Part of the 10 Hard Truths about Being Born Againseries.

Me.

Not you. Not my wife. Not my father. Not my birth city. Nor my childhood friends.

Me.

That’s my main problem. Namely, my wicked heart.

My wicked heart that finds great pleasure in self-indulgence. That finds great pleasure in ignoring the pain of others. That finds great pleasure in emotionally torturing those close to me.

My wicked heart that’s hell bent on lying, cheating and stealing to get to the top. To write the best novel. To provoke people to like me. To love me. To praise me.

Didn’t know this about me, did you? Surprised? Guess what…it describes you, too. And unfortunately, because of this disposition to sin, you and I rest under the anger of God.

In :

Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

In other words, whether we’re prone to sensual or spiritual wickedness…all men and women…are naturally children of disobedience.

And  also…by nature…children of wrath. God’s wrath.

Not that we we’re born children of wrath. Rather, that we grow into this wickedness…

See, “nature” in the Greek . Yes, we’re born with a bent for evil. A love for evil. And we grow into that love… against the coming day of judgment.

In other words, we’re identified as children of wrath by our behavior. Our actions. Our deeds of disobedience.

We are sons of death. Sons of perdition. And the . Thus, if we died in that state…we’d be judged…and damned.

So you ask the question, “Why do I need to be born again?” My answer is this: You are a child of wrath. You are subject to God’s anger…and the punishment that cascades from it…because you refuse to obey him.

And all this just because you are YOU.

The good news of the New Testament is that  of God.  Jesus even “delivers us from the wrath to come.”

Apart from Christ you are dead. Enslaved to sin. And an object of God’s wrath. In Christ, however, you are alive. Enthroned. And an object of grace…

This is why , “You must be born again.”

Are you?