Born Again, Start Anew
1. To whom did Jesus say the words “You must be born again”?
2. Which prophet quoted the Lord as saying, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow”?
3. Complete this verse from Paul: “If any man be in Christ, he is a new _____.”
4. In which book of the Bible does Christ say, “Behold, I make all things new”?
5. According to 1 John, how do we know we have “passed from death to life”?
6. Who prophesied a future when God would write his law on humans’ hearts?
7. Who told people to “bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance”?
8. Complete this verse: “Be not conformed to this world, but be _____ by the renewing of your mind.”
9. According to Jesus, we have to become like what in order to enter heaven?
10. Who prophesied a time when God would give a “new heart” and “new spirit” to people?
11. Which Epistle says that believers have born “not of perishable seed, but imperishable”?
12. What former persecutor of believers said that “I have been crucified with Christ”?
13. What tax collector of Jericho was one of the most dramatic “born again” stories in the Bible?
14. Which apostle urged people to be converted “so that times of refreshing may come from the Lord”?
15. Complete this verse: “As in Adam all die, even so in _____ shall all be made alive.”
16. In which book of the Bible would you find these words: “Those whom I love I
rebuke and discipline. So, be earnest, and repent”?
17. According to James, if we humble ourselves before God, he will do what? 18. Who claimed that he came to call not the righteous, but sinners?
19. Which prophet promised that God would “abundantly pardon” sinners?
20. What is the only book of the Bible to use the actual term “new birth”?
BORN AGAIN, START ANEW (ANSWERS)
1. Nicodemus (John 3:3-7), in one of the more often quoted passages in the Bible
2. Isaiah (1:18)
3. Creature (or, in some versions, creation) (2 Corinthians 5:17)
4. Revelation (21:5)
5. If we love the brothers—that is, fellow believers (1 John 3:14) 6. Jeremiah (31:33)
7. Jesus (Matthew 3:8; Luke 3:8)
8. Transformed (Romans 12:2)
9. Little children (Matthew 18:3; 19:14)
10. Ezekiel (18:31; 36:26)
11. 1 Peter (1:23)
12. Paul (Galatians 2:20)
13. Zacchaeus (Luke 19:8). After he repented, he promised to pay back fourfold anyone he had cheated.
14. Peter (Acts 3:19)
15. Christ (1 Corinthians 15:22)
16. Revelation (3:19)
17. He will lift us up (James 4:10).
18. Jesus (Matthew 9:13)
19. Isaiah (55:7)
20. 1 Peter (1:3)
"THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN…
navigating life’s subtle nuances.
For example, do you know the difference between…
APPLE JUICE AND APPLE CIDER?
Cider is what you get when you remove all the liquid from pressed apples. Sometimes it’s given a quick filtering before bottling to remove some pulp, naturally occurring yeasts, and other solid materials. But most of that stuff is usually left in there.
Apple juice is cider that’s been processed to remove the sediment and then pasteurized for a longer shelf life.
AN OCEAN AND A SEA?
Geographically speaking, both are large bodies of saltwater. Seas are smaller than oceans; they are partially landlocked, but they feed into an ocean. The Bering Sea is part of the Pacific Ocean, for example, and the Mediterranean Sea in Europe makes its way to the Atlantic Ocean via the Strait of Gibraltar.
CROWS AND RAVENS?
Both are corvids—members of the Corvidae family—and both are large, black birds with similarly shaped heads and beaks. But ravens are much larger and they hang out in pairs; crows go around in groups. Another difference: crows have fan-shaped tails, while ravens’ tails are triangular. They have different calls, too. A crow says “caw,” whereas a raven makes more of a low croak.
ALLIGATORS AND CROCODILES?
To tell them apart, look at the snout (but not too closely). An alligator’s snout is wide and U-shaped. A crocodile’s snout is narrow, pointed, and V-shaped. If you see either of these in the wild, it’s more likely to be a crocodile; there are 13 species of crocs living on several continents. There are, however, only two species of alligators—the endangered Chinese alligator and the American alligator, which lives in the southeastern United States.
GRAY AND GREY?
Remember those gourmet mustard commercials where one Rolls-Royce pulls up next to another Rolls-Royce, a window rolls down, and a pompous-sounding British man asks, “Pardon me, but do you have any Grey Poupon?” If he were American, he would have asked for “Gray Poupon,” and that’s the difference: The original spelling of “grey” comes from the UK; it was later Americanized to “gray.”
CONCRETE AND CEMENT?
Cement is just another name for powdered limestone (with a little bit of clay). And it’s actually an ingredient in concrete. Mix cement with water, sand, and gravel, and you’ve got the building material known as concrete. Only country named after a woman: Saint Lucia.
ALE AND LAGER?
Generally speaking, ales are thick, heavily flavored beers, as opposed to lagers—crisp, thin, and light. (Craft beers such as porters, stouts, and IPAs are ales, and Budweiser and Corona are lagers.) The difference between the two depends on the type of yeast used in the brewing process. Ales use yeast that ferments on the top of the batch, brewed in warm water. Lager is made with cold-fermented, bottom-feeding yeast, which also means it takes longer to brew.
JAIL AND PRISON?
Usually under the jurisdiction of a city or county, a jail is a temporary detention facility where suspects are held overnight after being arrested. But they can be held there indefinitely if they are unable to post bail, or if they are deemed dangerous or a flight risk. Then they will be kept in jail until their trial date. If convicted and sentenced to prison, the felon is taken to prison—a larger, more permanent facility located far from major population centers.
A GEEK AND A NERD?
While both terms are used to describe socially maladjusted or awkward individuals, they aren’t the same thing. Geeks are smart, studious, and obsessive about their intellectual pursuits and passions. Nerds, on the other hand, are obsessed with stuff they like, sometimes to the detriment of their social awareness. A tech billionaire is more likely to be a geek, while someone with a collection of Star Wars toys (still in the original packaging) is a nerd.
SNOW AND SLEET?
Both begin as falling precipitation, and both require temperatures that are cold enough to freeze water. Snow forms in water inside clouds that are already below freezing. As the snow falls, it will remain snow if the air stays at or just below freezing. But if the air between the clouds and the ground warms up, the snow will melt into rain. Then, if the rain then travels through pockets of cold air and refreezes, it turns into little icy pellets called sleet.
A BANK AND A CREDIT UNION?
Banks are for-profit institutions, whereas credit unions are not-for-profit. That’s why you are a “customer” of a bank but an “owner” or “member” of a credit union. Members get to vote for a credit union’s board of directors, and any profits go into keeping interest rates low and serving the community. Banks’ profits go directly to the shareholders.
A DIVORCE AND AN ANNULMENT?
You can’t get divorced if you were never really married in the first place. That’s where an annulment comes in. A divorce legally ends a marriage that was entered into willingly and considered valid under the law. But sometimes marriages are ruled invalid for reasons such as bigamy, coercion, or if one or both parties were intoxicated. In that case, a court would issue an annulment. Like a divorce, an annulment dissolves the union, but from a legal standpoint, it acts as if the ill-fated marriage never happened at all.
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