Born Again

After leaving the church affiliation that we were in for 15yrs, I began to realize that concerning their salvation doctrine, they have a hard time believing that something takes place IN THE HEART, thus bringing salvation, BEFORE WE ever do anything, like Water Baptism and Holy Ghost Baptism.  So I wrote "Ye Must Be Born Again".

YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN

Some have a misunderstanding of what it means to be BORN AGAIN.  And the misunderstanding starts by thinking that when Jesus stated in John 3:5 "Ye must be born again", that He was stating that we must do something. NO, the statement made by Jesus, "Ye must be born again", was a statement clarifying what He must do in us!  Not anything we do at all. Jesus intentionally made no mention of Nicodemus having any responsibility of becoming born again. In fact, he said the opposite. "Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit." It is GOD who regenerates our heart.

REGENERATION, although essential, cannot be achieved by human effort. God alone does it; it is not a joint effort. Repentance and faith are the result of the new birth, not the cause.  Nicodemus found the Lord's words perplexing because they revealed how helpless and dependent he was on the mercy of God.

Regeneration is not a change which man does anything to bring about, any more than infants do anything to induce, or contribute to their own procreation and birth. We are not born of human decision - but born of GOD (I John 1:13)

Consider the miracle of conception. I think one must realize the breath a child first draws when he comes out of the mother's womb does not create or initiate new life, it only acts to sustain a life which is already present. A life which began at conception. We must understand this in order to preach against abortion.

Why is this the case? simply because if a child doesn't have the spirit of life until he exits the womb, then those who abort their babies are not making an abrupt end to an existing life. Yet, we know that abortion is murder - why? Because it is the taking of an innocent life, not a potential life. A complete life which began at conception. Conception gives birth to new life.

When does the conception of the Word of God in the heart of a man give birth to new life? At the initial faith placed in Christ.  The Spirit of Life, which is the Spirit of God, dwells in a man at the moment he places his complete confidence in Christ. (This is where the decision is made by the individual - God doesn't save us against our will - I'm not a Calvinist, as some accuse.)

Still looking a John 3, like many Pharisees, Nicodemus had misunderstood and misinterpreted the law, and sought to establish his own righteousness before God. Like most of us, he assumed that being born again (whatever it meant) involved some effort of contribution on his part. It is exactly that assumption Jesus was challenging.

Some today say that being born again means to obey Acts 2:38, insinuating that we must REENACT Christ's works (death, burial & resurrection) in order to be saved.

Let's look at BORN AGAIN In Strong's Concordance

Born again (303) to (1080)
1) to produce again, be born again, born anew
2)metaph. to have one's mind changed so that he lives a new life and one conformed to the will of God

In John 3:5 Jesus answered, "Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."

As some teach, I do not believe that being "born of water" is referring to the act of baptism. Being born of water and spirit is both referring to the word and the spirit.

Nicodemus didn't understand the phrase born again that Jesus used. Jesus even gave the example of the wind blowing, explaining that you cannot see one being born of the spirit, just the effects afterwards.

Throughout John, you will see he used water as referring to the spirit, Living water. (In John 3:5 "water" here symbolizing the "word of God" as in John 4:10,11,  John 7:38)

In the Reformed view of regeneration, Jesus' teaching in John 3:5 refers to two descriptions (water = cleansing + Spirit = renewal), of the one work of the Spirit.

So look at Titus 3:5 "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;"

We are born again by the Word of God (I Peter 1:23; James 1:18)

I Peter 1:23 "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."

Ephesians 5:26 "That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word"

Notice: John 6:63 " It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words I speak unto you, they are spirit and life, (the words of God quicken)

Romans 10:17 "So faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."

John 5:24 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, (note: to believe on Christ was to believe on him that sent Christ John 12:44) hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

Note: The error in thinking that being born of water is referring to water baptism, is that no where in the Scriptures is baptism spoken of in terms of birth. Baptism does not function to give spiritual birth. it functions as the burial of the spiritually dead (Romans 6)

Baptism is a burial of the dead, not the production of the living. it is always a symbol of death - to the world, the flesh and the devil. We are not born again through baptism, because baptism is our identification with Christ's death on the cross. Baptism is where we count ourselves as dead with Christ. By contrast, regeneration is not represented by symbols of death, but always of metaphors of life.

New Birth is not water baptism, it is not Spirit baptism, it is not repentance, it is not faith! It is God's gift of new life, planted in the human soul, and given from His merciful heart to invigorate our sin-hardened, stone-dead hearts. New Birth is God's gracious act of spiritual enablement, rendering us capable to know, believe, and love Him. The work of the Spirit empowers us to obey the greatest commandment: love the Lord our God with all our hearts, all our minds (to understand and know Him), all our soul (our wills to choose to obey Him), and all our strength (in all our behavior). It is God raising us up from spiritual death, to a new life which we have a new relationship with Him.

Thanks for Reading and Feel Free To Comment!