BORN AGAIN?

Saturday 23 November

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3 (NKJV)

having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, 1 Peter 1:23 (NKJV)

There are phrases we commonly use in a generic sense to convey a specific idea. ‘Born again’ is one of these phrases. But are we really born again? The first time this phrase was used, Jesus was talking to Nicodemus who was a Pharisee. Jesus used ‘born again’ twice in his discourse. Once in John 3:3 and again in John 3:8. He also said ‘that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’

For us to understand the concept correctly, we must look at the original language in which the text was written. The Greek word for born is ‘gennao’ and the Greek word for again is ‘anothen’ which means ‘from above’. Therefore in Christ we are ‘born from above’, not born again. Jesus confirms this idea in John 8:23 ‘And He said to them You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.’

It’s not ‘second birth’ as a famous Christmas carol tells us, it’s being born once. This begs the question: what about all those who are not born from above? The Bible is clear that anyone who has never received salvation is already ‘dead in trespasses and sins’ (Ephesians 2:1). 1 Corinthians 15:22 states ‘for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.’

Because sin brought death, people who are not saved are like dead men walking. They are animated souls. Dead, separated and cut off from God, the source of all life. Let’s be clear on this. There is no life outside of Christ, only existence. Conversely, only those who are born from above are ever truly born. In other words, if you haven’t been born from above, you haven’t been born of the Spirit which spiritually speaking, means you haven’t even been born yet!

If you haven’t been born from above then it also means that you don’t have eternal life. Only those who have eternal life will live on beyond the grave. Those who don’t have it will face destruction when ‘death and hell are cast into the lake of fire which is the second death’.

For the believer in Christ however be encouraged with these words.

Again, 1 Peter 1:23 says ‘having been born again (born from above) not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of God which lives and abides forever.’

James 1:18 says ‘of His own will He gave birth to us by the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of all He created’

We are born of the Spirit and born of the Word which both proceeded from our heavenly Father. This tells us without a shadow of doubt our place of origin. The new man in Christ is the man from heaven.

Remember, you are a spirit who has a soul and lives in a body. You didn’t get born again, you were born once from above and have received eternal life through salvation in Jesus Christ that can never be lost.

APPLICATION

Realise that when you received salvation you were born of the Spirit, and walk daily with the consciousness that you are now a new creation that came from heaven, born from abov