[Darris McNeely] Chances are, if you’re a Christian, you believe that you are born
again. The traditional Christian teaching of being born again in evangelical Christianity
is that once you make a commitment to Jesus Christ and to God, you accept Him into your
life as your Lord and Savior, you are born anew, you have a new life, and your salvation
is there, you’re born into a new spiritual condition and relationship with God. And the
way some will interpret it, your salvation then is guaranteed – signed, sealed, and
delivered. Is that however what the Bible teaches in this very important concept of
being born again?
In John chapter 3, a Jewish teacher named Nicodemus came by night to Jesus Christ, and
this discussion took place. And Christ told him, “I tell you the truth, no one can see
the kingdom of God unless he’s born again. Truly, except a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God.” All right, just put “KOG” up there for “kingdom of God”.
Unless you are born again, according to the biblical definition, you will not see the
kingdom of God. So what does that mean?
Well, the word “born again” comes from a Greek word – we generally don’t put
Greek words up here on a Daily, but perhaps on this one we at least should make the effort
– “gennao” is a Greek word from which the English “born again” is translated
in Scripture. And essentially, it is a word that encapsulates the idea of a new life – the
process of a new life that begins from conception all the way to actual birth – hence, “born
again”. But it is a new life that comes out of heaven, from God, to a convert in the
context of the biblical description, and it implies the entire process from conception,
or the beginning, to the actual birth – in this case, into a spiritual relationship with
God.
What else does the Bible tell us about this? Well, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 – a very
important passage that talks about the resurrection. And beginning in verse 42, the apostle Paul
talks about the very fact that the resurrection of the dead is a critical matter to inheriting
the kingdom of God. He begins and he says, “So also is the resurrection of the dead
– it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.” The resurrection begins
in the corruptible life of a person through the receipt of God’s Holy Spirit. It is
ultimately raised in incorruption through the resurrection to a spirit body. He said,
“It’s sown in dishonor, it’s raised in glory. “ He goes on to talk here, and
he brings it down – he said, “This I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God, neither does corruption inherit incorruption.” Flesh and blood cannot
fully inherit the kingdom of God. He says, “I show you a mystery: we shall not all
sleep, but we shall be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.
For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruption, and we shall be changed.”
This is one of the most foundational New Testament scriptures on the subject of the resurrection.
He said, “This corruptible must put on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality. And when
this corruptible has put on incorruption, this mortal will have put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’.”
(1 Corinthians 15:42-54) A most encouraging, comforting passage of scripture. Flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. You must be born again to inherit the kingdom
of God, Jesus said.
There’s one other passage of scripture in 1 John 3:9. It says this: “Whoever is born
of God does not commit sin, but the seed remains in him and he cannot sin because he is born
of God.” Put these three scriptures together and you have a very clear understanding that
the only condition in which we will not sin, is when we are spirit beings through a resurrection
process as Paul describes it 1 Corinthians 15, and it is then that we will see and fully
inherit the kingdom of God and then be fully born again.
The full knowledge and understanding of this speaks to what happens with that resurrection
event and what it means when we become a spirit being and become a member of the divine family
of God. The process begins when we change our lives and we decide to repent and we accept
God, we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. But it is a process that can go on for many,
many years, and ultimately leading to the time when we will be born again. That in a
nutshell is what the Bible teaches about being born again. Examine your belief on that teaching
with these scriptures and others, and make sure you understand what the Bible teaches
about being born again.
That’s BT Daily. Join us next time.