A Spiritual Birth Certificate

Do you remember the day you were saved? I do: July 4, 1973. This year my spiritual life turns nearly fifty-two. That date is like a birthday. Every time I think of it, it reminds me that on that day God's grace came to me.

A lot of people can't tell you what day they came to faith. If you grew up in a Christian family, you may have come to believe gradually. Others remember the year but have forgotten the day. That's all fine. But I've found that when a new believer can say clearly, "This is when and how I became a child of God," their faith has an anchor.

So in Session 1 of the New Life course, we give everyone a "Spiritual Birth Certificate." Let's read it together first:

If you remember the date, fill it in. If you don't, leave it blank for now. Ask the brother or sister in Christ who walks alongside you to be your witness and sign it. You can decorate it and put it under the glass on your desk. It reminds you of two things: Jesus is my Savior, and he forgives my sins; Jesus is also my Lord, and he rules my whole life.

First, a question: how many legs make the steadiest chair? Four? Six?

The answer is three. A four-legged chair will wobble on uneven ground, even if every leg is the same length. A three-legged chair is steady the moment you set it down, however uneven the ground, because three points define a plane. That's why camera tripods and the stands for surveying instruments all have three legs.

The ground of life is never level. So in this session we'll use two "three-legged chairs." The first is about our new relationship with God; the second is about how we can be sure we're really saved.

The first leg: I have God's life

And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life.

1 John 5:11–13

This is the very heart of our faith: the moment you believe in Jesus, you have God's life. Eternal life doesn't wait until you die, or until the resurrection at the last day. It starts now. After Lazarus died, Martha said to Jesus, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." But Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection, and the life." (John 11:24–25) Life is in the one standing right in front of her, and she can have it now.

This week, read these two verses once every day, put your own name in, and read them out loud:

And this is the record, that God hath given to (your name) eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (your name) hath the Son of God, and hath life.

Why read it out loud, and why put your own name in? First, it's a declaration: I have received God's promise. Second, it's simply a good way to learn. We often hear that if you only hear or see something, two weeks later you may remember just twenty or thirty percent. But when a sentence goes in through your eyes, into your mind, out of your mouth and back in through your ears, you remember far more. Faith cometh by hearing, and that includes hearing God's word declared by your own mouth.