The New Birth Spanish Tract, part 2

I am here continuing my translation of LA ENSAÑANZA DE CRISTO ACERCA DEL NUEVO NACIMIENTO by L. R. Shelton, Jr.... again, my translation is in blue type following the spanish in red:

De la misma manera fué en mi nacimiento espiritual por el Espíritu Santo. Me encontraba pasivo en mi concepción mientras Él plantaba la Palabra de vida en mi corazón (1 Pedro 1:23), por lo tanto me dió una nueva naturaleza (2 Pedro 1:4). Nada tuve que ver en ésto. Pero, tan pronto había vuelto a nacer, comencé a clamar a Dios en Cristo; comencé a arrepentirme y acudir a Dios por mis pecados, a creer, confiar y buscar a Cristo y a Su preciosa salvación y a clamar por la justicia de Dios en Cristo. Estuve activo por lo que Dios había hecho en mi corazón a través del nuevo nacimiento. Un hombre no puede convertirse, ni puede ser salvo, ni arrepentirse, ni creer hasta que se le haya impartido vida antes por el Espíritu Santo, resucitado de la sepultura del pecado (Efesios 2:1) y habérsele dado un nuevo corazón (Ezequiel 36:26) y una nueva naturaleza en el nuevo nacimiento. Entonces y sólo entonces puede haber arrepentimiento con el corazón quebrantado por causa de sus pecados como estando en contra de Dios, viendo belleza y gloria en Cristo por lo cual está dispuesto a abandonar el pecado y acercarse a Cristo aceptándolo como Señor y Salvador, Rey y Libertador, en verdadera fé salvadora. Como verás, el nuevo nacimiento y la conversión no son lo mismo: en el nuevo nacimiento el pecador se encuentra en estado pasivo; en la conversión, por la gracia de Dios, el pecador se encuentra activo según clama a Dios arrepentido y con fé. Y ésto continúa en sus días.

It was the same way in my spiritual birth by the Holy Spirit. I was found passive in my conception while He planted the Word of life in my heart (1 Peter 1:23), therefore I was given a new nature (2 Peter 1:4). I had nothing to do with this. But, as soon as I had begun to be born, I began to cry to God in Chirst; I began to repent of and to go to God for my sins, to believe, to trust and to seek Christ and His precious salvation and to cry for the righteousness of God in Christ. I was active because of what God had done in my heart through the new birth. A man cannot be converted, nor be saved, nor repent, nor believe until life is first imparted to him by the Holy Spirit, raising him from the grave of sin (Ephesians 2:1) and he is given a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26) and a new nature in the new birth. Then and only then can there be repentance with the heart broken because of his sins which stand against God, seeing beauty and glory in Christ he is thus ready to abandon sin and to draw near to Christ accepting Him as Lord and Savior, King and Liberator, in true saving faith. As you see, the new birth and conversion are not the same: in the new birth the sinner is found in a passive state; in conversion, by the grace of God, the sinner is found active as he cries to God in repentance and faith. And he continues in this all his days.

The New Birth Spanish Tract

I have this tract that I like in Spanish, and I wanted to read it to learn to better understand Spanish. Here are a few of the beginning paragraphs that I translated with only some help with the words and phrases I didn't understand from a translation tool. My English translations appear in blue following the red Spanish paragraphs.

LA ENSEÑANZA DE CRISTO ACERCA DEL NUEVO NACIMIENTO

L. R. SHELTON JR.

1923-2003

Encontramos la enseñanza del Señor Jesucristo acerca del nuevo nacimiento en el capítulo 3 del Evangelio según San Juan, en las instrucciones dadas por El Señor a Nicodemo, uno de los jefes de los judíos quien vino a Él durante la noche. "Respondió Jesús y le dijo: De cierto, de cierto te digo, que el que no naciere de nuevo, no puede ver el reino de Dios. Nicodemo le dijo: ¿Cómo puede un hombre nacer siendo viejo? ¿Puede acaso entrar por segunda vez en el vientre de su madre, y nacer? Respondió Jesús: De cierto, de cierto te digo, que el que no naciere de agua y del Espíritu, no puede entrar en el reino de Dios. Lo que es nacido de la carne, carne es; y lo que es nacido del Espíritu, espiritu es. No te maravilles de que te dije: os es necesario nacer de nuevo. El viento sopla de donde quiere, y oyes su sonido; mas ni sabes de dónde viene, ni a dónde va; asi es todo aquel que es nacido del Espíritu" (Juan 3:3-8).

THE TEACHING OF CHRIST ABOUT THE NEW BIRTH

L. R. SHELTON, JR.

1923-2003

We find the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ about the new birth in chapter 3 of the Gospel according to Saint John, in the instructions given by the Lord to Nicodemus, one of the leaders of the Jews who came to Him during the night. "Jesus responded and said: Certainly, certainly I say to you, that whoever is not born again, cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said: How can a man be born when he is old? Can he perhaps enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus responded: Certainly, certainly I say to you, that whoever is not born of water and of the Spirit, cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit. Do not marvel that I said: it is necessary for you to be born again. The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound; but do not know where it comes from, nor where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:3-8).

En éstos versos encontramos tres cosas. Primero, EL NUEVO NACIMIENTO ES NECESARIO si es que el hombre ha de entrar, ver ó tomar parte en el reino de Dios. ¿Por qué? Porque "la carne y la sangre no pueden heredar el reino de Dios" (I Corintios 15:50). El reino de Dios es un reino espiritual, estando nosotros exluídos por nuestra naturaleza pecaminosa y carnal.

In these verses we find three things. First, THE NEW BIRTH IS NECESSARY if man is to enter, see or take part in the kingdom of God. Why? Because "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (I Corinthians 15:50). The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, us being excluded for our carnal and sinful nature.

Segundo, encontramos que EL NUEVO NACIMIENTO ESLA OBRA DEL ESPIRITU SANTO, quien es soberano en todas Sus operaciones. Es Su trabajo el dar vida a todos aquéllos cuyos nombres aparecen escritos en el Libro de la Vida. Nuestro Señor dijo en Su oración sacerdotal en Juan 17 que el Padre le había dado poder sobre toda carne, para que diese vida eterna a cuantos el Padre le había dado. Es a través de Su Santo Espíritu que nuestro Señor Jesús vivifíca, ó dá vida eterna, en el nuevo nacimiento a aquéllos que el Padre le ha dado.

Second, we find that THE NEW BIRTH IS THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, who is sovereign in all His operations. It is His work to give life to all those whose names appear written in the Book of Life. Our Lord said in His priestly prayer in John 17 that the Father had given Him power over all flesh, in order to give eternal life to whoever the Father had given Him. It is through His Holy Spirit that our Lord Jesus gives life to, or gave eternal life, in the new birth to those who the Father has given Him.

Tercero, encontramos que EL NUEVO NACIMIENTO Y LA CONVERSIÓN NO SON LO MISMO. En el nuevo nacimiento el pecador se encuentra en un estado pasivo; en la conversión el pecador toma parte activa. En mi concepción natural y en mi nacimiento me encontraba pasivo porque la concepción no vino de mí. Tampoco añadí nada en mi crecimiento en los nueve meses que estuve en el vientre de mi madre, pues mi madre suplió todo. Tan pronto nací, comencé a llorar. Me encontraba muy activo porque estaba vivo fuera del vientre y aún necesitaba todas las atenciones de mi madre. Lloraba porque estaba vivo.

Third, we find that THE NEW BIRTH AND CONVERSION ARE NOT THE SAME. In the new birth the sinner finds himself in a passive state; in conversion the sinner takes part actively. In my natural conception and in my birth I found myself in a passive state because conception did not come from me. Neither did I add anything to my growth during the nine months that I was in my mother's womb, for my mother supplied everything. As soon as I was born, I began to cry. I was found to be very active because I was alive out of the womb and still was needing all the attention of my mother. I was crying because I was alive.

More to come...

Más a venir...

Available from:

Chapel Library • 2603 W. Wright St. • Pensacola, FL 32505 • www.mountzion.org

Vietnamese Words

Today, my brother Lee and I picked up our friend, Hung, for church. Hung is from Vietnam and comes to church as often as he can in Upper Darby Philadelphia. He has some knee problems and diabetes, so his health sometimes makes it hard for him. Today was the first time I escorted him there, and I was honored to do so for this man. I've known him for a long time now, but he speaks broken English, so we don't always talk much. However, he was extremely talkative today. So I started asking him to teach me words in Vietnamese.

"How do you say, 'Do you read the Bible?"

"DOC KINH TANH." (He also wrote it down for me, but I don't know how to get vietnamese characters to show up here. You pronounce it with sort of an up-down-up tune.)

Then he said, "And you can also say, 'DOC KINH TANH MON AY.' Read the Bible everyday."

We laughed, and he continued to tell us other things. We don't remember them all. He also told us how to say "Good morning," but I don't remember that either. Next time I'll have to ask him to write that down as well.

I said, "How do you say, 'Jesus is God.'?" I wrote it down for him.

Hung wrote, "Giesu la dic chua tai." (Of course the characters all look very different on the paper I have.)

I still enjoy learning to speak in new kinds of tongues! :)

Something I discovered in Psalm 23 (Spanish NVI version)

I took a break to pop open my small NVI Nuevo Testamento con Salmos y Proverbios, and it flipped to Salmo 23. I was reading and trying to imagine in my mind how it would translate from Spanish to English, when my eyes landed on this verse:

Me guía por sendas de justicia

por amor a su nombre.

(Salmo 23:3b).

The thing that struck me was that while I was translating in my mind the words, "Me [He] guides by ways of justice for love to His name." I thought, that was amazing, because in English it says, "He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His own name's sake." Apparently, in Spanish, the way to say that is to say that God leads us in right paths out of love of His own name... not because He is somehow overwhelmed with our worth and can't help but loving us for who we are... no, no, no... but it says for love of His own name. Which is the same as saying He does it because He loves Himself and wants to display His glory by leading us. God leads believers in paths of righteousness out of love for Himself. So God loves us because He loves Himself, which is just another one of those things that makes me think, people will read this and think John Piper made that up, but John Piper didn't, God said it 3,000 years ago with the pen of a Shepherd named David.

"Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name..." (Ezekiel 36:22-23).

"Yet he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make known his mighty power." (Psalm 106:8).