Born again

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."Yesterday, by the grace of God, our little Andrew confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior - Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. This is the day we've been praying and hoping for, for the last 8 years, since before he was even born!

Granted, we acknowledge that only time will tell if he truly bears fruit 30, 60 or 100 fold and shows evidence of his confessed faith. And we stressed the need for him to not trust in this prayer or this day but to daily trust in Christ's death on the cross and resurrection regardless of anything he does or does not do - Romans 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

Andrew has been asking to become a Christian on and off for several years. But every time, we would ambiguously put him off and see if he was truly interested. Typically, he would seem to forget and not pursue it further. But recently, he has been very persistent and looking forward to this moment.

So we talked last night about the Gospel in some detail and its implications for the rest of his life. He was ready to repent and believe, trusting only in Christ for salvation. He articulated the Gospel quite clearly. Afterward, he said, "This is the happiest day of my life!" He had a mixture of sober mindedness (seemingly understanding the gravity of it all) and joy. And already in 1 day, his attitude seems to have a new perspective.

He also asked if I was going to announce it in our Sunday service! I told him that the Bible says that he needs to be the one to confess Christ and tell others of his new faith...but maybe I can pull some strings for him! :) We also talked about how someday, maybe soon, he would have to be baptized. His first question was, "What do I wear when I get baptized?" He was ready to go.

We are cautiously optimistic that our son has been born again by the grace of God for the glory of God. May the heavens rejoice! Luke 15:7 "I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."