“…except a man be…born of the spirit…” John 3:5 Born Again

What do Christians mean by being “Born Again?”

One of the hallmark tenets of Christianity is the necessity for a Christian to be “born again.”  This phrase was first used by Christ when He expressed its importance to Nicodemus as they were talking. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” [John 3:1-21]

It is used again in 1 Peter 1:23. “Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.”  Other translations use the wording “new birth” rather than “born again” but the meaning is the same.  To enter the kingdom of Heaven, one must be born again.

But what exactly is meant by being born again?  As Nicodemus asks, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” [John 3:4]

Some Explanation

The first thing we must realize is that Christ is not talking about our physical bodies being born again.  He answers Nicodemus’ question by saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God…” [John 3:5]   So, He’s not talking about our bodies.  He’s talking about our “spirits.”

But, what does Jesus mean by “spirit?” The definition of the word “spirit” as given in the Google Dictionary is multifaceted and  depends on how the word is being used.  For our purpose, we’ll use the following two definitions:

“…the nonphysical part of a person that is the seat of emotions and character; the soul.”

“…the nonphysical part of a person regarded as a person’s true self and as capable of surviving physical death or separation.”

In this understanding, the spirit is that nonphysical part of us, that makes us, well, US.  Who and what each of us are is tied up in and is defined by our “spirit” or “soul.”  Our spirit is that “essence” of us that is made up of our character, thoughts, intent, emotions and attitudes.  Spirit is incorporeal and not defined or limited by our physical bodies.  It is a separate thing.  It is the thing about us that God meant when He said, “Let us make Man in our own image.”  It is the thing that animates our physical bodies and helps us to draw meaning from our life here on earth.

Remember that Jesus has stated elsewhere that God is a “spirit.” [John 4:24] He’s also stated that those who dwell in Heaven (angels and resurrected mankind) are spirits as well.  Neither God, nor angels, nor resurrected mankind have or will have a physical body in Heaven.  They are all “spirits.”  Their essence is very real, but insubstantial.  And, without the limitations of a physical body, spirits are capable of eternal existence.

The Problem

The problem, though, comes from one critical aspect of our spirit.  That is that God has allowed us to have self-determination.  In other words, we have minds/spirits that are capable of thoughts, actions and attitudes that are independent of the thoughts, actions, or attitudes that God would normally expect of us.  And, as we have already discussed (see Post 5) we are very prone to doing/acting/thinking as we want, rather than as God would want.  In short, we are naturally disposed to “rebel.”  Our spirits are naturally rebellious of God, and thus are frequently “out of alignment” with God’s intent for us and our lives.  We call this being “out of alignment,” Sin.

Sin is anything that we think, do, or say that pulls our spirit out of alignment with God and His intentions for us.  When we are out of alignment, we (our spirits) are at a dissonance with God.  We want to believe that our bodies, our lives, and our spirits are “ours” and that we can do with them as we want, when in truth, we, in every aspect (physical, mental or spiritual) are not “our own.”  We are all God’s creations.  And as our Creator, God is our Master who deserves our submission and obedience.

The capability of self-determination allows us the illusion of independence.  And, we can, in fact, act independently of God’s wishes for us.  But that does not mean that we are not His.  It only means that we can choose to think and act as though we are or could be independent of Him.  All Creation (including mankind) derives from and is dependent on God.  For without Him, there would have been no Creation.  And thus, whether we like it or not, we are products of His and have the same type of relationship with Him as a statue does with its sculptor.

Without the sculptor there would be no statue.  The statue exists separately from the sculptor, but the statue owes its entire existence to the sculptor.  The statue is at its beginning a rough piece of rock or an indistinct glob of clay.  The rock or clay will remain just that until the sculptor places his hands on it.  It is the sculptor who gives the statue form, function and reality.  Only when the sculptor has completed his creation does the statue have the opportunity to become the awesome work of art its creator intended it to be.  And so it is with us and God.

The difference between us and the statue is that the statue cannot be anything other that what the sculptor wanted it to be.  As a result, the statue will be in constant harmony with the sculptor’s desire and intent.  In this regard, the relationship between the sculptor and the statue will remain “perfect.”

But we are not statues.  Because of our independent spirit we can choose to be other than our Creator wishes us to be.  And, unfortunately when we do this often enough or long enough we can become eternally separate from God in spirit.  And when we are truly separate from our Creator, we can truly die.

The Solution

So, what I hear Christ saying is that until we return our spirits to a state of harmony with God’s, we cannot enter Heaven or have life after death.  This is what He means by saying that we must be born again.  He’s saying that until we’ve reconciled our spirit with God and can remain in harmony with Him, we’re not ready or able to live on after our physical bodies expire.  Our rebellious spirits must be made new, reconditioned, and reformed into that which is compatible and in harmony with God’s.

“Well,” you say.  “That’s great.  But how do we do that?”  How are we to “remake” our rebellious spirit?  What can we do to bring our spirits in line with God?  The unfortunate answer to this question is that we can try (and should!), but we cannot affect this transformation by ourselves.

Jesus gave us clear instructions for this.  He said, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all you mind.” [Matthew 22:37] He also said that we must repent of our sins. [Mark 1:15] We can desire to return to a state of harmony with God.  And, many of us intend and attempt to do that.

We pray and study and attend worship services.  But for some perverse reason, we continue to allow ourselves to get in the way.  As Paul the Apostle said, “Those things that I desire to do, I don’t do.  And, those things I desire not to do, I do (paraphrased).” [Romans 7:19] We can and must repent and work to improve our relationship with Him, but we cannot get as close as we must on our own.

Help Has Arrived

Which is where Jesus comes in.  As I said in Post 19, His incarnation on earth was to serve five purposes.  The first was to demonstrate for us how to live a life in perfect harmony with God.  And, as the Perfect Man, He was able to do that.  Unfortunately, as I’ve observed above, while that was possible for Him, it is not for us.   We are not perfect and are therefore incapable of living a life of perfection. At best, we can hope to achieve an approximation of the quality of life and harmony with God that Jesus demonstrated.  But hope remains.

I believe that the most important purpose Jesus had was to enable our reconciliation with God.  God knew that we would be unable to draw close enough to Him (and to stay there) to allow the level and continuity of harmony necessary for our entry into Heaven.  Try as we might, we simply were never going to be able to overcome our human nature sufficiently to be in perfect harmony with Him.  And without perfect harmony we would never be worthy to dwell with Him for eternity.

Jesus came to not only live as an example of the perfect life, but to sacrifice Himself on the cross to enable our reconciliation and ultimate harmony with God and His will for us.  By dying for us, He provided the means for our purification and reconciliation with God.  Once we accept what He did for us (i.e. believe in Him), repent of our sins, and then do our best to follow his great commandments (see Post 18), we can be and are reconciled with God.  Our souls will have been “reborn” in Him.  And we will have been perfected in our relationship to God.  God’s desire for us is realized.  And our entrance into Heaven to be with Him forever is assured.  HALLELUJAH!!

Summary and Close

So to summarize, to be “born again” means to have one’s spirit renewed in the image of Jesus.  By His example and sacrifice, and by our acceptance of Him and the way of living that He modeled, our deficient spirits are made new.  They can now conform to God’s will for us and we can live in harmony with Him.  And we can rest in the assurance that through the unlimited Grace that He’s shown, our spirits will live with Him forever and ever.  AMEN.

God’s Blessings be on You All

Richard

November 2, 2018

P.S.  As always, these are my thoughts and conclusions.  Each of you must use them to spur thoughts and conclusions of your own.  I’d love to hear what you think about these topics.  Write to me!

R