJV

Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

We all should be like Job and repent in dust and ashes.  Job was a family man and he served God with all his heart and loved his neighbor as himself.  Job was a sinner but he repent because the Spirit granted it to him.  We ought to pray that the Spirit grants us repentance and faith to please God.

Psalm 90:13 KJV

Return, O Lord, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.

He never changes His mind but it only means if we repent He changes His course of judgment upon His slaves.

Psalm 106:45 KJV

And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.

The Lord is always faithful and He has mercy on the disobedient and evildoers.

Psalm 110:4 KJV

The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

The Lord made Jesus a High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.  He does not decide to change it but keeps it forever under His divine vow.

Psalm 135:14 KJV

For the Lord will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants.

The Lord searches our hearts and minds; that is, Jesus is a Master of this and God favors His slaves who work His will wheresoever they go.

Jeremiah 4:28 KJV

For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

God will not turn from His anger nor will He repent nor decide against it.  We ought to fear God's corrective judgment and chastening so we do not sin again. 

Jeremiah 8:6 KJV

I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.

We ought to always repent when we have done wrong.  The Spirit grants us repentance through His goodness of lovingkindnesses.  We ought to ask what we have done and how we have sinned.  True forgiveness is the importation of the application of Jesus' merits by His Holy Spirit.

Jeremiah 15:6 KJV

Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.

We ought to never forsake the Lord.  We ought to repent and bear deeds of repentance.  The Lord is faithful and He will see us through.

Jeremiah 18:8 KJV

If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.

It means He takes away the judgement and puts His purpose in the sense of our language.

J.C. Ryle on Jesus' Omniscience

JC Ryle wrote,

“All things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Heb. 4:13). Nothing can be concealed from Christ. What do we think of, in private, when no man sees us? What do we think of, in church, when we seem so grave and serious? What are we thinking of at this moment, while these words pass under our eyes? Jesus knows. Jesus sees. Jesus records. Jesus will one day call us to give account. It is written that “God will judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ” (Rom. 2:16).

Born Again, Justified, Sanctified

When we are born again God implants faith in us in a new heart of flesh.
John 3 KJV
³ Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
⁴ Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
⁵ Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
⁷ Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
⁸ The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
⁹ Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
¹⁰ Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
¹¹ Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
¹² If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
¹³ And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
¹⁵ That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
¹⁷ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
¹⁸ He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

When we are justified God gives us the imputed righteousness of His dear Son.
Romans 3 KJV 
²¹ But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
²² Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
²³ For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
²⁴ Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
²⁵ Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
²⁶ To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
²⁷ Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
²⁸ Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
²⁹ Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
³⁰ Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
³¹ Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

When we are sanctified in progressive sanctification God imparts holiness to us by faith.
 John 17:19 KJV

And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

 Romans 15:16 KJV

That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

Is the Trinity a true doctrine of the Christian faith? Thoughts on Jehovah's Witnesses

In Jehovah's Witness theology, the Trinity is not a true doctrine; that is, it is considered satanic and pagan in origin.  However, the Bible teaches the doctrine of the Blessed and Holy Trinity; that is, there is one God revealed in three distinct persons. 

But the Watchtower calls the Trinity doctrine a deceptive doctrine (Reconciliation, 1928, p. 101) and to worship God means to reject the Triune nature of God (Should You Believe in the Trinity? 1989, p. 31).  They also say that there is no mention of a trinity in the Bible (Let God Be True, 1946 [1952 rev.], p. 111). 

The words theocracy or Jehovah is not found in the Bible, but the concept is.  The concept of the Trinity is found in the Bible and it must be embraced as true doctrine from God. 

D.M. Lloyd Jones on God's Forgivness

D.M. Lloyd Jones wrote,

So the Cross does not merely tell us that God forgives, it tells us that that is God’s way of making forgiveness possible. It is the way in which we understand how God forgives. I will go further: How can God forgive and still remain God? – That is the question. The Cross is the vindication of God. The Cross is the vindication of the character of God. The Cross not only shows the love of God more gloriously than anything else, it shows His righteousness, His justice, His holiness, and all the glory of His eternal attributes. They are all to be seen shining together there. If you do not see them all you have not seen the Cross.

Do You Believe the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?

Here are verses on believing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior:

John 1:7 NASB

He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.

 John 1:12 NASB

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,

 John 1:50 NASB

Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

 John 2:11 NASB

This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

 John 2:22 NASB

So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

 John 2:23 NASB

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing.

 John 3:15 NASB

so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

 John 3:16 NASB

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

 John 3:18 NASB

He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

 John 3:36 NASB

He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Is Man Divine? A Few Words on Freemasonry

Freemasonry alleges that man is not only basically good but he is divine.  It is said that masonry makes man aware of the divinity within him and to reach the divine within himself.   This comes from documented resources supporting and representing Freemasonry. 

However, man is not divine nor basically good.  We must understand that God is the Creator but man is the creature.  Satan led the human race through Adam and Eve to sin and be like God.  Godhood is not possible in this life.  The Bible does not support achieving divinity within but to repent and believe the gospel. 

Is Spiritual Salvation By Good Works Alone? A Few Words on Freemasonry

There is no divine grace in Freemasonry but earning spiritual salvation through good works alone.  Spiritual salvation, however, in biblical Christianity is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.  Ephesians 2:8-10 says salvation is by grace through faith unto good works. 

Titus 3:5 says there is no righteous deeds but by God's transcendent mercy and compassion that He saves sinners.   Acts 1631 speaks of sole faith in our Lord Jesus Christ as our ultimate Savior and Deliverer.   Romans 3:21ff speaks of the divine righteousness of Christ alone that earned salvation for us and His perfect death that by His Spirit imputed divine righteousness compatible with the Father's standard of merit.  

Let us learn today that it cannot be by good works we are saved but by His glorious imputed righteousness as the sole foundation or grounds on how we are right with God.  There is no other merit or righteousness because the Father's desires His highest standard that is His divine Son and His set apart righteousness or merit.  May God open the minds of the Freemasons to comprehend the imputed merit of Christ alone for how someone is right with God!  Amen and amen.

Is Man Good? A Study in Freemasonry

The Bible teaches that man is not good nor righteous; that is, he is totally corrupt and radically depraved.   No man is perfect but our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

However, Freemasonry teaches that man is basically good and must achieve perfection through self-effort.  In relation to a sinless and good God, our good works are sinful in comparison.  There is no good in us.  Man is not inherently good but he is inherently fallen and corrupt.

Man has inherited the sinful nature of Adam and people cannot become righteous before God through personal effort.  There is only one way to be right with God: it is through faith in the life and death of Christ Jesus alone.

John Piper on Suffering and Faith

John Piper wrote,

When Paul says, “If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink,” he does not mean, “Let’s all become lechers.” He means, there is a normal, simple, comfortable, ordinary life of human delights that we may enjoy with no troubling thoughts of heaven or hell or sin or holiness or God – if there is no resurrection from the dead. And what stunned me about this train of thought is that many professing Christians seem to aim at just this, and call it Christianity. Paul did not see his relation to Christ as the key to maximizing his physical comforts and pleasures in this life. No, Paul’s relation to Christ was a call to choose suffering – a suffering that was beyond what would make atheism “meaningful” or “beautiful” or “heroic.” It was a suffering that would have been utterly foolish and pitiable to choose if there is no resurrection into the joyful presence of Christ… Judge for yourself. How many Christians do you know who could say, “The lifestyle I have chosen as a Christian would be utterly foolish and pitiable if there is no resurrection?.... The deepest need that you and I have in weakness and adversity is not quick relief, but the well-grounded confidence that what is happening to us is part of the greatest purpose of God in the universe – the glorification of the grace and power of his Son - the grace and power that bore Him to the cross and kept him there until the work of love was done.

The Sense of Scripture

We must understand that different versions of the Bible are not so new; that is, read these words from the Book of Nehemiah 8:8,

Nehemiah 8:8 NASB

They read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.

From this simple verse we can rightly conclude that God approves of accurately understanding the written Word of God by the committee of leaders.  The Book of the Law need only be put in the sense or language of the people of God for them to rightly understand it.  Here are some versions of the Bible that are very good and sound to use in your study of God's written and divine Word,

• King James Versions (KJV)
• New King James Versions (NKJV)
• English Standard Version (ESV)
• New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Imitate Daniel

We ought to imitate Daniel in the Old Testament; that is, Daniel realized he has no merit or righteousness or virtue of his own because only goodness comes from God alone.  Let's look at the different versions of the Bible on Daniel 9:18,

Daniel 9:18 KJV

¹⁸ O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.
Daniel 9:18 NASB
¹⁸ O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion.
Daniel 9:18 ESV

¹⁸ O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.
Daniel 9:18 ^NIV
18 Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.
Daniel 9:18 NKJV

¹⁸ O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies.

Daniel's Prayer

9 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;

² In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

³ And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

⁴ And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;

⁵ We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:

⁶ Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

⁷ O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.

⁸ O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.

⁹ To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

¹⁰ Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

¹¹ Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.

¹² And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.

¹³ As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.

¹⁴ Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.

¹⁵ And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

¹⁶ O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.

¹⁷ Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.

¹⁸ O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.

¹⁹ O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

John MacArthur on the Family of God

John MacArthur wrote,

The Christian church cannot be what it is called to be when ritual, race, class, or other distinctions separate members from each other. The labels men put on themselves and on others are irrelevant to God, and should also be irrelevant to His people. Before salvation, every person is equally separated from God, and after salvation every person is equally reconciled to God. Believers “are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus… There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for [they] are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26, 28). Because believers are all children of God, they are all brothers and sisters, with no exceptions or distinctions.

Reformed Quotes on Obedience

C. Matthew McMahon wrote,

For we do not keep the Law to be saved. But rather, in keeping the Law we show ourselves to already have gained salvation through the cross of Christ. In light of the cross of Christ and the liberation from the (sting) of sin we receive from it, we are now free to keep the Law (Gal. 4:31).

 R.C. Sproul wrote,

The Antinomian heresy is the view that the law of God revealed in the Old Testament has nothing to do with the New Testament church; that the New Testament church is a church without law, a church that lives and breathes exclusively on the basis of grace… But the New Testament is far from abolishing God’s moral law. Jesus calls His disciples to obedience. He says, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15).

Augustine wrote,

If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself....Wicked men obey from fear; good men, from love.

John Murray wrote,

There is no conflict between the gratification of desire and the enhancement of man’s pleasure, on the one hand, and fulfillment of God’s command on the other… The tension that often exists within us between a sense of duty and wholehearted spontaneity is a tension that arises from sin and a disobedient will. No such tension would have invaded the heart of unfallen man. And the operations of saving grace are directed to the end of removing the tension so that there may be, as there was with man at the beginning, the perfect complementation of duty and pleasure, of commandment and love.

Do Not Turn to the Occult: A Study of What is Forbidden

The occult is forbidden; however, people submit to it because of desperation.  They feel that they have been rejected of the Lord or they do not think it through or chose the easy way out and side with Satan.  There is always an answer from the Lord.  He may not answer with a "yes" but He may answer with a "no."  If He answers with a "no," you must give it time because you can wait on the Lord (Isaiah 30:18).  The Psalms speak on waiting on God and He shall be our strength.  If God answers "no," you can always pray more and a door will open.   I think it is clear from the Bible that Judas was involved in the occult because Satan possessed him.  The occult has its victims and I personally despise the occult and all it stands for.  Sometimes with occultic abuse there is also immorality and sexual abuse at the hands of the occultic people.  May God smash Satan to pieces and place him under our feet and protect the little children from him.  Amen.

Here are some Bible verses on the occult,

Leviticus 19:31 NASB

‘Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.

 Leviticus 20:6 NASB

‘As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.

 Leviticus 20:27 NASB

‘Now a man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.’”

 Deuteronomy 18:11 NASB

or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.

 1 Samuel 28:7 NASB

Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, there is a woman who is a medium at En-dor.”

 1 Samuel 28:9 NASB

But the woman said to him, “Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who are mediums and spiritists from the land. Why are you then laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?”

 2 Kings 21:6 NASB

He made his son pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord provoking Him to anger.

 2 Kings 23:24 NASB

Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums and the spiritists and the teraphim and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.

 1 Chronicles 10:13 NSB

So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it,

 2 Chronicles 33:6 NASB

He made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.

 Isaiah 8:19 NASB

When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?

 Isaiah 19:3 NASB

“Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them; And I will confound their strategy, So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead And to mediums and spiritists.

Is the Holy Spirit a Person? A Study in Freemasonry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity:

In Freemasonry the Holy Spirit is not actually a person, but a manifestation of Hebrew philosophy and the Holy Spirit is considered a "type of universal agent."  (Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, pgs. 552, 734).  However, the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a divine person.  The Bible teaches that He is complete and unchanging.  The word Trinity is not found in the Bible but it explains what the biblical concept of the Trinity is.  The Trinity is from everlasting to everlasting; that is, the Holy Trinity is real.

J.C. Ryle on "Born Again"

J.C. Ryle wrote on being born again,

...A person who has been born again, or regenerated, does not habitually commit sin. He no longer sins with his heart and will and whole inclination. There was probably a time when he did not think about whether his actions were sinful or not, and he did not always feel grieved after doing evil. There was no quarrel between him and sin; they were friends. But the true Christian hates sin, flees from it, fights against it, considers it his greatest plague, resents the burden of its presence, mourns when he falls under its influence, and longs to be completely delivered from it. Sin no longer pleases him, nor is it even a matter of indifference to him; it has become a horrible thing which he hates.

...To be born again is, as it were, to enter upon a new existence, to have a new mind, a new heart, new views, new principles, new tastes, new affections, new likings, new dislikings, new fears, new joys, new sorrows, new love to things once hated, new hatred to things once loved, new thoughts of God, and ourselves, and the world, and the life to come, and salvation.

Does 'Born Again' Mean Reincarnation?

No, being born again does not mean reincarnation.  The Bible is clear that being born again means getting a new heart from God as a new heart of flesh and He removes the heart of stone and He provides us with a divine righteousness of His eternal Son.  The Bible also affirms the doctrine of resurrection over against reincarnation.  However, being born again means God has changed your heart to believe in the Resurrected Savior and God Jesus Christ.  Here are some Scriptures that will help,

Ezekiel 11:19 KJV

And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

Ezekiel 36:26 KJV

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 44:9 KJV

Thus saith the Lord God; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.

Acts 7:51 KJV

Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

John 3 KJV

³ Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
⁴ Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
⁵ Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
⁷ Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
⁸ The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
⁹ Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
¹⁰ Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
¹¹ Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
¹² If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
¹³ And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
¹⁵ That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
¹⁷ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
¹⁸ He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Titus 3:5 KJV

⁵ Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
1 Corinthians 15
 ⁵¹ Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
⁵² In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
⁵⁴ So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
⁵⁵ O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ Omitted from Masonic Lodges?

Jesus Christ is rarely mentioned in Masonic ceremonies.   Moreover, it stands to reason that Jesus' resurrection is omitted.  They seem to reject His most precious act of redemption.  Let us never reject Jesus' resurrection because He rose for our justification.  Here is what Masonic literature says on these subjects,

"In a well-ordered lodge, Jesus is never mentioned except in vague, philosophical terms.  Prayers are never prayed in His name, and when scriptures are quoted in the ritual, all references to Him are simply omitted" (Jim Shaw, The Deadly Deception, p. 76).

Freemasonry rejects praying in Jesus' name, His majestic deity, salvation solely through Him alone and if these are omitted it surely stands to reason that they reject Jesus' divine and bodily resurrection which is the heart of the Christian faith.  

Spurgeon on Obedience

CH Spurgeon wrote on obedience,

I cannot conceive it possible for anyone truly to receive Christ as Savior and yet not to receive Him as Lord. A man who is really saved by grace does not need to be told that he is under solemn obligations to serve Christ. The new life within him tells him that.  Instead of regarding it as a burden, he gladly surrenders himself – body, soul, and spirit – to the Lord who has redeemed him, reckoning this to be his reasonable service.

...I  would sooner be holy than happy if the two things could be divorced. Were it possible for a man always to sorrow and yet to be pure, I would choose the sorrow if I might win the purity, for to be free from the power of sin, to be made to love holiness, is true happiness.

...I do not know when I am more perfectly happy than when I am weeping for sin at the foot of the cross.

Did God Manifest Himself in the Flesh in Jesus Christ?

Masonic literature says that God never manifested Himself in the flesh,

"God never manifested himself to be seen of men.  Creation is his manifestation" (J. D. Buck, Symbolism or Mystic Masonry, p. 276).

The New Testament book of First John says throughout its epistle that those who do not declare that Jesus came into the flesh is not of God but antichrist.  Colossians 2:9 says that Jesus Christ was the fullness of Deity in bodily form.  There is no doubt that God was manifested in the flesh as Jesus Christ our great Lord and Savior and God. 

Are All Religions Acceptable and Is Jesus Only A Man?

Freemasons are taught to accept all religions and that Jesus Christ was merely a man (see Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, p. 524).  Jesus said that if you do not believe who He claimed to be, you would die in your sins.  I think the claims of Jesus (Acts 4:12) speak of the exclusivity of Jesus that sets Him apart from all other religions as the unique Son of God.

The Deity of Jesus
Colossians 1
¹³ Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
¹⁴ In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
¹⁵ Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
¹⁶ For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
¹⁷ And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
¹⁹ For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
²⁰ And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
²¹ And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
²² In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: