This is the miracle of the new birth. Jesus sends forth His Spirit and says to you, “Come forth.” To use Ezekiel’s imagery, he looks at your valley of dry bones, and he says to the bones, “Live.” What was once dead comes to life. The eyes and ears of your heart open. There is a blink of recognition. And in that moment, faith and love and obedience to the good news of Jesus appear.
Have you ever wondered why you responded to the Gospel but your neighbor didn’t? It’s not because you were by nature smarter and more spiritually sensitive than your neighbor. You weren’t. You were dead as a door-nail. You were no more capable of seeing and and savoring the things of God than your neighbor. If you came to see and savor Jesus Christ as the dying Lamb and the living Lord, it was because Jesus looked at your dry bones and said, “Live.” And he made life and faith and joy spring forth from your dead heart. He changed you from the inside out.
That is the new birth, and you must be born again.
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