What is the meaning of the term "to be Born Again?" Is it important for
us to experience this? It's obviously important according to Christ's discussion
with Nicodemus.
John 3:3 -- I tell you the truth, no one can see the
kingdom of God unless he is born again. (again is footnoted "Or born from
above.")
From this statement we can see that our very salvation depends on our having this
experience. Note Christ again explaining to Nicodemus:
Vss. 5-8 -- I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom
of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but
the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You
must be born again.'
The wind blows wherever it
pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is
going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.
Jesus is here speaking of what takes place at baptism. From the time of Adam's
sin until Christ the whole world was under the death penalty because all had sinned.
Rom. 5:12-14 -- Therefore, just as sin entered
the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men,
because all sinned -- for before the law was given, sin was in the world.
But sin is not taken into
account when there is no law.
Nevertheless, death reigned
from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a
command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
Rom. 5: 13,14 (Berkeley) -- To be sure, sin was in the
world earlier than the 1aw; but in absence of law, sin is not charged up). Death,
however, held rule from Adam to Moses over those who sinned but did not transgress a
command in the way Adam had done, -- who foreshadowed the Coming One.
Before the law was given at the time of Moses, at Sinai, sin was in the world, but
because the law had not been given yet -- sin was not accounted against them.
God selected the children of Abraham, through Jacob, to receive his covenant with
them at Sinai. This covenant, the ten commandments and its associated commands and
regulations, made known what constituted sin and its consequences.
It was to show them their need of a Savior to free them from this death sentence.
From the time of Moses until Christ the law (ten commandments) held the Israelites
in bondage. The law condemned them to a death sentence, but had no ability to save
them from this sentence.
Gal. 3:19 -- What, then, was the purpose of the law? It
was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had
come....
Vss.23-25 -- Before this faith came, we were
held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.
So the law was put in charge
to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.
Now that faith has come,
we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
Until Christ came the entire world was under a death sentence. The Israelites
were held prisoners by the law. They were all guilty of breaking the law and under
its condemnation. The rest of the world were under a death sentence handed down
through Adam's sin. The entire human race had no alternative than to live in the
body of the "man of sin" as handed down through the heritage of Adam.
Christ came to give every man a new beginning, an entirely new person with different
rules and regulations. Therefore the need for the New Birth, to be born from above,
to become an entirely new creation.
2 Cor. 5:17-19 -- Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is
a new creation the old has gone, the new has come!
All this is from God, who
reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against
them.
Why is it that this new creation -- the Born Again Christian -- does not
have his sins counted against him? It is because to him, and to him alone, the law
has been removed and replaced by Christ. All those who have refused to accept Christ
as their Savior, will remain under the law and will be judged by the law.
Rom. 7:1-6 -- Do you not know, brothers ... that
the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?
For example, by law a
married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she
is released from the law of marriage.
So, then, if she marries
another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress.
But if her husband dies, she
is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.
So, my brothers, you also
died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him
who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
But now, by dying to what
once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the
Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
When a woman's husband dies she is freed from the law of marriage which has bound her
to her husband. So we, when we are buried in baptism, we die to the law --
through the body of Christ. We do this in order that we might now be bound to
another -- to Christ. We were previously bound as prisoners to the law, but
now, "by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that
we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code."
This is the same Spirit that Christ was introducing to Nicodemus. Those who
refuse to accept Christ in exchange for their obedience to the law, for salvation, can not
enter the kingdom of God.
Gal. 3:26,27 -- You are all sons of God through faith
in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with
Christ.
When we accept Christ as our Savior we confess our sins and in baptism the water
represents Christ's blood which cleanses us from all our sins. Christ then dwells in
us in the form of His personal representative, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is
Christ's guarantee, deposit, or pledge that He (Christ) will dwell with us personally at
His Second Coming.
Eph. 1:l3,14 -- And you also were included in
Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having
believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a
deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's
possession -- to the praise of his glory.
Can we be sure that this law that we have been freed from is the ten commandment law? I
believe the Bible leaves us no room to doubt this.
2 Cor. 3:5-11 -- Not that we are competent in
ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has
made us competent as ministers of a new covenant -- not of the letter but of the Spirit; for
the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Now if the ministry that
brought death, which was engraved in letters on stones (The ten commandments for certain)
came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses
because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even
more glorious?
If the ministry that
condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings
righteousness!...
And if what was fading away
came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts?
This leaves no doubt that the ministry that brought death is speaking of the ten
commandments and that it is being replaced by the ministry of the Spirit which brings
life. The first ministry is temporary and ends at the Cross to those who accept
Christ. The second begins at the cross and is everlasting. Can this be other
than crystal clear?
Gal. 4:21-31 -- Tell me, you who want to be under the
law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons,
one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman
was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a
promise.
These things may be taken
figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and
bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands in Arabia and
corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem because she is in slavery with her children.
But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother...
Now you brothers, like
Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way
persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now.
But what does tile Scripture
say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son for the slave woman's son
will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son. Therefore, brothers,
we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman."
This is too plain to be misunderstood. The covenant given by God to the
Israelites at Mt. Sinai has now come to an end, as law. The born again Christian is
now living in Christ. The great moral precepts contained in the law remain as basic
principles of the world, but not law. It is still a sin to break any of these moral
principles, but if we are led by the Holy Spirit, they are not law. The power of sin
is gone as we are not under the law. With the Holy Spirit in charge of our lives we
will have no desire to break any of these basic principles. If we should sin
unintentionally, we do not come under condemnation because where there is no law there is
no transgression.
Gal. 4:3-11 -- So also, when we were children,
we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had
fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman under law, to redeem those under law, that
we might receive the full rights as sons... So you are no longer a slave, but a son;
and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir....
But now that you know God --
or rather are known by God -- how is it that you are turning back to those weak and
miserable principles? Do you want to be enslaved by them all over again? You
are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that
somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
Paul earlier had presented the gospel to these Gentile Christians in Galatia. In
his absence some "false brothers" had thrown them into confusion by convincing
them that the Sinaitic covenant was still in effect. In his frustration Paul was
fearful that all his efforts for them had been in vain.
Notice how other texts that are well known to us make so much more sense now.
Rom. 8:1-4 -- Therefore, there is now no condem-
nation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of
the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (the ten
commandment law)
For what the law was powerless
to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.
And so he condemned sin in sinful
man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in its, who do
not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
"There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." This
is because the ministry engraved in stone has been replaced by the ministry of the Spirit.
Gal. 5:18 -- But if you are led by the Spirit, you are
not under law.
1 Cor. 15:56 -- The sting of death is sin, and the
power of sin is the law.
Those who are led by the Spirit (those who have been Born Again) don't come under
condemnation. The power of sin has been removed. Their sins are not counted
against them. Every unintentional sin they commit does not bring condemnation on
them because where there is no law there is no transgression.
Rom. 4:14,15 -- For if those who live by law are
heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath.
And where there is no law there is no transgression.
Rom. 5:13 -- Sin is not taken into account when
there is no law.
If we sin deliberately and persistently, and do not ask forgiveness and turn from
sinning, then we are fooling ourselves if we believe the Holy Spirit is directing our
lives. In that case the law will remain in charge of our lives and we will come up
for judgment and be judged by the law.
If at baptism we confessed our sins and by faith they were all taken away; we were
given a clean slate. If the law remained in charge of our lives we would soon be in
the same condition that we were in before we had all our sins removed.
Those who have attempted to keep their slate perfect, following baptism, by trying to
keep the commandment law perfectly have all found that they have failed to measure up to
that perfect standard. Many have given up the attempt when they find that what they
have been trying to do is impossible for them to do, in the old body of the "man of
sin" that every one has inherited.
Only in Christ is this possible and that is because He has removed the power of sin --
the law; and the Holy Spirit is now in charge of our lives.
Rom. 7:8 -- For apart from law, sin is dead.
This is why those who are in Christ do not come up for judgment. They have
already been judged through Christ. He, by His perfect life, sacrifice and
resurrection has been judged perfect by the Father. When we accept Christ as our
Savior He gives us His perfect robe of righteousness -- which pays in full all the
penalty for our sins and we pass from death to life without coming into judgment
John 5:24 (RSV) -- Truly, truly, I say to you,
he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into
judgment, but has passed from death to life.
This is because there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because
through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and
death. Those who are not in Christ will remain under the law and will be judged and
condemned by the law.
Acts 4:12 -- Salvation is found in no one else, for
there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
Only in Christ is salvation possible, regardless of how pious and worthy a person may
appear to be and regardless of his many good deeds.
Rom. 10:4 -- Christ is the end of the law so that there
may be righteousness for anyone who believes.
Heb. 7:18 (NEB) -- The earlier rules are canceled
as impotent and useless, since the Law brought nothing to perfection; and a better hope is
introduced, through which we draw near to God.
From Sinai to Calvary the Israelites were to receive their righteousness by obedience
to the law. It was a works oriented process. Moses, in speaking to the
Israelites before their entry into the promised land says:
Deut. 6:25 -- And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our
God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.
The righteousness that they received from this arrangement was an inferior grade of
righteousness due to their inferior grade of obedience to the law. Isaiah describes
this righteousness:
Isa. 64:6 -- All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.
"Christ is the end of the law." Christ brought this form of
righteousness to an end at the cross.
Co1. 2:13,14 -- When you were dead in your sins
and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He
forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations,
that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the
cross.
Christ brought an end to the law which was the source of an inferior grade of
righteousness to the Israelites so that He could make available a perfect righteousness to
all mankind.
Rom. 3:20-22 -- Therefore no one will be declared
righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious
of sin.
But now a righteousness from
God, apart from law has been made known to which the law and the prophets
testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who
believe.
This perfect righteousness of Christ's is not given to us after a long career of
faithful service and obedience to the law to see if we have been found safe to save.
It is given, like we would express it as, "up front."
It is given on the basis of grace alone to anyone who accepts Christ as their
Savior. It is given to us before we have been able to do anything which we might
feel gives us any degree of merit to receive this gift.
Our part is to commit our lives to Christ and become His willing slave. This is
not a job description that should be looked down on. It is the most exalted
occupation on earth and pays the best dividends.
One of the best descriptions of what happens in our life when we are born again is
given by the Apostle Paul:
Gal. 2:19-21 -- For through the law, I died to
the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no
longer live, but Christ lives in me.
The life I live in the body,
I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
I do not set aside the grace
of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing.
Is this not clear that this New Birth brings about an entirely changed new man.
The new covenant is not more stressing of perfect obedience to the ten commandments, but
rather a total commitment of our lives to Jesus Christ to whom we become His willing
slaves.
Rom. 6:15-18 -- What then? Shall we sin because
we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
Don't you know that when you offer
yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey --
whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to
righteousness?
But thanks be to God that though
you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you
were entrusted.
You have been set free from sin
and have become slaves to righteousness.
I believe this should answer the fears that are expressed by those who cling to the
binding claims of the law for salvation -- the fear that anyone who surrenders any
part of this ten commandment law, as law, will turn to a life of sin. I believe that
Paul in the above passage explains this problem too completely to need any further
explanation.
This also states that they have been "set free from sin." This
is because:
Rom. 7:8 -- For apart from law, sin is dead.
I believe this should all be becoming obvious how this all fits together. If Paul
was presenting an entirely different scenario than the one we are presenting here, the
chances for the readers of these texts to be confused would approximate 100%.
Isn't it more likely that all of these passages are stating exactly what they are
saying, and hard to see how they could be stated any clearer?
At the beginning of our study, Jesus told Nicodemus about the Holy Spirit in the one
who is Born Again:
John 3:8 -- The wind blows wherever it pleases.
You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So
it is with everyone born of the Spirit.
The Spirit is invisible but we are given a yardstick to let us know if someone is being
led by the Spirit. If they are being led by the Spirit, they will bear the fruits of
the Spirit.
Gal. 5:22,23 -- But the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Christ gives us another yardstick to identify those who are living this born again
experience.
John 13:34, 35 -- A new command I give you:
Love one another. As I
have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are
my disciples, if you love one another.
These fruits of the Spirit are not to any degree any attempt to enhance our achieving
salvation. Rather it is the evidence that, through the grace of God, salvation has
already been freely bestowed.
Eph. 2:8-10 -- For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so
that no one can boast.
For we are God's
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for
us to do.
Notice he states that "it is by grace you have been saved" -- not you
will be saved. This is the assurance that this is a present reality in those who are
born from above. Even these good works we were created in advance to do is through
the working of the Holy Spirit.
Phil. 2:13 -- For it is God who works in you to
will and to act according to his good purpose.
In summary I would like to give a synopsis of what constitutes the Born Again
experience. It is inseparably tied in with living the life under the New Covenant.
The old Sinaitic Covenant, which applied only to the Israelites, came to an end at the
cross. The New Covenant began at the cross and consists of Christ and everything
about Him. Only those who believe on Christ and submit their lives to Him can have
this New Covenant relationship. Those who believe are baptized into Christ --
not into a denomination or a set of fundamental doctrines.
Christ accepts us as His children and washes away all our sins. Our slate is now
clean. Christ places His personal representative, the Holy Spirit, into our hearts --
who leads us in our everyday walk with Christ. What is required of us is to
completely surrender our will to Christ -- to become His willing slave.
Our slate which is wiped clean when we accept Christ as our Savior remains clean as
long as we are led by the Spirit. Our sins are not counted against us since those
who are led by the Spirit are not under the law. When the Holy Spirit is in charge
of our lives we will have no desire to displease Him. If we should sin
unintentionally we will ask for and receive forgiveness, but it will not appear on our
record because "apart from law, sin is dead." -- Rom. 7:8.
Being Born Again is being born of the Spirit, and as long as this relationship is
maintained, our salvation is assured. We also will have no need to fear the judgment
because "He who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, he
does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." (John 6:24
-- RSV)
I believe this study will help us realize the indispensable role of the Holy Spirit in
the life of the Born Again Christian.