Religion or Regeneration?

Philadelphia Skyline - Source: Wikipedia

 By Al Baker - Posted at Forget None of His Benefits:

The city of Philadelphia recently broke a three decade homicide record, reaching 501 thus far in 2021. The Waukesha, Wisconsin Christmas Parade attack last week resulted in sixty-two injured and six killed as Darrell Brooks drove his SUV into the crowd. Human trafficking in our nation is a massive problem of great proportion. “Side B Homosexuals,” who claim to be Christians, try their best to assure us that though they are homosexuals they are actually very moral since they are celibate and do not act upon their same sex attraction. And the American church has the same problems in about the same proportion as the secular and irreligious people in our communities. Divorce, abortion, and porn addiction rates are all about the same. The United States has the largest “Christian” population in the world with over 205 million “believers.” If there are that many Christians in the U.S., and our problems are this pervasive, it seems fair to ask, “What’s wrong with this picture?”

The very religious Pharisee, Nicodemus, came to Jesus during the night, wanting to converse with Him about His signs. Nicodemus knew Jesus was different from the other Rabbis of the day. Jesus straight up told him that unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Four times in the brief, recorded exchange in John 3 Jesus says, “You must be born again.”

So, if Jesus declares the necessity of the new birth, and 70% of Americans claim to be Christians, and if our problems of perversion, corruption, and murder are so prevalent, then what is going on? Why do we find ourselves in this predicament? The reason is two-fold. On the one hand, we do not understand the pervasive, unmitigated, power of sin. And on the other hand, we are not preaching the full gospel.

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