Bible Reading: Psalm 51; Revelation 8:1-13
“Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” – Psalm 51:5 (KJV).
David here, by no means implies that he was a product of adultery or fornication or that he was an illegitimate child. His father properly married his mother but as legitimate as it may be, everyone born on earth, except Jesus, was born with a fallen and sinful nature. Sin is imputed into the account of a person at birth. Even those born on a holy day by priests, Levites, Bishops or Pastors on the church altar are born with sin imputed into their accounts. Man is first a sinner ever before he commits the first sin.
The sin of Adam was input into the account of every created human being born or unborn, the reason being that Adam represents every human race. We were all in his loins when he ate the forbidden fruit in disobedience and fell from the glory of God. We died together spiritually. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” – Romans 5:19 (KJV). No one is born righteous; the word of God makes this clear that all have sin and fallen short of God’s glory. We inherited sin and sinful nature at birth and we are made to suffer the consequences of sin. “Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” – Romans 5:12 (KJV).
Some people ignorantly claim that they are ‘Christians’ right from birth. Even if one grows up from a Christian family were everyone go to church on Sundays and serve God, one is not a Christian until one acknowledges one’s sins before God and ask for forgiveness. As one grows to know good and bad and hears the gospel, one is given opportunity to make a personal decision and commitment to the gospel of salvation. This results in new birth. The reason one needs to be born again is because by the first birth, one is born a sinner. The new birth makes one a new creation in Christ Jesus. The sinful nature is destroyed and the righteousness of Christ is imputed. Jesus said to Nicodemus, you must be born again.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank you for the new birth.
Rev. Vincent Diolu