New Birth
The new birth — you can't make yourself a Christian by Tim Keller From 1 Peter, Tim Keller (Redeemer Presbyterian Church) explains how the Gospel confronts a pastor's propensity toward both religious legalism and cultural accommodation. ...in 1st Peter 1 and 2 we see a lot of reference to the new birth. The new birth. And that, what is the new birth means, think about the metaphor of the birth. It's really, you can't make yourself a Christian. You can make yourself a Buddhist, you can make yourself a Muslim. This is another thing that Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones used to say in his evening messages. You can make yourself a Muslim or a Buddhist, you can make yourself an atheist. But you can't make yourself a Christian. Christianity, to become a Christian you got to be converted. Notice it's a passive. You don't convert yourself, you're converted, something happens to you. Through faith you're born again. You know, you'...