What does it mean to be born again or what does the Bible describe as the new birth? One of the best kept secret is the incarnation of Jesus, something that many, including churches do not really think much about. Jesus was in the world! They were people that met Him, experienced Him (1 Jn 1:1-3, 2 Pt 1:16-18). The record we have of Jesus in Bible is that of God living amongst men (John1:1-2,14, Mt 1:23, 1 Tim 3:16). Jesus came to His own, and His own did not receive Him, but as many as received Him, He gave power to become the sons of God ( John 1:11-12).This is what the new birth is all about – receiving Christ and being made a son of God. This becomes a reality for the MANY that receives Him.
Receiving Him, connotes believing in Christ. Believing is what is required for a person to be born again. This is unacceptable to many who coined the concept of “easy-believism” as a way of denying that faith alone is sufficient to be born again. They ascribe a role to human works in the new birth, even erroneously citing James 2:17, 26. However, James was not describing HOW to be born again/saved, or that works is the means of gaining God’s approval. Rather, James was stating that true faith would not ordinarily stand alone, but would be evidenced by good works. James was simply declaring that the person who claims to believe/have faith in God, not backed up by good works possibly has nor really believed in God (is not really saved). Believing on the name of Jesus is therefore not easy-believism but God’s own sole prescription for the new birth(John 1:12). It is BELIEVING on His name that makes men become His sons (Jn 1:12-13).In our day, we often hear the question,” have you received the Lord Jesus?” or have you received Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour?”. Not many ponder about the import of receiving Him or what exactly it means. Receiving Christ (John 1:12) means believing in Him and the outcome of this is being born of God (John 1:13). The man born again has been begotten of God. He has been born of God. God gave birth to Him (John 1:13).
The new birth speaks of activity on the path of God. It is not something you did/do, but something God does. Being born again has been cheapened because of the wrong tendency of thinking of t ha something man does. A drunkard, chain-smoker becomes born again and people laugh heartily and derisively, not believing such a change can occur, simply because they attribute the being born again to human effort, and not what God did.
When believers do not understand something it is like a fantasy to us. Our involvement will be very minimal and shallow. Until we know what it means to be born again we would not live a good Christian life and make the most of what we received. We will understand that a man that is backslidden has not lost his salvation. For a person to lose salvation the process that brought us faith – the new birth – has to be reversed. Naturally speaking when someone gives birth to a child, that birth cannot be reversed. Therefore if at some point a time a father disowns his son, or vice versa, that can never reverse or annul the fact that the father gave birth to that child or break the bond between them. The same is true about the man born again. That you are not living a good Christian does not mean you have lost your salvation. God is not as fickle as we are. The new birth cannot be reversed.
The new birth is NOT repentance. One of the greatest hindrances we have to understanding the new birth is when we think it is repentance. You remind a man of his sins, smoking, womanising, and tell him that Jesus is coming soon and that he should repent. A man can change his ways without necessarily be born again. It cannot also be the same has repentance because repentance had always been available before Christ came (Is 1:18-19). If Christ came to give us something that had been available before then Christ died in vain. Christ did not come to give us better manners; rather He came to give us life – to give us a new nature. This is much more than repentance, rather this is what we have through the new birth. It is the new birth that gives power (authority/ability) to become sons of God. This counters widely held sentiments that everyone in the world is a son/child of God. Although everyone in the world is a creation of God (Acts 17:29), only those who are born again are his sons/children( John 1:12-13).
THE NEW BIRTH REPRESENTS ACTIVITY ON GOD”S PART
The new birth is something God does. 1 Pet 1:3 reveals that God is the one who has begotten us (given us new birth). The new birth is the work of God. Faith is merely the channel which shows man’s readiness for God’s work of begetting us (Jn 1:12).
How does a person get saved/born again
Rom 10:5-10 reveals how a man gets saved/born again. It speaks about BELIEVING with the heart and CONFESSING with the mouth (Rom 10:9-10) Some try to cover all the bases by asking about the dumb who cannot speak. The question is an attempt to challenge the issue of confession. Yet nobody will dare ask about those who do not have a heart to challenge the issue of BELIEVING. All these try to complicate issues and introduce something possibly not in the contemplation of Apostle Paul. In any event, the place of believing is not the physical heart that pumps blood. Believing is something that happens that cannot be seen by man, but which triggers a confession that is not necessarily verbal, though most times it may be since it is the easiest way to express what is in the heart. That confession testifies to the world (not to God) that that such a person is saved, though the emphasis is on believing
With the heart man believeth
What is man expected to believe? Can a man just believe anything and get born again? Can we assume that anybody that responds to an altar call is saved, even though he may never have heard the gospel, or does not understand it? The Ethiopian Eunuch had probably been reading the scriptures for a long time but never understood what he read (Acts 8:32). There was something Phillip had to give him an understanding of before he could be saved. Phillip did not explain prosperity, healing, marriage, financial breakthrough, spiritual warfare, deliverance to him. On the contrary, he preached the gospel/the finished work of Christ/Christ to him. When this is not preached to a man and understood, how can such a person be saved? The problem we have is that for most people who claim to be Christians are not because WHAT THEY HEARD when they answered an altar call was not the gospel about Christ, His death, and resurrection, and the life he bestows on whoever believes. As far as Bible is concerned a man is not saved except he has heard, understood and believed that. A look through the book of Acts will confirm that this was what the early church preached everywhere they went. This does not mean an altar call cannot be made after a sermon on marriage, healing, or whatever message; but before the altar call, sufficient time must be used to explain the gospel. From Acts 8:36, it is obvious the Ethiopian Eunuch had understood believed, and wanted to be baptized. Acts 8:37 confirms he believed. Believed what? He believed what Phillip had told Him about Christ. We learn from that story that when a people gets born again, many times it may not be in response to an altar call. The Eunuch believed there and there in his heart and got born again without Phillip making any altar call.
Rom 10:13-17 also reinforces the importance of a man hearing the gospel and getting saved. Rom 10:13 declares that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. This does not mean merely calling “Jesus” or saying “Jesus is Lord”, the calling upon the name of the Lord that leads to salvation is within the context of hearing the gospel, understanding and believing in it (Rom 10:14-17). It is possible to for someone to hear and be well-acquainted and yet not be saved, like King Agrippa (Acts 26:28), because of not being fully persuaded or obeying (believing) the gospel (Rom 10:16). Never be intimidated by a man’s outward religious outlook or garb, but you should inquire if the person has heard, understood and believed the gospel. Nicodemus, the priests in Acts 6:5, and the Jews are also good examples of people who were religious but were not saved, because they had not heard the gospel (Acts 6:6, Rom 10:1-4,John 3:1-18). Cornelius was “prayerful”, “feared God”,” “gave alms” but was not saved until he heard (understood and believed) words from the mouth of peter (the gospel) through which he and his family were saved (Acts 10:1-6,30-33,36-44, Acts 11:14-17). Peter was not sent to lay hands on them, make an altar call, or preach a message on healing, financial breakthrough, or management principles, which in contemporary times we feel is more effective techniques of getting someone saved, but to tell them words by which they were to be saved (Rom 10:16). People can get born again, even before the end of a message if they have heard and believed the gospel. The story of Cornelius and his family is a good example of this (Acts 10:43) – they did not even respond to an altar call or confess with their mouth. They simply believed while Peter was yet speaking
WHAT BEING BORN AGAIN IS NOT
The new birth is man accepting God’s offer on God’s terms. It is not an thinking up his own way to the Father like the Prodigal son in Luke 15:17-19. At best the parable of the Prodigal son illustrates repentance and God’s love and attitude towards sinners. It is not an accurate depiction of the redemptive work of Christ or the new birth. Many that claim to be born again never heard the gospel, but responded to an altar call motivated by desire for healing, promises of riches, etc. Thereafter they start struggling and we do not see a change in their lifestyle and we wonder why. It is probably because such a person has not encountered the power of the gospel which makes him born again and has the potency to transform his lifestyle.
CONCLUSION
Being born again not only means a person has been given the authority to become a son/child of God, but also implies ability to stand as a representative of Jesus Himself. Men, no matter their status in life would always need the gospel of Jesus because of this. This is the more reason we should consider ourselves it a privilege and huge responsibility to be entrusted with heralding it (Eph3:8,2 Tim 2:8-10, 1 Tim 1:12).
Pastor Jide Lawal