You Cannot Be Born Again Without First Dying to Self

In an earlier article, I had touched on the importance of being born again as a condition for inheriting eternal life (Proof text -- John 3:3 [NLT; with emphasis mine]: "Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.""). Now, let me show you what it means to be born again.

However, a person cannot be born again, unless he/she first dies:

For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3; New American Standard Bible; emphasis mine)

You might ask, "What do you mean to say that I must die? Are you asking me to commit suicide?"
No! (and God forbid that you attempt suicide!) It is to self that you must die of, as the Aramaic Bible in Plain English version of Colossians 3:3 makes clear: "For you have died to yourselves and your lives are hidden with The Messiah in God." (emphais mine)

The specifics of what this entails is detailed for us further in the chapter:

⁵ Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶ Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.^{[b] 7} You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸ But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Colossians 3:5-10; NIV)

In addition, you need to die to the things of this world:

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (Colossians 3:2; ESV)

But you might protest and say: "What you ask is very difficult to do!"

Indeed, it is, which is exactly why the Lord Jesus Christ told those who wished to be His disciple to "count the cost":

²⁶ If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. ²⁸ For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? ²⁹ lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, ³⁰ saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. ³¹ Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? ³² Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. ³³ So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26-33; Authorised KJV; emphasis mine)

Paul's Letters to the Thessalonians: This is What Thessaloniki Looks Like Today (Travel Photos)

Besides the two epistles (letters) written by Paul to the church in Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians), Thessalonica is also mentioned in the New Testament in a 7 other occasions:

1. When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. (Acts 17:1; NIV)
2. Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11; NIV)
3. But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. (Acts 17:13; NIV)
4. He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. (Acts 20:4; NIV)
5. We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us. (Acts 27:2; NIV)
6. For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. (Philippians 4:16; NIV)
7. For Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. (2 Timothy 4:10, NIV)

The fact that the Thessalonica is mentioned on numerous occasions within the New Testament reflects its importance to the early church.

Where is Thessalonica? It is in Greece and is today known as Thessaloniki.

Specifically, with regards to its location, Thessaloniki is in the north of Greece, while Athens is in the south.

In 1 Thessalonians 3:1-2, we read: “So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith” (NIV).

I visited Thessaloniki in November 2011 and it took me a good 50-minute plane ride to reach Thessaloniki from Athens. Considering the length of my plane journey, it is understandable that distance would have been the primary reason that the Apostle Paul could not personally keep in touch with the Thessalonian church as much as he would have liked to.

Today, Thessaloniki resembles any other modern city in the world, as the following photos would attest to:

However, unlike many modern cities such as Singapore, Thessaloniki possesses a rich past dating back to ancient times, and it is just amazing to see how beautiful ancient architecture juxtaposing with the city's vibrant, modern way of life 

An Indian Construction Worker's "Road to Damascus" Experience in Singapore -- As Told to Me by the Man Himself

I live in Sembawang, and one evening, a few years ago, as I was walking along a quiet stretch of road nearby a construction site, I saw a young Indian man sitting along the pedestrian path, reading a book under the street light.

Intrigued, I stood by him to see what he was reading. It was a very worn and well-thumbed bible, albeit the pages seemed intact.

Seeing the young man's diligence in reading the bible under poor lighting conditions (and he was reading it aloud, albeit quietly), I perceived that there was something special about this young man, and sat next to him.

"Are you a Christian?" I asked, and he shook his head in the affirmative.

We then told me that prior to his conversion, he was a "bad" person, who drank, gambled and got into fights easily.

He said that in India, he had borrowed a lot of money in order to travel to Singapore to work as a constructor worker.

He told me that he had a wife and a child in India, but prior to his conversion, he did not really care about them. Instead, he spent most of his income on gambling and drinks, and seldom sent money back home to his family.

His life took a turn when he was cheated of all his savings by a local Chinese man. The savings were meant to pay off his large debts in India when he eventually returned home, and when he realised he had lost it all, he decided to end his life.

So, with the money that he had on him, he purchased a large amount of illegal 'toddy' (palm wine), and went to a dark, forested area in Woodlands, intending to kill himself through an excessive drinking spree alone. (He did not tell me the specific place he had been, but there had previously been a report of a dark, secluded and forested area in Woodlands, which had been raided due to illegal vice activities between foreign construction workers and foreign women).

In the dark, as he was drinking himself to death, he suddenly saw a bright light in the sky.

He thought that he was hallucinating, but as the light grew brighter and illuminated everything that was around him, he realised that it wasn't the moon that was causing this, and that he was not hallucinating either.

He quivered as he asked, "Who are you?"

A voice from above replied, "I am the Lord Jesus Christ."

He said the light then disappeared, and as he was trying to make sense of this mysterious event, he suddenly realised that his body felt completely well, not the slightest bit affected by the excessive alcohol he had consumed.

Although he did not understand it, he felt at peace, and slept alone at that place, before returning the next day to his workplace.

He told me that prior to this event, his fellow Indian colleagues who had converted to Christianity while working in Singapore had tried sharing the gospel to him. However, he was resistant to them.

The weekend after this incident, on his own initiative, he went to a church in Little India to get baptised.

After his conversion, he stopped drinking, and slowly, not only did he save enough money to pay off all his debts, he was also able to buy a new house for his family.

Seeing the change in him, his wife also became a Christian, and although he and his wife face much opposition, he said he was determined to share the gospel and his testimony to his relatives and friends.

While in the past, he spent his spare time doing 'bad' things, following his conversion, he spent his spare time in church, or encouraging other believers, or praying and reading the bible.

When I probed about his discipline of prayer and reading the bible, he said that if he didn't have to work, he would spend a few hours in the evening doing this, and would rise early in the morning, and pray for about an hour before starting work.

When I asked him how he prayed, he gamely demonstrated by kneeling on the ground and opening his palms to heaven.

That was the first and last time that I met that young man (largely my fault, I very seldom walk that stretch of road). Seeing how disciplined he was in prayer and reading the bible, I have confidence that he is still walking with Jesus.