In grace our Saviour God appeared,
to make his love for mankind clear.
‘Twas not for deeds that we had done,
but by his steadfast love alone,
he saved us through a second birth,
renewed us by the Spirit's work,
and poured him out upon us, too,
through Jesus Christ our Saviour true.
And so, made heirs by his own grace,
eternal life we now embrace.
the talk reminded us how full-on this was, it's like saying, "your whole life is a mistake, get back in your mother's womb."
we reminded of what new birth isn't:
born again ≠ hypocritical (cf politicians)
born again ≠ arrogance (how great i am to be called)
born again ≠ immorality, licentiousness (why not - i'm reborn)
but rather new birth is about true humility, living good lives as a response to the good, being submissive and obedient.
this means that we can live out this new birth anywhere, under any circumstances, whatever our status in life, whatever the political regime. not because of, but despite ourselves.
3 comments:
the isv does read well!!
great verses.
i have the isv new testament on e-sword...
just checked your isv web link - they've almost the old testament.
i do feel freed after hearing the suggestion to 'read the good news bible and learn greek'!
check out other great poems, all through 1 Timothy and Philippians 2.
the good thing about the word doc (tho a chunky file at 2000+ pages) is that you can select all and make it black. what is it with red letter bibles??? i did ask the editor about that and he said it's more for the north american market. the printed one he thought may come in red or plain ole black and white.
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