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THE FEAR OF THE NEW BIRTH

Christian Bible Study - Bible Studies

 

Michael Le Sueur
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     Many born again believers have a desire to witness for Jesus and to assist him as he converts the lives of those who pursue sin. These groups of Christians have a wonderful Noah’s ark mentality, they really care for those who do not seem to understand why we were born. To those of you who are in this group, you would be wiser to understand that some people fear the new birth experience. There's a surprising number of people who want to be born again or are curious enough to want to know about it, but they are strangely afraid. Uniquely trapped by an inward fear fueled by forces unseen to them. In order to help this type of individual, this fear must be understood. To understand fear you need to know what goes on inside someone.

     The fear that people have now is moving inward. The more selfish a person becomes the more his own fears will blind him, his view of reality could become more narrow and distorted. This distraction is something that the spirits of evil will capitalize on and take advantage of the person to cause permanent damage to screen out God. To keep God away from someone the mind must be distorted, all spiritual influences have to be kept at bay or perverted. Fear is a way to cripple the mind. Fear, when properly understood, can also stimulate the mind to good works or more careful living. The Christian can appeal to God to help in the proper understanding of this energetic emotion. If you really want to help people come to Christ, the more you relate to this subject the more affective you can be. Fear is an instinctual urge felt which is unacceptable to the mind and creates the feeling of anxiety. These feelings trouble the mind and affect different people in different ways. We all learned about fear in the same three ways. It has been with us since childhood. We have three natural fears. The fear of being alone, the fear of strangers and the fear of darkness. Amazingly these fears follow us our entire lives, yet most would not admit it. Fear has a two fold nature, it can be natural --which is to mean real, or it can be neurotic- which can be associated with the magnification of imagined feelings. God allows what is natural to be imbued in all humans early in their lives. (1COR 15:46). We are naturally carnal, verse 49- and born with the image of the earthy. We are just plainly put—human beings, natural. Natural fear can be very healthy, for example: fear of fire can protect from being burned. Natural fear is real. Although God is spirit, in one sense he is natural -- he is very real. Gods exist, he is not artificial, he has not been altered and he is not in disguise. God is innate-self generating real life.

     The devil is keenly aware of the natural fears that we have and seeks to magnify them. His goal is to take things that are natural and make them crippling. He is the creator of neurotic fear. The human feeling of wanting to repent comes from God. In Romans 2:4, the kindness of God actually leads one to repent. Not his anger or the penalty of sin, but God’s love draws the human conscious toward feelings of wanting to change their condition. The devil tries to cause people to be uncomfortable with conversion. When a person begins thinking about being born again, which is to think and live in a different way that will lead to peace of mind, the devil seeks to immediately enslave that desire. He does it through fear. Examine Romans 8:15, it deals with people receiving a spirit of slavery that leads to fear. Satan will use neurotic fear to enslave the mind. Deep inside of each individual who secretly desires God, there is a neuroses that the devil can appeal to directly or indirectly. This neuroses or this capacity to transfer your thoughts and feelings within your own mind can be accessed and manipulated. Behind the neuroses are thoughts and feelings directly planted by God through diverse times in the person's life. Sometimes obvious and often hidden --these powerful psychic influences are spiritual and in them are rooted our spiritual attitudes and God’s guiding principles. The born again family-lifestyle is actually an advantage to the individual as seen in Proverbs 22:6. Not only train the child, but ourselves. We need to think in ways that will lead people to Christ as well as think of ways that will lead to the new birth experience. This is why it is so vital to understand the dynamics of fear.

     God uses natural fear to build your confidence in him. (Job 4:6). If you examine closely our three natural childhood fears, notice how if viewed in different terms they could assist in leading one to Christ. The fear of being alone shows the need for God and people. The fear of strangers teaches us the need for guidance in wisdom and understanding of God and people and also the need for protection. The fear of darkness can certainly be explained as the absence of light in your life—Jesus Christ. Darkness is the definition of existence without God. You cannot feel safe and secure when you walk in darkness. One of the best ways to assist in leading someone to Christ is to walk with them until you get them where they need to be. Walk them toward the light—farther away from darkness, then they will begin to see more of Christ who is the way the truth and the light. Christ will show you the technique in witnessing, teach you the correct knowledge, and guide you in all way's necessary in teaching the new birth to the fearful. God wants his followers to give him full rein –full leadership in our lives.(Proverbs 3:6). Neurotic fears and feelings have a life of their own and do not want to die. Under satanic pressure people who really want to come to Christ tend to regress to carnal ways of dealing with fears. These ways do not work but people are familiar with them. Understand this and never—ever give up on your efforts to help them, God will bless. This world is designed like a multi-complex prison with a magnet as its base drawing you deeper into your own fears. People conducting themselves as if they are free and yet they are not. The spiritual skills of offering Christ as true freedom must be studied and perfected in trail and error with the confidence of knowing that only in him do we have our being. The foundation of our existence is Christ, in him we move and have our reality. (Acts 17:28). In verse 27, men should seek God, perhaps they might grope and find him—though he is not far from each of us. We can actually teach men this reality! Look at verse 30. God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, a constant invitation to be born again. Our desire to free men from this prison must never be allowed to fade.

     Understand that people are carnal—sold into slavery—in need of your help. Imagine trying to help someone out of a hole and they're fighting you to stay in it. They do not know what they are doing. Falling back into the hole they re-install their carnal nature, the old self is controlling them like a magnet, pulling their emotions and thoughts while magnifying feelings of hopelessness. The devil wants to enslave them in sin and seduce them into seeing things his way. When you see things with the carnal mind you look at life with the eyes of the devil. Sin is like leaven it works in darkness. (1 Cor. 5:6,7). It lies in the subconscious mind will grow and multiply. Satan will fight like a lion to keep someone from being born again. He loves for Christians to take a half-hearted approach toward evangelism. How can you escape if you neglect so great a salvation, how will they escape if you neglect them?

     The new birth is a wonderful experience. (John 3:1-8). In order to be born again self must die. To teach the new birth we must teach people not to fear their "self" dying. Study 1 Corinthians 15:31-58. The death men really fear is the death of self. The devil has seduced men into believing that submission to God is bondage while he personally knows that it is freedom and freedom indeed! Show men that by your own living. If you are depressed and heavy burdened why should they believe you are free? Tell them your story of freedom from sin, if sin is in your life ask God to put you on the road to recovery then share that with them. Show how the process of overcoming sin is really killing the old, natural, carnal man. Nothing can make a person happier than freedom from a sin that had you caught in its grip. Show how that grip is really the loss of our supposed self control, our carnal mind’s predominance over all that we think and do. Fear of what happens if we let go and let God. Our carnal mind would rather plunge us into the depths of darkness and recurrent troubles than to let go of its control and die. Teach them that this is serious war! The new birth does not end this war, it begins it. Read Romans 7:22-25. Also Galatians 2:20. We live the new birth by Christ living in us, his spirit rebuilding us inwardly, molding our mental atmosphere , grinding our will into his own image and shaping our fears into fruitful fulfillment’s of his eternal glory. Our loving father is trying to show us the pure, natural aspects of Godly fear. Always be mindful that this is a hard lesson for some new converts, but a necessary beginning. In Proverbs 1:7 it is revealed that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fear is the place for you to start learning about God! The realization of the evil in this world, the impending danger of doom, the anxiety of your own powerlessness, the fright and dread of eternal death--then having all that energy turned into awe and reverence for God. Many of our childhood fears can be associated with loosing our protective parent. If the parent is near the fear is sedated. Satan tries to seduce the person wanting to submit to God into thinking that God is not there. That he is not natural, not real. A neurotic feeling that the parent is gone. Here is a major reason many fear the new birth. From this point they must continue living as if God is not there. The benefit of life with no obligation to the life-giver. This is actually the true nature and situation of the devil. He has life but no obligation to God and wants to cause man to be in the same condition. He wants to keep you from bonding with God and cause you to bond with him. This is deception at its greatest, you cannot even bond with Satan –it will not stick-his very nature makes things fall apart! A bond with him is a bond with death—show men this, teach them about the future of death. Show them how with Christ death is gain. Remember the movie the terminator, the robots wanted to eliminate the future of the man who led the humans to freedom. They sent one back in the past to perform a type of retroactive abortion and kill the father of the leader. A crude example but fitting to what the devil is trying to perform. Man was created to be reborn to the image of God. Christ death and resurrection has terminated the devils plan to abort mankind, we can be saved from death through the life of our savior. (John 3:16). Jesus gives us birthright, new birth papers written and signed in his blood shed for the redemption of all mankind.

     In Psalms 85:9, salvation is near to those who fear God. Satan wants to cultivate a neurotic fear of God, a feeling of impending doom. That type of fear will naturally give anyone without understanding a improper fear of God. God is not out to kill his creations. There is no need to fear God’s wrath upon you, the wrath Of God is his reaction to sin, in no way is it anger directed toward you. He just knows perfectly how damaging sin is to you and he desires very deeply for you to know. You are his child. Our fear of God can be extended in worship, reverence and awe. (PSALMS 2:11, HEBREWS 12:28). Wouldn’t you think that the important thing about fear is who controls it. When you fear God and do those things that honor him, you are instantly better off spiritually as well as mentally. There are some women who want to have children but fear labor and delivery. This fear is called maieusiophobia. I understand the fear, I was there when my son was born. I have never seen a woman suffer so much to do something so beautiful. I consider myself to be a strong man but there is no way I would subject myself to 12 hours of labor. If a woman goes through that and the man abandons her by withdrawing support, he needs to be stoned. Women with this phobia desire a child, they are just afraid. If the fear is greater than the desire, the woman could cripple her chances to give new birth. Along this same line Satan seeks to cripple any desire that a sinner has to be born again, by any means necessary .

     Neurotic fear is a natural enemy of change. It creates an anxiety that disrupts your communication with God along with your understanding of God. God does not give this type of fear.(2TIM1:7). To be crippled is punishment.(1JOHN4:18). Man and Satan give this type of fear. God does not intimidate man, that is condescending. He could if he wants to , nothing could stop him. His power and precepts are pure and clean.(PSLAMS19:7-9). He has no loving reason to strike us with unfruitful fear, none that I know of. As you witness to people who have fear teach them that it is part of character development. The ultimate benefit of the fear of God is everlasting life. It is a neurotic contradiction to feel that being born again takes away your freedom. Eternal life in the spirit is true freedom and it can begin in the flesh. Now can be the day of your salvation. Right now is the time to be born again. (ROMANS 13:11,12). The quicker you do things God’s way the faster you will come out of the wilderness. Jesus gladly frees us from the slavery of misguided fear. The world is increasingly secular and rootless. Fear by itself is merely fear, but the experience of fear coupled with an understanding that fear serves a worthy purpose adds meaning to suffering. In this world we will suffer. When you understand and truly understand that the fears in your life are necessary to balance your suffering then you are free to not react to them incorrectly. Fear is meaningful. What is more worthy than fear that leads one to Jesus. A spiritual psychology is necessary to understand the new birth. It will bring to light those things you need to escape the pains of living with no purpose. The best way to live is to die! Then let the lamb of life, the resurrection , bring you into a new nature, a new beginning , a better way of thinking and feeling. Let fear bring you to the new birth!

  Michael Le Sueur
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