New birth no optional extra

 

"If we simply confine ourselves, firstly, to what the Bible says about the new birth itself, we immediately see that being reborn is not an optional extra for Christian living. It is not a de luxe add-on, a bonus, an extra, something reserved only for ‘first-class travel’. Rather it is something vital. It is indispensable. It is not an elegant window giving us a view of the glory of God’s house but the very door into it. Without this there can be no entrance. It is not a mere sniff at the delicacies in God’s kingdom but a real taste of what he has to offer, a feast that will enter our bodies and do eternal good. Without it we will starve. If you are not born again, you are simply not a Christian at all."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 77