By Pastor Mike Taylor
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.
6 That
which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:5-6)
There
is no other doctrine that is more central to the Christian faith as
when Jesus spoke with Nicodemus and proclaimed that a man must be
born of water and the Spirit to enter the kingdom of God. Nicodemus
was obviously very confused, as written of the account of the meeting
the Pharisee had with Jesus after coming to Him after sundown
and it was dark.
“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
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.” (John 3:1-5)
Nicodemus was thinking in physical terms and could not understand the concept thinking that he must he enter the womb of his mother and be born again? He wasn’t thinking in spiritual terms and it seemed totally illogical to him at that moment.
Many
Christians use the term to describe their being a believer of Jesus
Christ, but do they fully understand in Spiritual terms exactly what
Jesus was driving at? Many use the label to describe themselves as a
believer in Jesus Christ, but is belief enough? Remember what James
said :
19,
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the
devils also believe, and tremble.” (James 2:19)
Let
us examine what it means to be “born again” in the physical and
in the spiritual.
As an illustration, when I was a young man,
I used to be only concerned with myself. I was single and single
minded of what I wanted. But when I got married and especially when I
had a child between us, I changed. My identity of who I was changed
dramatically. Oh, before when I was a happy go lucky young man,
without the responsibility of being a husband and then a father, I
would have been happy with a condo on the beach. That would have been
wonderful. But now, my focus was on someone else. My money went to
take care of a wife, and then a new life born into our family. I
changed and my focus changed. My identity changed. I was no longer
responsible for just myself. I now had a wife and baby and I was a
father. My focus was different. I was a changed man.
So it is
with becoming “born again”. We change. Our identity is changed.
Our core being is changed. We are not the same person. Know one
thing, my brethren. God is not doing a remodeling job on the same old
house. He’s not coming in and saying, let’s knock out this wall,
or let’s put in a new refrigerator over here, and put up some new
nice curtains for the windows….No, God comes to us and since our
life was built around being lost in our sins, objects of His
wrath, and considered a walking dead man, spiritually, God started
from scratch. It’s like an episode of “This Old House”. The
old house is so much in disrepair, with rotting walls full of
termites, leaky roof, a foundation that is falling part, that they
come in with a bulldozer and tear it all down and start over
completely. There is just no way to repair what is without ability to
be repaired. . They dig a new foundation, pour new concrete
with cement blocks for a foundation and build a whole, brand new
structure. That’s what we become. A complete new creation or a “new
structure”. The old is gone, and the new has come. We were changed
at our very core. Our being was changed inside. Oh, we may look the
same on the outside, but spiritually we are different and God has
taken the old man and killed him and buried him with His only Son,
Jesus Christ and raised him to a new life in baptism.
1
“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience:
3
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the
lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the
mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”
(Ephesians 2:1-3)
We
were hopeless, lost and objects of God’s wrath. We were walking
dead men who didn’t realize it until the Holy Spirit drew us to the
foot of the cross of Calvary. There we believed John 3:16-18 and the
surrounding Gospel message of Jesus and Him crucified for the sins of
the world. Then by obedience
to the Lord's example we
were baptized by immersion into a watery grave just as Jesus
demonstrated when baptized by John the Baptist. (Matthew 3:14-17).
Why
do we immerse a person? Why not just sprinkle some water on his head,
or stick his head in a bowl? Because the water of baptism is a symbol
of the grave. We died to the old man. We were raised to newness of
life. But the question raised, is baptism necessary for salvation?
No, but as mentioned, it is a sign of obedience and knowing that we
have died to the old man and raised a new creature. Romans 7:
4
'Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the
body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who
is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto
God.
5
For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the
law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
6 But
now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were
held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the
oldness of the letter.” (Romans 7:4-6)
The law was our school-master to point us to our need for a Savior, as there is none that can keep the law.
10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10-12)
That is what confused so many during the time of Jesus, as they thought that the law of Moses would save them. No works of keeping the law will do anything but one thing, CONDEMNS US.
Through Christ Jesus, the law has no hold on us, in that it condemns us, because we have been baptized into the death of Jesus Christ and the old man has died and we are now raised with a changed identity. Oh, we still have that sinful nature, because we are still mortal. But Paul addresses this conflict of the flesh waging war against the spirit.
6 “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
12 Let
not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it
in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither
yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but
yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and
your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 For
sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law,
but under grace.
15 What
then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under
grace? God forbid.” (Romans 6:6-15)
In
Paul’s day, it was believed by a heretical belief held by a sect
called Gnostics that we could sin all the more, so that grace could
be even more grace. Paul says no. For we are not under the law, but
under grace and dead to sin. He continues:
16 “ Know
ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his
servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of
obedience unto righteousness?
17 But
God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed
from the
heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you
18 Being
then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”
(Romans 6:16-18)
You
see, because of grace and the mercy of God, it doesn’t allow us to
willfully sin and act like nothing ever happened. Some people feel if
they come down to the front of the church, give the preacher your
hand, and join the church and “believe by being an assenting
Christian” in Jesus Christ, that they are fine.
(“Party
time now, because it’s all good. I can live like I want, do what I
want and I’m covered, past, present and future. I just got my free
ticket to heaven”)….
See
there is a difference between believing as the demons do, by
assenting to the fact that Jesus is God, and becoming a follower of
Jesus and being conformed to His likeness. It’s speaks to the level
of your faith, and decision to allow Jesus to be Master of your life.
But let us go a little deeper, as what does the term really mean to
be “born again”?
Born again is a phrase used by many Protestants to describe the phenomenon of gaining faith in Jesus Christ. It is an experience when everything they have been taught as Christians becomes real, and they develop a direct and personal relationship with God. ...that is true enough, as we are become a new creature in Christ Jesus....BUT
WHAT IS THE END RESULT OF BEING BORN AGAIN?
As said, it is true enough that we are supposed to change into a new creature, even though we are still living in these mortal bodies that are prone to sin. We struggle everyday to be more like Jesus, but if you are still human, you will fail at times and come to the ABBA Father in heaven through Jesus to repent of a sin that you fell into sometimes with much weeping and remorse. But remember the words that Jesus spoke to the Pharisee in the above mentioned passage 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.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8)
Paul speaks of this in Romans in my most favorite chapter...
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30)
That gives us thoughts of what Jesus and Paul were speaking of....we are justified upon being saved by faith and ultimately baptized unto our Lord's death and struggle to live and be conformed to the image of Jesus, our Savior, but what of these words above about being glorified?? The Bible, I believe gives us clues to what being “born again” truly means. It is not about just being a new creature in Christ on this earth, but goes way beyond what many of us can only imagine. Let us consider the following verses, some that I have already quoted.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)
Jesus explains to Nicodemus, that those born of the Spirit, those who are “Born Again”, will be as the wind, that comes and goes and you only see the effects of their presence on the natural world, much as the winds moves the leaves of the trees.
On the road to Emmaus, Jesus came to two of His disciples and they knew Him not...even as He walked and talked to them....then at the end.....they knew Him ultimately.
30 “And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.
31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.” (Luke 24:30-31)
Even when Jesus came to the apostles who were hiding behind locked doors, Jesus appeared to them.
36 “And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.
41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?
42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.
43 And he took it, and did eat before them.”(Luke 24:36-43)
Just as Jesus had revealed Himself on the road to Emmaus to two of His followers, here Jesus reveals Himself to His Apostles and they were afraid, but as they touched Him and saw Him eat, they knew it was Jesus and He had come right through the walls to greet them. Jesus described Himself as “flesh and bone” as now His life force was the Spirit of God, not blood as required for mortal life.
Remember also what Jesus told Nicodemus?
3 “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
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.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” (John 3:3-7)
So from just a quick look at these verses tells us that we will not enter into the Kingdom of God as flesh and blood mortals that are part of the “Bride of Christ”. We will be changed, glorified into what Jesus was and is. Note as I have preached in the past, that Jesus was a “new type” of what man will become. He was the first, the “prototype” of what we will be. The above verses only hint at what that will encompass and the glory that will be found in us. As Paul said in Romans:
14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Romans 8:14-18)
We will be heirs of God and JOINT HEIRS with Jesus Christ, our Savior. The only thing is we don't know exactly what we will be when Jesus comes, but we KNOW that we will be just like Him.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” (1st John 3:1-3)
9 “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” (1st Corinthians 2:9-10)
Someday, I believe very soon, we will be changed into what Jesus is and inherit as joint heirs in the Family of God, as Jesus our “big brother” our kinsman Redeemer and the Bridegroom for the Bride of Christ will usher us into the Kingdom of God being adopted into the family of God and we will be Kings and Priest to God on this earth for a 1000 years.
9 “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10)
WOULD
YOU BE THANKFUL?
Let
me ask you a hypothetical question. If you came to your doctor and he
pronounced that you had advanced stage IV cancer and prescribed a
treatment that cured you, would you be indebted to that doctor? Most
certainly you would be. You might even hug the man, or kiss him,
because he just saved your life. What has God done for you then? He
just saved your life. You were dead, dead, dead. But He has made you
alive in Jesus Christ and promised you eternal life and a future
beyond your wildest dreams. Would you be indebted to Him? Would you
follow His plan for your life in humble submission to a Father in
heaven and our Lord Jesus Christ who just gave you a pardon from a
death sentence?
10 “And
ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and
power:
11 In
whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the
circumcision of Christ
12 Buried
with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the
faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the
dead.
13 And
you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all
trespasses;
14 Blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;”
(Colossians 2:10-14)
God
our Father, gave us a new life, with endless possibilities and future
heavenly rewards, apart from the blessing of this temporal life we
live. He made us glorious promises found in God’s Word to those who
love Him.
32 'He
that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how
shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
33 Who
shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifieth.
34 Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is
risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us.” (Romans 8:32-34)
Did
you catch that? He will freely give us all things, and the greatest
of these is a life without end, eternal life. As Paul testified in
Philippians chapter 4,
19 “And
my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by
Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
BUT
STILL YOU SIN?
But
you lament, as many that email me struggle with the complaint, “but
I still sin”. Yes, we are still mortal. We are still afflicted with
a sin nature. But Paul spoke of this seemingly conflicting paradox of
those buried with Jesus Christ and find that when they say something
they should not have, or look at something they should not be looking
at, or think a thought that is not very Christ-like they are
convicted and the need for repentance is strong, even as Paul
lamented in Romans chapter 7:14 “For
we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under
sin.
15 For
that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but
what I hate, that do I.
16 If
then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is
good.
17 Now
then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in
me…..(skipping down)
19 “For
the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that
I do.
20 Now
if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that
dwelleth in me.”(Romans 7:14-17,19-20)
But
he identifies the solution to be a mortal man and having God’s Holy
Spirit living inside us in the verses further down in the same
chapter:
24 “ O
wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this
death?
25 I
thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I
myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
(Romans 7:24-25)
It
seems to be a conflict that is present all our lives. We are “born
again” as a new creature in Christ, but still mortal that has this
war going on inside us. But with God’s Holy Spirit within us,
strengthening us, leading us in the paths of His righteousness, when
we sin because of the frailness of our mortal flesh, it is not our
identity that is doing it, because we have become the children of God
(sons and daughters), but it is the sin nature that is doing it and
not my changed spiritual identity, but the sin nature that lives as a
part of my flesh. When we sin because of being flesh and
mortal, we bring that failure to our Lord and repent and ask
forgiveness and the fellowship that was hindered is restored
completely. We will finally overcome the sinful nature, when the
deposit of the Holy Spirit that melded with our spirit finally
overcomes.
13 “In
whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye
were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which
is the earnest (deposit) of our inheritance until the redemption of
the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.(Ephesians
1:13-14)
When
will we finally overcome? Rapture verses:,
52 “ In
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and
we shall be changed.
53 For
this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put
on immortality.
54 So
when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the
saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy
victory?(1st Corinthians
15:52-55)
Then
the deposit of our purchase possession will be changed into His
likeness at His coming for His church. As Paul spoke of in
Philippians:
21 “Who
shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his
glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to
subdue all things unto himself.” (Philippians 3:21)
As
Jesus could come and go at will right before men’s eyes because He
was now flesh and bones with a resurrected body, we will have the
same body that He possesses now. We will be able to be touched,
possibly eat as Jesus did, but come and go as a breeze through the
trees that Jesus described. We will be the purchased possession, as
the deposit of the Holy Spirit has now quickened our mortal bodies
into eternal spiritual bodies with properties and powers that no
mortal man can describe save what the scriptures define. All I can
say is, I can only imagine. And I want it, more than anything…Do
you? Those of us who have made that decision to follow our Lord and
Savior, by accepting His free gift of eternal life, through His death
and resurrection will sing His praises for 10,000 years on into
eternity forever thankful, forever forgiven, and forever part of the
Family of God. Then we will be truly “Born Again”.
A
DECISION TO MAKE
Have
you been really “born again” in this life as a new creature in
Christ? Have you received the deposit of God's Holy Spirit living
within your spirit as a guarantee of your future glorification into
the “sons of God”? Have you accepted the only payment for the
purchase of your soul to live eternally with Almighty God, a loving
Father and His only Begotten Son? Are you an assenting Christian
believer in your mind, or a true follower of Jesus Christ, in Spirit
and in Truth in your heart of hearts? You must ask yourself these
questions, as signs and symptoms of the closing of this church age is
growing exponentially louder and more pronounced with each passing
day. As any minister would give an altar call at the end of a
message, I call you now, by God’s Holy Spirit and the name of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, to repent of your sins, accept my Jesus
Christ as Lord and Master of your life, and be changed forever inside
your very core of being. Become a follower of Jesus of Nazareth, our
soon coming King and Lord…Be ye, BORN AGAIN! What must you do to be born again? You must be saved by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Mankind was born for one reason, "what will you do with the God/Man, Jesus Christ? Will you accept His payment for your sins in His own blood, or follow the lies of the Prince and Power of the Air, Satan the devil? To be saved is so simple, even a 10 year boy (Me) did it in vacation Bible school. You must become as little children and believe by faith, that Jesus died and rose again, and He is coming soon. Borrowing this from pastor JD Farag, here is the simple recipe to be saved.
16 'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18)
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”(Romans 10:8-13)
This
is Pastor Mike Taylor, praying for you to be born again in the
Kingdom of God. If you should have a need, would like prayer,
counseling or just a listening ear, then email me
atrealteam1999@sbcglobal.net,
. Or visit me online for more biblical lessons from the Word of God
at pastormiketaylor@yahoo.com,
God bless you all,
TILL WE MEET AT JESUS FEET
