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Many
of you have inquired about when this material would be posted. Here are
the first two installments. This is a very important subject.
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What
did Jesus mean when He told Nicodemus, "You must be born
again?" Why do we need to be "born again"? Does the phrase "born of water and Spirit" refer
to either water baptism or the Baptism of the Spirit? How have the
different denominations and Church traditions answered this question?
Who is right?
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Is
"born again" the same as regeneration? Is it necessary for
salvation? Is it a plan of salvation for us to obey in order to be saved?
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If
you are interested the history of the New Birth doctrine in Church
history in general, you will find this very helpful. What did the Pietists,
Anabaptist, Holiness Movement, Keswick or early Pentecostals believe about
the New Birth? What about the mainline denominations: Catholic, Lutheran,
Reformed, Baptists and Methodists teach? How about Martin Luther, John
Calvin, John Wesley, George Whitefield, Charles Finney, Edward Irving, Asa
Mahan, Phoebe Palmer, A. B. Simpson, A. J. Gordon, E. W. Kenyon, Charles
Parham, or William Durham claim for the meaning of the New Birth?
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If you are either a
former or present member of the United Pentecostal Church, this
information will be even more enlightening. You might be surprised about the
origin of the New Birth doctrine. Was it a fresh biblical
revelation returning us to the apostles' doctrine, or was it the result
of the convergence of several theological streams of thought? In this
section I will look closely at three of
the most influential teachers of the New Birth: Frank J. Ewart, G. T.
Haywood, and A. D. Urshan.
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I
also will address a number of issues relative to salvation, regeneration,
justification, water baptism, baptismal remission, baptismal regeneration, Spirit Baptism,
Pentecostalism. Is the "water" Jesus spoke of literal, was it
water baptism, or was it figurative? How did Jesus use the word
"water" in the Book of John? You will find I address specific issues pertaining
to Spirit Baptism, such as subsequence and speaking with tongues as the
evidence of Spirit Baptism, with
some answers to the question: "What was the Book of Acts all
about?"
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What
must we do to be born again? What does it mean to be "born again by the
Word of God"?
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This
entire document is approximately 200 pages long. Obviously that is too long
for the average visitor (or even some die-hard readers) to take in or print
in one sitting. Therefore, I decided to break it down into bite-sized chunks
of around ten or more pages. Below are the first four issues. They will
introduce you to the purpose and content of this whole paper.
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Every
couple of weeks another issue will be released. There will be about fifteen
in all. Please check back from time to time to get the next installment.
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This
type of publication is unique in that I am sharing rough research for a draft
of a book to be published. My intentions are to invite you to interact with the
content of my research. Please be encouraged to write with comments,
questions or arguments. The plans are to wait for a period of time after the
final installment is posted to update the whole paper, addressing your
concerns, questions and corrections. Then that final document will be published as a
book, which will be offered through ICA web site. This means
that you have a part in the final work. I believe this is a creative
endeavor which will benefit all of us.
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Introduction
Download
in the format of your choice below. The original format is preserved best in
the PDF format. If you do not have Acrobat Reader you can download it free
at
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html
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What
Did Jesus Mean by "Born Again"?
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Does
"Birth of Water" Refer to Water Baptism?
Next
Issue in this series: Does
"Birth of the Spirit" Mean "Spirit Baptism"?
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