THE NINE “MONTHS” (OR DIMENSIONS) OF THE PROCESS OF SPIRITUAL BIRTH, AS PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE SCRIPTURES

 

1.                  The dimension of awakening (when we hear the wake-up call of Yahweh and decide to respond)

2.                  The dimension of repentance (when we turn back to Yahweh and his Word, renouncing all sin)

3.                  The dimension of baptism (when we are cleansed from our sin and identified Yahshua as the Messiah)

4.                  The dimension of self-denial (when we give up those things that threaten our total commitment to Yahweh)

5.                  The dimension of empowerment (when we receive the Spirit of Yahweh as first pledge of our new birth)

6.                  The dimension of growth (when we increase in obedience and knowledge of our Savior and King)

7.                  The dimension of righteousness (when we start working for the restoration of the wrongs in this world) 

8.                  The dimension of endurance (when we overcome the difficulties, persecution and set backs on our way)

9.                  The dimension of regeneration (when we are resurrected or changed at the coming of the Messiah)

 

A way to remember these dimensions (notice the resemblance between the first letter of each word of the following sentence and the first letter of each of the nine dimensions):

 

 

[1] THE DIMENSION OF AWAKENING

 Isa 65:9-12  I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains; and my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.  Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in, for my people who have sought me.  But you who forsake Yahweh, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and who fill up mixed wine to Destiny;  I will destine you to the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not hear; but you did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I didn't delight. 

Mat 22:11-14  But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn't have on wedding clothing,   and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?' He was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness; there is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.'  For many are called, but few chosen."

 

[2] THE DIMENSION OF REPENTANCE

  

Jer 8:4-6  Moreover you shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh: Shall men fall, and not rise up again? Shall one turn away, and not return? Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.  I listened and heard, but they didn't speak aright: no man repents him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? everyone turns to his course, as a horse ... in the battle.

Act 3:19-21  "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Master,  and that he may send Messiah Yahshua, who was ordained for you before,  whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which Elohim spoke long ago by the mouth of his holy prophets.

  

[3] THE DIMENSION OF BAPTISM

 

Psa 51:2-7  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin.  For I know my transgressions. My sin is constantly before me.  Against you, and you only, have I sinned, And done that which is evil in your sight; That you may be proved right when you speak, And justified when you judge.  Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity. In sin my mother conceived me.  Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.  Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Act 2:38  Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Yahshua the Messiah for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Set-Apart Spirit.  

[4] THE DIMENSION OF SELF-DENIAL

 

Gen 12:1  Now Yahweh said to Abram, "Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you. 

Luk 9:22-23  "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up."  He said to all, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever will lose his life for my sake, the same will save it.  

 

[5] THE  DIMENSION OF EMPOWERMENT

  

Eze 11:19-20  I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh; that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their Elohim.  

Eph 3:16-19  that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; that Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,  and to know Messiah’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of Elohim.  

 

[6] THE DIMENSION OF GROWTH 

 

Isa 1:19  If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land;  

Eph 4:14-15  that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;  but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head... 

 

[7] THE DIMENSION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

  

Gen 18:19  For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him. 

Mat 5:10-12  Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.  "Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.   

 

[8] THE DIMENSION OF ENDURANCE 

 

Jer 32:40  and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good; and I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me. 

Mat 24:9-13  Then they will deliver you up to oppression, and will kill you. You will be hated by all of the nations for my name's sake.  Then many will stumble, and will deliver up one another, and will hate one another.   Many false prophets will arise, and will lead many astray.  Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold.  But he who endures to the end, the same will be saved. 

 

[9] THE DIMENSION OF REGENERATION

  

Dan 12:2-3  Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse; and those who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. 

1Th 4:16  For the Master himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with Elohim’s trumpet. The dead in Messiah will rise first,  then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Master in the air. So we will be with the Master forever.