Spiritual Rebirth


Spiritual Rebirth



The entrance requirement for God's kingdom is a new birth. It's in the Bible, John 3:3-8, TLB. "Jesus replied, "With all the earnestness I possess I tell you this: Unless you are born again, you can never get into the Kingdom of God. 'Born again!’ exclaimed Nicodemus. 'What do you mean? How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again?' Jesus replied, 'What I am telling you so earnestly is this: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Men can only reproduce human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven; so don't be surprised at My statement that you must be born again! Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it will go next, so it is with the Spirit. We do not know on whom He will next bestow this life from heaven.'"
Eternal life begins at the moment of spiritual rebirth. It's in the Bible, John 3:36, TLB. "And all who trust Him—God's Son—to save them have eternal life; those who don't believe and obey Him shall never see heaven, but the wrath of God remains upon them."
When we receive Christ, we are reborn. It's in the Bible, John 1:12-13, NKJV.  " But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
Spiritual rebirth means dying to your old life. It's in the Bible, Romans 7:4, TLB. "Your 'husband,’ your master, used to be the Jewish law; but you 'died,’ as it were, with Christ on the cross; and since you are 'dead,’ you are no longer 'married to the law,' and it has no more control over you. Then you came back to live again when Christ did and are a new person. And now you are 'married,’ so to speak, to the one who rose from the dead, so that you can produce good fruit, that is, good deeds for God."
Spiritual rebirth brings changes in our lives and goals. It's in the Bible, I John 3:9, TLB. "The person who has been born into God's family does not make a practice of sinning because now God's life is in him; so he can't keep on sinning, for this new life has been born into him and controls him—he has been born again."
In Christ, we are newly created. It's in the Bible, 2 Corinthians 5:17, KJV. " Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new"
By the Holy Spirit we are reborn and adopted by God. It's in the Bible, Romans 8:15-17, NKJV. "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."
With God as our Father, by faith we can overcome the world. It's in the Bible, 1 John 5:4, NKJV. "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith."

1 comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 30, 2010 at 5:05 PM

    Dear Loknath,

    Regeneration in John 3

    These different ways of talking about being "born again" describe effects of baptism, which Christ speaks of in John 3:5 as being "born of water and the Spirit."

    In Greek, this phrase is, literally, "born of water and Spirit," indicating one birth of water-and-Spirit, rather than "born of water and of the Spirit," as though it meant two different births—one birth of water and one birth of the Spirit.

    In the water-and-Spirit rebirth that takes place at baptism, the repentant sinner is transformed from a state of sin to the state of grace.

    Peter mentioned this transformation from sin to grace when he exhorted people to "be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).

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