Author
: Allen K Lee
First published in 1982
Published by Word of Life Ministries
Many tracrts and booklets have been devoted to informing a lost and dying world
of their need of spiritual rebirth.Few, however have been written to explain the
reason why man must be born again. As the title indicates, this booklet is an
endeavour to shed light on this topic. May God richly bless you as you read it
Jesus
said, “I am come that they might have life, and that
they might have it more abundantly.” The life to which Jesus was
referring was the very life and nature of God. To be a partaker of that life,
you must be a member of God’s family; and to become a member of God’s
family, you must be “born again”. the
term born again was originated by Jesus. He said, “Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God.” He goes on to say in the same chapter that unless a man is
born of the Spirit (born again), he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. We see
from God’s word that being born again is a requirement which must be
individually met before you can receive the life of God and enter into His
kingdom.
What
does it mean to be born again? Nicodemus, the man to who Jesus was speaking,
found this term puzzling. He asked, “How an a man be
born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and
be born?” Jesus answered,
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that
which is born of the spirit is spirit.” Still, a legitimate
question would be: What does it mean to be born again? First, let’s look at
some things it does not mean. Being born again is not joining or belonging to a
church. It is not being confirmed or baptized. It is not living a good, honest,
moral life. Although these things should follow your rebirth experience, they
are not the same as being born again. before explaining exactly what it means to
be born again, the actual need for a spiritual rebirth should first be
understood.
Thank
God we are beginning to recognize man’s three-part nature. Man is
a spirit, he has
a soul, and he lives
in a body. In the
first chapter of Genesis we see that God created man in His own image and
likeness. God is a Spirit; therefore, God
created man a spirit being. The Amplified Bible states, “God
formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath
or spirit of life; and man became a living being.” It is very
important that we understand what happened here. God took some of the dust of
the earth ad fashioned or formed a physical body. God was not creating at this
point. He simply took some of the dust He had previously created and molded it
into a suit for the spirit-man Adam He had yet to create. He made an earth suit
or physical vehicle in which Adam could operate as a spirit being in a physical
environment.
If
you could have seen this body prior to God breathing into it, you would have
seen a lifeless mass, much like a dead person would appear. There was no life in
the body until God breathed into his nostrils the spirit of life, and he then
became a living being. The distinction we wish to make clear is the fact that
life came into existence when the spirit-man was created, not the physical man.
God formed Adam’s body from the dust of the earth. The real Adam was spawned
or created from the inside of God. Because of this, Adam had the very life and
nature of God in his spirit. Remember, God said, “Let
us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Adam and God were
very much alike. So much in fact, that the Bible says Adam was God’s son.
The
life that was in Adam sprung forth from the innermost depths of God. Since Adam
had God’s life and nature flowing in his spirit, he was alive unto God-he was
alive spiritually. Why? Simply be cause he had life abiding in his spirit.
Because of this, Adam was able to communicate and fellowship with God on a
spiritual basis.
God
gave Adam dominion over His entire creation and instructed him to subdue and
rule over al the works of His hands. In addition, he gave Adam freedom to fully
enjoy all things. God placed only one restriction on Adam’s liberty; he was
forbidden to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God
told Adam that the day he ate of the fruit of that tree, he would surely die.
In
the third chapter of Genesis we see the arrival of Satan and temptation of Eve
to eat of the forbidden fruit. Eve “took of the fruit
thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
At this point sin entered man’s world. Not only had Adam been instructed not
to eat of the fruit but he had been given dominion over everything God had
created. Since Satan was a created being, Adam had dominion over him. He could
have exercised his God delegated authority and ordered Satan from his domain.
Instead, he stood by and watched as Satan tempted his wife and caused her to sin
and then followed her in sin.
Again,
we need to clearly understand what took place at this point. Adam had been
created to be obedient toward God in all things, and yet he had been given a
freedom of choice. He had been created with God as his Lord, and yet he was free
to choose his Lord, did he want to remain obedient and retain God as his Lord or
submit himself to some other being and allow them to lord over him? The Bible
says, “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?” This is actually what
Adam did. when Adam obeyed Satan rather than God, he committed spiritual high
treason. He bowed his knee to the lordship of Satan and changed from God’s
family to Satan’s. Jesus, in talking to some of the religious people of His
time, told them their father was the devil. Satan gained the dominion and
authority that God had given Adam and, according to the Bible, became the god of
this world.
Remember
that God told Adam the day he ate of the fruit he would surely die. We know God was not referring to physical death because
Adam lived several hundred years after this incident occurred. We also know
that, since God does not lie, Adam died in some manner that very day. What then
actually happened? Adam died spiritually. What is spiritual death? This question
has intrigued many for centuries. We understand that physical death is the
absence of life in the physical body. Spiritual death, in like manner, is an
absence of life in the spirit. Where Adam once had God’s life and nature in
his spirit, he now had the sin nature of Satan. Where he
once had light, he now had darkness where there once was life, death took
up residence. The instant that Adam disobeyed God, the life that was in Adam’s
spirit departed. Light flowed out, and darkness flowed in. In the same manner
that darkness is simply the absence of light, death is the absence of life.
Under no circumstances had darkness ever overpowered even the smallest candle.
As long as the candle burns, there is light. But the moment the light is
extinguished, darkness flows in.
We
see that Adam received within his spirit the nature of his new father, Satan.
The law of sin and death replaced the law of life in Adam’s spirit and the
results of this act by one man passed upon all men. Spiritual death had lodged
in man’s spirit and was passed upon all men. Since all men had this death
sentence passed upon them, there was no man born of the seed of Adam that could
either redeem himself or anyone else from the penalty of sin. Try as he would
with good works, religious rituals, etc., there was no way man could remove this
death from his spirit. The only way this could be done would be to infuse his
spirit with life Remember, darkness didn’t overpower light nor death life.
Death is the natural consequence of the absence of life, whether physical or
spiritual. Therefore, the way to rid man’s spirit of the death that was there
would be to replace it with life. A major problem existed however: where would
man get life? Could he go to his new lord Satan and receive it? No. Satan has no
life, only death. Could man create his own life through good works, baptism,
etc? No, life comes only from God. Therefore, the only place man could go to
receive life was God.
What
a plight. Man was dead spiritually-all men. This certainly was not God’s will,
so He set out immediately to redeem man from this situation. God was faced with
the problem of returning His life to man’s spirit, and yet, by His very
nature, He was required to do all that He did legally. Not only was there a
problem of returning life to man’s spirit but justice required that the
penalty for man’s disobedience be paid. God was required to judge man’s sin,
and justice sets a penalty. The penalty or payment for sin is death. Because
death was a natural result of sin, God established the sacrificial system of
using animals to take man’s place when sin was committed. In this manner, the
animals became man’s substitute. (Hebrews 9:22 tells us that without
the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.)
We
need to understand that God was not looking for vengeance. He had, however,
established the spiritual law that you reap what you sow and had informed Adam
that all things, both spiritual and physical, operated on this principle. Each
tree, plant, and animal produced after its own kind. Therefore, that which is
sown is reaped. God had plainly instructed Adam if he sowed disobedience (sin)
he would reap death. How then could it possibly be said that God had caused
death and all the results of sin to come upon man. On the contrary, God had
given Adam all the information he needed to be fully aware of the results of
disobedience. Even after all this, God’s love was such that He set out to
correct the situation that Adam had gotten himself and the entire human race
into.
We
have seen that God was looking for a way by which the penalty for sin could be
legally paid and life could be returned to man’s spirit. But the sacrifice of
bulls and goats under the old covenant was only a temporary substitute for the
payment due. Those sacrifices did not more than pay the interest on the debt.
The principal remained untouched. The Bible tells us that those sacrifices could
not rid man’s spirit of the death that was there nor return God’s life to
him. How then was God going to do this? Under the old covenant, the sacrifice of
animals and the shedding of blood was required for the forgiveness of sins. In
like manner, Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for sin when He shed His blood
on the cross. In paying the sin debt for the entire world, Jesus made it
possible for God to return His life to man’s spirit. Romans 5:18 states, “As
one man’s trespass-one man’s false step and falling away - -[led] to
condemnation for all men, so one Man’s act of righteousness [leads] to
acquittal and right standing with God, and life for all men.”
(Amplified Bible)
How
would man receive this life that God was now extending to him? According to
Jesus, he must be born again or have a spiritual rebirth. Ezekiel 36:25-27 gives
us a description of what happens when an individual is born again. it states,
“Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye
shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I
cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put
within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will
give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause your
to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”
In this passage of scripture, God stated that He would cleans man’s spirit to
the extent that it would actually be a new spirit.
With
Adam, God created the human spirit. In the new birth, God recreates the human
spirit. God’s word says, “Therefore if any man be
in Christ (be born again) he is a new creature (new creation): old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new.” What becomes new?
Do you get a new body? No. Do you get a new mind? No, you get a new recreated
spirit-created in righteousness and true holiness. Peter explained it in this
manner, “According as his divine power hath given
unto us all things that pertain unto us all things that pertain unto life and
godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these
ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that
is in the world through lust.” Here it states that we might be
partakers of God’s divine nature. What is God’s nature? It states in verse 3
that all the things given unto us by God pertain to life. That is the nature of
God.
There
is no substitute for being born again or having God replace the death and sin
nature in your spirit with His life and nature. Going to church is not the
answer. Being a good, moral person will not remove sin and death from your
spirit. It takes the power of God and the blood of Jesus to remove the sin
nature from your spirit and replace it with His nature.
In
devising a way to return life to man’s spirit, God did not overlook the fact
that the penalty for man’s sin had to be settled. As stated earlier, Jesus
paid the entire sin debt for your sins and mine. The Bible teaches that the sins
of the entire world were laid upon Jesus, and HE born them when He died on the
cross. II Corinthians 5:21 goes on to say, “For He
(God) hath made Him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him.” Jesus took your place and
became your place and became your substitute through death so that you might
receive His life. Although the first part of Romans 6:23 states that “the
wages of sin is death,” it goes on to state, “But
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
God’s very own life and nature are being offered to you as a free gift. Would
you like to receive God’s life imparted to your spirit right now? You don’t
have to be in church. God will meet your need wherever you are. You might ask,
“What must I do to be saved or born again?”
The answer to that question comes from God’s word.
The
standard answer to this question is, “Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved.” Although this
statement is true, by itself it imparts little understanding to he reader.
Romans 10:9-10 very clearly explains what one must do to be saved. It states,
“That if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead,
thou shall be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and
with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Notice it
explicitly states that if you do two things, you shall or will be saved. God,
who con not lie, is speaking to you through these scriptures. He is stating that
if you believe in your heart that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, was
raised from the grave, and you are willing to make Him the Lord of your life;
you shall be saved. Not maybe. On the
integrity of God’s word, it would be impossible for you to do what is required
here, and not be born again. let me make two points clear. Fist, you
must believe in your heart, not in your head. Second,
as an act of your will, you must make Jesus the Lord of your life. Many
people misunderstand this second point. It does not mean that you say a quick
prayer, and then return to your old way of living. Neither does it mean that
once you have made this commitment, you will never make another mistake. It
simply means you are willing to give Jesus control of your life, and submit to
the things He desires of your rather than doing your own thing.
Just as Adam was created with a free will, and had a God given right to choose his lord, so do you. whether you want to admit it or not, if you have not made Jesus the Lord of your life, Satan is your lord. If you end this life without making Jesus Lord, you will spend eternity in hell. Are you willing to submit to the Lordship of Jesus? If so, God is willing to supernaturally impart to you His life.
pray
the following prayer
If you are willing to make that commitment now,
pray the following prayer loud
enough to hear yourself speaking:
Dear
God, I come to your recognizing I am a sinner and that I have no way Of saving
myself. Jesus, I receive You now as my Lord and Savior. From this moment on I
commit Myself to you and promise to live for And serve you. Satan, I
renounce you and your works. You are no longer my lord. Thank you Father for
saving me and giving me eternal life. In Jesus name, amen.
If
you prayed this prayer sincerely and from your heart, God through the power of
His Holy Spirit just saved you. You now have the very life and nature of God
abiding in your spirit. You are a child of God. It is important for you to tell
others what God has done for you. if someone asks you on what authority you
believe you are saved, tell them you base your
salvation on Romans 10:9-10 and the
authority and integrity of God’s word.
Now
that you are born again, there are several things of which you should be aware:
1.
You are now
a child of God and have His life, His nature, and His ability abiding in your
spirit or inner man.
2.
You should
follow Jesus in baptism, and begin regular attendance in a scriptural sound
church. Make sure the church you attend teaches God’s word and not man’s
traditions. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in this effort.
3.
Because you
are now God’s child, He desires to meet your needs as you learn to trust Him
for them.
4.
As a son or
daughter, God will direct you through His word. It is important that you begin a
daily study of the Bible. Before each session, ask the Holy Spirit to help your
understanding. Begin reading in the New Testament with the four gospels, paying
particular attention to Jesus and His ministry. Watch Him meet mankind’s
needs; both spirit, soul and body.
As a final note, we have been given a commission by Jesus that instructs us to go and make disciples for Him. We need to understand that the responsibility for getting the gospel to the unsaved lies with those of us who have received eternal life. As Jesus has commissioned, share your testimony with someone today.
further Reading:
a. Gospel that changes lives
b. 10 steps to a new Christian
c. Baptism
d. Personal Evangelism
Note : This article is posted here by G J Thimothy. Please pass your comments to jthimoth@cisco.com