Born again (True Testament Book 1)

Read and discuss selected verses from John 4: Display the map of the Holy Land.

While Jesus sat by the well, a Samaritan woman came to draw water. Display the picture of the woman at the well. Yet Jesus deliberately went through Samaria. What does this reveal about him? Answers may include any person or group considered inferior. How should we treat them? How did the Samaritan woman make it easier for Jesus to teach her? Answers may include that she was humble, she desired to know more, and she believed his words. How did the Samaritan woman change as Jesus spoke to her? How did Jesus help bring about this change?

Answers may include that he taught her at her level of understanding, he testified of himself, he used the symbol of water powerfully, and he showed compassion. How can we follow his example as we teach others?

Answers may include the doctrines of the gospel, the love of God, and the Atonement. How can we obtain living water? How has this living water blessed you? The Samaritan woman had come to the well for water John 4: However, after she spoke with Jesus, she left her pitcher at the well and went to tell others about the experience John 4: What can we learn from her example? How were other people blessed because of the faith of the Samaritan woman? How have you been blessed or seen others blessed for believing in the Lord?

How can our faith affect those around us? If you used the attention activity, display the plants and the water pitcher again.

Explain that just as plants need water to live, we need to follow the Savior and his teachings to be born again and have everlasting life. Testify of the truths you have discussed during the lesson. Challenge class members to seek Jesus Christ, follow him, and continue in the process of being born again. The following material supplements the suggested lesson outline.

You may want to use one or more of these ideas as part of the lesson. How can we apply this attitude to our service in the Church? What did Jesus teach his disciples about missionary work in John 4: What did he mean when he said the field was white and ready to harvest?

• The Book of Melmon.
• Accords Manouches/Gypsy Jazz Chords (French Edition).
• Recycle (Interstellar Repairs and Towing Book 2).

How did the Savior apply this same symbol in Doctrine and Covenants 4: Ask class members to share experiences they have had when sharing the gospel with others. Read and discuss John 4: What did the nobleman want of Jesus? How did the nobleman respond? What can we learn from this account about the power of faith? The reason is that Daniel is thinking of the resurrection of the righteous before the Millennium.

Unbelievers will be resurrected after the Millennium Rev Thus Daniel is speaking of two types of resurrections that OT believers will experience. We find the same concept in Matt Whenever eternal life is spoken of as a possible future experience, the reward of abundant eternal life is in view. Even in the OT. But some believers will experience shame when resurrected.

Of course this is a New Testament teaching as well: See also Mark 8: It simply means that forever this person will live with the consequences of their unwise life.

This suggests, Steve argues, that OT believers were not regenerated, and presumably were still dead in their trespasses and sins. That means that God applied the death of Christ to people before Jesus even died! While it is true that it was at Calvary that Jesus took away the sins of the world John 1: God could and did apply the blood of Christ to people long before He actually died. Summary There are many compelling proofs that OT believers were regenerated.

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In addition to the points I make above, let me supply a few more. No one can please God without being regenerated Rom 8: How could an unregenerate person be an author of Scripture?

Surely if Moses and David and the prophets were unregenerated, then there would not have been any Scripture prior to the cross. Nor would there have been any men giving true prophecies. All revelation from God would have come from angels or directly from God—not through men. Anna and Simeon clearly represent OT saints when they rejoiced to see the baby Jesus in the temple. There can be no doubt that they believed Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of God. Yet according to John 6: Anna and Simeon and all OT believers believed in the coming Messiah for eternal life and hence they were born again.

Finally, the biggest problem with this view is that it makes OT believers unbelievers. Oh, they believed something. But they are not seen as believing in the Messiah for everlasting life. They are not seen as being sure that they are eternally secure by faith in the coming Messiah.

As a result, two or more saving messages occur. And why, then, would Paul in Romans 4 and Galatians 3 use Abraham as an example of one who believed the same saving proposition we believe? If Abraham was born again simply because he believed God exists, then how could he be a model for how people are born-again today?

Old Testament believers were not spiritually dead. They were spiritually alive. True, they were not part of the church. True, only some were indwelt by the Holy Spirit and that indwelling was not permanent. But all OT believers were regenerated and all were sealed. To believe otherwise is to reduce OT believers to people who were not children of God, were not spiritually alive, had no ability to please God, and who had no current relationship with God. The reason I address this issue is because it is now a fairly common view in theological education today.