As a preacher, I thought it would be interesting to hear of others' experiences. (Always looking for new material) I will get the ball rolling...

It was Ps 22. I had been attending church with my wife for a few years and had 'rediscovered' the Bible from my childhood. She challenged me with a Bible Study called, "Loving Your Wife". I realized the Bible had a great deal of practical teaching for marraige and decided I was going to read the Gospels along the way.

Soon after I had read the Gospels I came to Ps 22 for reasons I do not remember. It was like a flash of lightning to see that David, hundreds of years earlier, had so accurately described the Passion, even down to the smallest detail! I suddenly knew that the Bible was more than a book. It was the very Word of God!

That next Sunday I cornered the pastor and said, "Have you ever read Ps 22?" ( I was very excited) And he of course said yes and showed me other prophecies that were also fulfilled. From that day forward I was hooked.

How about you?

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John 14.6 - Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

I was raised Roman Catholic, but later joined the Bahá'í Faith, a religion that teaches that all religions come from God, but also teaches that each religion progressively reveals more about the truth. Bahá'ísm considers Jesus to be one prophet among many that God has sent throughout history. However, I could not reconcile John 14.6, a claim that Jesus made which is unique to all the other men considered by Bahá'ís to be prophets, ie., Moses, Buddha, Muhammad, Bahá'u'lláh, etc., with the Bahá'í claim that there are many ways to God. Either this claim was true or it was not true, but if it was true, then its truth smashed to pieces the Bahá'í doctrine of the unity of all religions.

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Andrew Myers
Husband of Jessica, Father of Jackson, Katie and Samuel
Member, Presbyterian Reformed Church of Northern Virginia
Warrenton, VA USA
Editor, The Matthew Poole Project

"Let your Morning Thoughts, and your last Evening Thoughts, be what shall become of you to all Eternity." -- Matthew Poole

I was converted (and, I presume, regenerated) while reading Erwin Lutzer's How You Can Be Sure You Will Spend Eternity With God from cover to cover. I've only reread it once since the couple weeks after my initial reading, but from what I recall its a pretty solid presentation of the gospel. He might actually place the "new birth" after belief in Christ, but not in a Pelagian since, since he also speaks of election in that book, and of God's infallible drawing you to Christ. I think he just thinks of regeneration as something other than that. Regardless, he covers Christ's satisfaction and strongly affirms the imputed active obedience of Christ to the believer.

God used that little book that my grandmother bought me in a family restaurant giftshop to completely revolutionize my life.

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Joshua Wiseman
Riverview PCA
Charleston, WV

"Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings."
- Psalm 17:8

Well, I started reading my Bible at the Book of Acts, around 92. My Aunt had given me a Bible for Christmas or something and sad to say I was just bored in my APT. one night (and probably smoking grass back then) anyway, I did not know ANYTHING had happened with the Apostles after ressurection. I had a vague concept of Easter. Well I could not put it down! Long story short, Acts 13:48. That sealed the deal. The Holy Ghost went to town on the heathen!

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~etexas~

Was it the phrase 'ordained to eternal life' that got you? I remember that one being key to my falling in love with the doctrines of grace.

Well it was this whole build-up you know. I mean All through Acts then that verse and yes that part of the verse HIT!

What were you doing reading the Bible? Did they encourage you to do so since Jesus was a prophet and all?

That's right. Bahá'ís don't discourage anyone from reading the Bible, although they emphasize the writings of Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá as being the clearest revelation-to-date. I even attended IVCF and Campus Crusade meetings while I was a Bahá'í. Like the wind blows where it will, the Holy Spirit found me and converted me by means of the Word, despite the erroneous teachings swirling all around me. Praise God for His Sovereign, saving grace!

I don't know when I was regenerated. I think I was probably converted to comprehending the Gospel in 1997. I had been an Evangelical for years (or at least I attended "Christian" churches and was baptized). I had heard R.C. Sproul on the radio and bought his tape series on Roman Catholicism and his book Faith Alone.

On a plane ride to Okinawa for a business trip in Jan 1997, I was reading Faith Alone and finally understood Romans 3:25-26

That book was the most powerful epiphany I've ever had. I finally understood what imputation was. Glory!

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Rich
Northern VA
PCA

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Praise God indeed.

For my part, being a Bahá'í would be exhausting trying to keep track of all the codes for special characters just so you can write Bahá'í and Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá.

And we thought it was bad with all the 'eth's in the Bible!

That's how they acquire merit, didn't you know?

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The man who is disposed to think of his sin as a great calamity, rather than as a heinous crime, is not likely either to reverence God or to respect His law. - John Kennedy, 1873
Meg
Blog
Member, Intown Presbyterian Church,PCA, Portland, OR

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It does help to know a little Farsi if you are a Bahá'í.

No Scripture but a simple presentation of the gospel (general).

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Rev. Andrew J. Barnes
Husband of Dena
Pastor of Tchula Presbyterian Church

I was regenerated while I was still Roman Catholic...there was no specific verse that did it, it was just a simple acceptance of Christ. But then I began to wonder if I should stay Roman Catholic or not. Well, somebody had told me that Peter was the first pope and so the RC church was the true and ancient church, etc., etc. And so in my ignorance I believed it. But later on, a Protestant friend started asking me questions I couldn't answer - how are works involved in salvation? What role does Mary play? And so on. So I decided to find out once and for all...I had a catechism (of the Catholic Church) in one hand and a Bible in the other, to compare their claims.

One thing that stuck out to me was the "there is no salvation outside the Roman Catholic Church", that stuck with me. The next day, I was reading Acts 16, and I got to the part where the jailer asks Paul what he needs to do to be saved, and Paul says "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." And that was it. I realized that you didn't need to belong to a specific denomination to be saved. You didn't need to be baptized, or confirmed, or always attending mass. All it takes is a belief in the Savior.

So while it wasn't the cause of regeneration per se, it was the cause of much renewal. And as such, I decided to not be as ignorant anymore as well...I have had a love of theology and apologetics every since, learning all I can.

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Vaughn Shideler
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church
Toronto, ON, Canada

I have no idea; I don't even know when I was converted. I believed in Jesus since I was a child.

In the words of Polycarp:

"For [twenty] and [nine] years I have served Him and He has never denied me yet. How can I deny Him?”

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Rev. Daniel Kok
Pastor of Grace Reformed Church (URCNA)
Leduc, Alberta CANADA
Church Blog

"there is no creature, either in heaven or on earth, who loves us more than Jesus Christ"
Belgic Confession, Article 26

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