April 14, 2024 - How You Can Experience Real Freedom in Your Life - Pastor Paul Vallee

One of the subtle ways in which we can be deceived is when we have been raised in a genuine Christian home environment and then assume that we are Christians because we have an intellectual acceptance of Christ and the Christian faith. Yet, it has never been internalized, nor has it been our life's motivating principle and passion. It is what Jesus told Nicodemus, a religious leader in his day, that his need was to have a 'spiritual birth.' The theological term is 'regeneration.' This is where God's Spirit enters our lives and brings healing, hope, and meaning. How do we know that we are 'born of God? Jesus becomes first in our lives. We now are concerned about pleasing Him. We have a desire for the things of God. It is a beautiful gift to grow up in a godly home where Christ is revealed through the life of a godly parent or parents. However, godly people do not always produce godly children. Each person must embrace the Christian faith. In John 8:31-59, we find Jesus challenging his disciples and the Jewish people at the Temple regarding putting our faith in the wrong things. The Jewish people felt that because of their racial lineage and heritage, they were God's children based upon their lineage. Jesus is now explaining to them that they must have a spiritual lineage, where they need to trust Jesus as the Messiah to become a part of God's spiritual family. What was true for them is equally true for us. In exposing their false hope, Jesus explains who He is. What they do is what that information defines their lives, just as it does for us today.