Grace on Tap week 1 "Born again, again"

One of the reasons I was drawn to do a series from the book Grace On Tap was how similar Eric Dykstra's story of finding Grace was to my own. (The other reason is my huge respect and admiration for Eric who is my mentor and friend!)  It was incredible how Eric put words to my experience I had this past Spring--I was "born again" again! God's grace transformed my already transformed life. I don't' know how He did it, but God made my life brand new AGAIN just by opening up my eyes to what He had already laid out so clearly in the Bible, but somehow I'd missed it.  I'd like to share that excerpt from the book. (And if you just can't get enough, there's the link at the bottom to buy the book on Amazon.) Enjoy!  --Nate

Many people believe there are two "works of grace" in a person's life. One, when they "get saved". Two, when they are "baptized" in the Spirit and they speak in tongues or get fresh revelation of who God is. I don't know if that is true or not, But is is true for me. 

I have been "born again" twice.

I asked Jesus into my life at the age of seventeen. I was in New York state at a Bible camp. I got down on my knees at a campfire and asked Jesus Christ to forgive my sins and lead my life. And He did! He moved into my life, forgave me of my past, and began to transform me. My friends began asking me why I was so different. I even went off to a Bible college to enter a life of full-time ministry. I was a changed man.

But then a strange thing happened: My well-intentioned teachers, pastors, and churches taught me (unintentionally) that after you come to Jesus for forgiveness, you must prove you really love Jesus by being obedient to Him!

Or, said another way:

We get righteousness at the cross, but we stay righteous by working for it.

So, I began to work really hard at obeying Jesus. I read my Bible every day. I memorized Scripture. I prayed. I served in my church. I witnessed to my friends. I worked hard at fighting temptation. I tried to be a "man of holiness". I started a church. I preached the gospel. I led people to Jesus. I tithed. I gave sacrificially. I...

Do you see all the I's in that paragraph? I was trying to achieve my own righteousness. I was going to be a sold-out Christian. Except it never worked, and I always felt like a failure. No matter how much I did, I felt like it was never enough. I never served enough, never gave enough, preached enough, loved enough, or prayed enough. I never felt righteous, no matter how hard I tried. And the more I went to church or read the Bible, the more I just felt like a failure, because I could never live up to the standard of perfection in the Bible.

That is, until Jesus met me with a second work of grace. One day while on a vacation from ministry, I stumbled across 2 Corinthians 5:21.

The more I read this verse and studied it's implications, the more it messed me up. The more it messed me up, the more I would cry and shake and tremble before God. I spent an entire month immersed in the study of this verse. At the end of one month, I was a totally different human being. I knew I measured up. I knew I wasn't a failure. I knew I was strong enough. Had faith enough. I was a totally different person. Jesus had met me; He had done a second work of grace in me. My church said I was different. My staff said I was different. My wife and kids said I was different.

The grace of God had hit me, and I was born again. Again.

Here is the verse that messed me up forever:

2 Corinthians 5:21  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Read more in the book Grace On Tap by Eric Dykstra http://amzn.com/B00EYMRYDQ