Born Again: A Bible Handbook Presenting God’s Gift of Grace Given Through Faith

By David R. Rosen

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
—John 3:3

‘What does being Born Again mean?’
‘Who can become Born Again?’
‘How do I become Born Again?’
‘Is belief in God the same as being Born Again?’

Jesus spent the last three years of His life on Earth sharing the Good News of the Gospel. And yet, the world did not receive Him or His message of eternal life. But today, by God’s grace - through faith, if you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, as Peter proclaimed in Matthew 16:16, and that He died for the forgiveness of your sins, your faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior, by the work of the Holy Spirit, brings you to the wisdom of life in and through Jesus.

Within this handbook, I ask once again the questions you may ask regarding your gift of faith - i.e., salvation in Jesus. What does it mean to be Born Again? To be ‘saved,’ to have true faith, and to live in Jesus, and He in you? So again, bring your pen and highlighter, and join me as I share the Bible’s words with you toward your new life in Jesus!

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9781664297760

David R. Rosen

In life, each day is a gift from God. And throughout life, He also blesses us with things expected and unexpected. I have been so blessed, more than I can write. For, outside of my salvation in Jesus, my wife Sandy is right behind the blessings of salvation - in having a Christian woman as my wife and life partner. And from there, my kids and my grandkids are also my blessings and treasures in life. It’s hard to order all that Jesus has done, but to say that I am so blessed to have the family He has given me, and that they, too, are in Christ brings me to my knees in gratitude with thanksgiving. Having just finished my second book about the signs of Jesus’ return and the end of this age – En Route to the Mount of Olives – Matthew 24. I felt the calling to author this book next. I humbly praise God for the honor and privilege of doing so. I pray that He will have me continue to write about Him as my life starts in the next chapter. And I pray that He would help me endure as a witness and testimony of His loving grace and mercy to my family, friends, and you, the reader. As Psalms 139:16 declares: “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” So my ask of you is to pray for God’s glory. Pray that He continues to change your and my hearts to be more conformed to the image of Jesus. And pray that He will keep us both in the faith of, in, and through Jesus. And pray that God will continue to use me to write about His glory for my family, friends, and you as long as He grants me the days. In Jesus’ name, and for and to His glory, Amen!

Book preview

Copyright © 2023 David R. Rosen.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Unless marked otherwise, all scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from The New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-9774-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-9775-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-9776-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023906865

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/24/2023

Contents

Our Starting Point in Study

Dedications

Appreciation in Support

Introduction: You Now Believe in Jesus!

Chapter 1The Gospel!

Chapter 2The Romans Road

Chapter 3The Five Solas

Chapter 4For, By, In, Through, Of, Because, and To

Chapter 5So How Did We Get to Where We Are Today?

Chapter 6Born Again - Nicodemus’s Ask

Chapter 7Having Faith | Believing

Chapter 8Sharing the Love of Jesus with Others

Chapter 9Our Daily Walk

Appendix 1The Always Filled Water Glass

Appendix 2John Piper Quotes First Cry of Faith and The New Birth is the Cause of Faith

Appendix 3The Salvation of the Apostle Paul

Appendix 4Living Water

Appendix 5As Jesus tells Nicodemus

Scripture Index by Chapters

Scripture Index by Books of the Bible

My Summation

About the Author

Other Books by David R. Rosen

Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born? Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

—John 3:5-8

Our Starting Point in Study

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

—Ephesians 2:8-10

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

—1 Peter 1:3-5

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.

—1 John 5:1

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

—Philippians 1:6

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

—Romans 8:29-30

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

—Philippians 2:12-13

Written with my granddaughters Hailey, Aubrey, Savannah, and Olivia in mind and presented as another book of my love to you. To share a biblical understanding of how God works your spiritual birth within your heart when you understand the Gospel to believe in Jesus as your Savior. To know what it means through the verses from the Bible to be born of the Spirit (John 3:6). And to walk in the faith of our Lord and Savior and striving to make God’s gift of salvation your own.

And to help you when you are older. To share your love for Jesus with those God brings before you, as I pray today for your walk of faith throughout life.

Dedications

To Hailey: my firstborn granddaughter within our family. God gifted you with a tender heart filled with love, acts of gift-giving, learning, and a wonderfully creative personality. What a blessing you are to me. From the first of my holding you in my arms to rocking you to sleep. To now, you are reaching out to hold my hand. I praise God for revealing Himself to you with faith in His enablement for you to believe in Him. And I am watching you grow in grace and truth in Christ as you recite from the bible as you walk in the gift of faith to make it your own. Oh, how I also love watching your eyes as you give gifts. (I know you remember that gift-giving was Grammy’s gift of the Spirit, too.) My prayer for you is for God to reveal more of Himself to you each day, enable you to use those gifts of faith and service, and give gifts to the fullest potential in your love for Jesus and people.

To Aubrey: for whom God called next in life. You also are a blessing to me. God has blessed you with a drive to compete, seek, and find the answers to the questions of life around you. God has also blessed you with a heart of love through caring for people. How you nurture and tend to your younger sisters is such an encouragement. That you also now believe that Jesus is your Savior is an answer to my prayers towards you! And I am also thrilled with the depth of the questions you ask about God, the Trinity, and salvation, for my heart’s prayer is that you always seek and find Jesus every day in the most satisfying way.

To Savannah: you have a heart of being like Mary was to Jesus, desiring to spend time with people close to you - in love with comfort through companionship. I praise God