What is "Born Again?'
What is "Born Again?'
I would like to start this study by
asking two questions. Then we will
gather the bible evidence that we will need in order to answer those
two questions, and then at the end of the study I want to ask two more
questions. Between now and then, I hope that what we see from the bible
will help you to answer those last two questions. Here are the
questions:
What is regeneration? What is born
again? I am sure that if you are
like me, you have heard a number of different things that come from the
religious system. All different kinds of doctrines, depending on which
group you are a member of, or which "theological position" you take.
But what we want, what we are looking for, is the BIBLE ANSWER. Not an
interpretation. We don't need to make an interpretation, we need to
come to a conclusion. Now you reach a conclusion by having the facts.
And that is what we are looking for, BIBLE FACTS.
Most of us probably know that Paul,
in his thirteen books, Romans thru
Philemon, never uses the phrase "born again." Most of us know that
Peter does. We also know that Paul refers to the "washing of
regeneration," but Peter never does. Jesus Christ, on the other hand,
uses BOTH the phrase "born again," and the word regeneration. The word,
regeneration, only appears twice in your bible, and the phrase "born
again," appears in only two places.
Now outside of that, there is NO
bible use of these two terms at all.
Anything other than the two uses of the terms, comes from man made
doctrines and the religious system, not from the bible. And, as you
know, entire "systems" of so-called "theology" are based on, and built
around one, or both, of those terms.
You have the "regenerated before
faith" religious system, which
essentially says that mankind is so totally depraved that he is not
even capable of believing anything unless he is FIRST regenerated, so
that when God sends somebody to share the gospel with him, he can then
believe it. He can't believe before he is FIRST regenerated. So to that
group regeneration is a very selective and a very limited term, since,
in their view, only certain people will ever be saved anyway, and
everybody else has already been chosen to go to Hell. The extreme edge
of that kind of thinking is called "Five Point Calvinism" and those who
hold that view put everybody who doesn't hold that view into a class
which they call Armenians. In other words, if you are not a Calvinist
then you are an Armenian.
Their next step is to paint such a
horrible picture of Armenians, which
is what you are if you are not a Calvinist, that they hope to get you
to choose Calvinism by default. But the fact is, to be a Calvinist you
will have to learn almost an entire new theological language of
non-biblical multi-syllable words. I never hear them preaching the
gospel but mostly debating theological terms and the "doctrines of
grace," as they say. I guess it's not too important for them to preach
the gospel, since all Calvinists are predestined to be saved anyway,
whether they want to or not, since none of them have any free will.
Another very large group never uses
the word "regeneration." Instead
they call themselves "born again" Christians. Millions of people, as a
matter of fact, according to surveys, the majority of the population of
the United States, claim to be "born again" Christians. Jimmy Carter,
the former President, made it politically correct to be a "born again"
Christian.
As far as documentation of the use of
the term "born again," outside of
theological studies by men such as those who wrote during the
Reformation period, John Wesley and others, who talked of regeneration,
the new birth and so on, the earliest published reference seems to be
in a newspaper called the Reno Evening Gazette in October of 1913. It
says that "Christian Science (that's the religion started by Mary Baker
Eddy) gives a man the opportunity of being born again.” The first
reference that specifically mentions "born again Christians" is the
Decatur, Illinois, Evening Herald of December, 1928. It has a sentence
that reads, "I knew I had the new desires that a born again Christian
acquires."
Now, in my growing up years, I don't
recall ever hearing the term "born
again," or "born again Christian." I remember being in Baptist,
Methodist, Presbyterian and Pentecostal churches but I just can't
remember the use of the term. But by the 1960's the Ecumenical
Movement, the evangelical renewal started, first in the United States
and then around the world. There were the Jesus People and the
Christian counterculture thing. Remember Charles Colson, the Watergate
conspirator? He became a "born again" Christian and published a
book in 1976, and the idea of "born again" became pretty much socially
and politically correct. Former President Jimmy Carter, in a Playboy
magazine interview, said he was "born again."
But what is REGENERATION? What is
BORN AGAIN? Jesus Christ told
Nicodemus in John chapter three that "Ye must be born again:" As a
matter of fact he said that except a man be born again, he cannot SEE
the Kingdom of God. So it looks like a lot of people wanted to SEE the
Kingdom of God, because millions of people today say that they meet the
requirements, that they are BORN AGAIN.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto
him, Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Now look closely at verse seven:
John 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto
thee, Ye must be born again.
Did you notice the words "thee" and
"ye?" They are there for a reason.
The new translation salesmen want to convince you that they are
"archaic" words. They are out of date. We don't use those old words of
the Elizabethan English any more. They are hard words. They are antique
words, they say. What you need is a new "easy to understand" version.
But those words are in the King James
Bible for a reason. You see, the
King James Bible was first published in 1611. Nearly two hundred years
BEFORE 1611, people had already quit saying THEE and YE. The English
speaking people of the world had already started saying YOU instead of
THEE and YE. You can mean you, individually, or it can mean all of you,
which is plural.. But not THEE and YE. Those words are very specific.
The Hebrew and the Greek languages,
in which the bible was written,
have very specific words to mean YOU, individually, or ALL OF YOU,
meaning plural. The King James translators, in their dedicatory letter,
which is sometimes printed in the front of King James Bibles, said that
it had been their desire to make ONE MORE EXACT translation of the
scriptures. That's what they did. So, they RETAINED the distinctive
meanings of the words, YOU individually, or ALL OF YOU, plural.. And
the distinctive Hebrew and Greek words are TRANSLATED into the English
language for you to understand: THEE and YE.
In other words, in verse 7, the Lords
"says unto thee," unto YOU
Nicodemus. I am talking specifically and directly TO YOU. And then he
says YE. In other words, a group of people, the whole groups, ALL OF
YOU, which in the context is a reference to the whole house of Israel,
the lost sheep of the house of Israel....YE must be born again. So in
your King James Bible the 'T' words are singular, and the 'Y' words are
plural. It's as simple as simple can be.
But we still have the question, or
the questions, we started with. What
is regeneration? What is born again? But I think we are going to find
that they are one and the same thing. One with a much broader
meaning than the other, but the same thing, and both related to the
SAME EVENT. But first, I want to show you that we need to eliminate
Peter's use of the word, because in 1 Peter, Peter is talking about a
totally different thing than Jesus Christ is in John chapter three. So
let's read a minute in 1 Peter:
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a
lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1 Peter 1:4 To an inheritance
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1 Peter 1:5 Who are kept by the power
of God through faith unto
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Notice that Peter says "hath begotten
us again." What is he begotten
unto? Unto a lively hope he says, and he says that he is begotten UNTO
that hope how? By the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He
says that the hope that he is begotten unto is an inheritance. It's
reserved in heaven and that he, and those involved, are being kept by
the power of God unto what? Unto salvation ready to be revealed in the
last time. Now follow closely here. IF God has begotten them again, I
would suspect that again would have a BEFORE. In other words you could
look around and find where God had BEGOTTEN them before. Now watch:
Exodus 4:21 And the LORD said unto
Moses, When thou goest to return
into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I
have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not
let the people go.
Exodus 4:22 And thou shalt say unto
Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD,
Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
Exodus 4:23 And I say unto thee, Let
my son go, that he may serve me:
and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy
firstborn.
So, here in the book of Exodus is the
first BEGETTING, and Peter says
they have been BEGOTTEN AGAIN unto a lively hope. What was Israel's
hope in the book of Exodus? It was inheritance, right? It was the
Kingdom, was it not? It was a NATIONAL inheritance of the Kingdom. As
in:
Genesis 12:2 And I will make of thee
a great nation, and I will bless
thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Now remember what the Lord had told
the leaders of the nation of Israel
in Matthew 21. He had told them a parable out of the book of Isaiah. In
effect he had caused them to condemn themselves, and then he said:
Matthew 21:43 Therefore say I unto
you, The kingdom of God shall be
taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Notice he is telling the leaders of
the apostate Nation of Israel that
the Kingdom would be taken from them. That it would be given to A
NATION. Now who is that nation?
Luke 12:32 Fear not, little flock;
for it is your Father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom.
So who is the LITTLE FLOCK? It is the
US in 1 Peter: Look at it again:
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a
lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
How did their hope come about? What
is it related to? The resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. Why, according to Peter, according to
Peter's preaching, was Jesus Christ raised from the dead? It was to be
the King in the Kingdom.
Acts 2:29 Men and brethren, let me
freely speak unto you of the
patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is
with us unto this day.
Acts 2:30 Therefore being a prophet,
and knowing that God had sworn
with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the
flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
So you can see that Israel, the son
of God, in Exodus chapter four, was
BEGOTTEN. Actually it was the blood of the Passover. The Israelites
coming through the blood, in other words, they came out of the house
which they were in while the death angel PASSED OVER, they came out of
the house and through the water of the Red Sea. It represents birth.
They were begotten. The whole house of Israel in the book of Exodus was
begotten. And Peter says that they, the people he writes to, are
BEGOTTEN AGAIN unto the same lively hope, That hope was salvation from
their enemies, including death, inheritance of the promised land, and
the King and the Kingdom. In other words they are begotten again, they
are BORN AGAIN as Peter uses the term in THIS application.
1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified
your souls in obeying the truth
through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye
love one another with a pure heart fervently:
1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
He says by the word of God. Well,
what was that word? It was the
promises made unto the fathers:
Romans 15:8 Now I say that Jesus
Christ was a minister of the
circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto
the fathers:
He was CONFIRMING the promises. What
were the promises? Inheritance.
Abraham was looking for a CITY that hath foundations, the bible says.
Abraham believed in resurrection. So does Peter. And Jesus Christ has
been raised from the dead. They now have a LIVELY HOPE. Their hope of
the Kingdom of Heaven upon the earth. So this should give us some idea
of what Peter was talking about when HE uses the term "born again."
It's a reference to the "born again" nation of Israel. They are
begotten again. In other words it's the "little flock" of called out
believers from the apostate nation of Israel. It is a "born again"
nation, looking for the King and the Kingdom to come. In other words,
they are looking for the restitution of all things.
Acts 3:21 Whom the heaven must
receive until the times of restitution
of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy
prophets since the world began.
That word, restitution, literally
means RECONSTITUTION, and that's
exactly what will happen at the second coming of Christ. We don't need
to "proof text." In other words just because the word is the same you
don't just go through the bible and pick out all the places where that
word is used and make a doctrine from it. The word and the spelling of
the word, and so on, might be the same. But the use of the word might
NOT be the same. And in 1 Peter, he is NOT using the term "born again,"
in the same way the Lord used it in John chapter three. Now before we
go to John chapter three, let's look at that other word: Regeneration.
Jesus Christ uses the word once, and Paul uses it once. Paul says in
Titus:
Titus 3:3 For we ourselves also were
sometimes foolish, disobedient,
deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and
envy, hateful, and hating one another.
Titus 3:4 But after that the kindness
and love of God our Saviour
toward man appeared,
Titus 3:5 Not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but
according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and
renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Titus 3:6 Which he shed on us
abundantly through Jesus Christ our
Saviour;
Now that word, SHED, means to pour
forth, or to BESTOW. What was
bestowed on us? Is the Holy Ghost bestowed UPON us? Do we have the
anointing of the Holy Ghost as the Pentecostal Jews did in Acts chapter
two? No, we don't. We don't have that anointing, that unction. The idea
that Paul presents is that we are baptized BY the Spirit, not WITH. And
we know from Ephesians that there is but ONE baptism.
Ephesians 4:5 One Lord, one faith,
one baptism,
So we know that the one baptism Paul
is referring to is the baptism by
the Spirit into the body of Christ, and not the baptism OF the Holy
Ghost, as they say. In other words it is not the baptism WITH the Holy
Ghost, which Jesus Christ performed in Acts chapter two. It says
RENEWING of the Holy Ghost. How could somebody Paul just described as
being foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and
pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another
ever have HAD the Holy Ghost so that now we could be RENEWED with the
Holy Ghost. We never had the Holy Ghost to begin with. How could we be
renewed with it? That word renewing literally means renovation. Now I
want you to think about something. When Christ died, where were all
your sins?
2 Corinthians 5:19 To wit, that God
was in Christ, reconciling the
world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath
committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
God was reconciling us, and he did it
by NOT imputing our sins to us.
If they were not imputed to us, then who were they imputed to? They
were imputed to Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made
him to be sin for us, who knew no
sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
So when Christ died, where were all
your sins? They were on him. He was
made to be sin for us. Now in order for God to raise him from the dead,
he couldn't do it and then have the Lord ascend up into Heaven with our
sin on him. So there had to be a renovation, a renewing. He says, by
the washing of regeneration. He doesn't say that God shed forth on you
A WASHING of regeneration, he says by THE WASHING of regeneration. So
there is a WASHING involved. It positively means a bath, in other words
a BAPTISM. Remember the Lord said that he had to be baptized?
Luke 12:50 But I have a baptism to be
baptized with; and how am I
straitened till it be accomplished!
So it was a baptism into death and it
was YOUR DEATH that he died. He
died in your behalf. So there he is, on the cross. He says "it is
finished," and he bowed his head and died. And he was dead. He was dead
for three days and three nights. His body was in the tomb and his soul
went down into the lower parts of the earth, down into hell. Is that
going to be the end of it? No! He was REGENERATED. THE washing of
regeneration. Not just any washing but THE washing of what? Of
REGENERATION. It happened in the work of the cross.
Paul refers to it as “the operation
of God” in Collosians 2:11-12.
The word REGENERATION means REBIRTH.
It means RENNOVATION. Now what
does that sound like? Born again! There he is, he's dead. His body is
in the tomb and his soul in Hell. Something has to happen. So, three
days and three nights later, he is BORN AGAIN. The washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost happened. He had the Holy
Ghost. You and I never had the Holy Ghost to be renewed with it. He
did. He was the first BEGOTTEN from the dead. What is begotten? If a
child is begotten, he is BORN. Now look at:
Acts 13:32 And we declare unto you
glad tidings, how that the promise
which was made unto the fathers,
Acts 13:33 God hath fulfilled the
same unto us their children, in that
he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second
psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
Paul says he was RAISED UP....AGAIN.
This day have I begotten thee.
What day was that? It was the day he was raised from the dead.
Colossians 1:15 Who is the image of
the invisible God, the firstborn of
every creature:
Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of
the body, the church: who is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might
have the preeminence.
Let me show you A REGENERATION and
then we will talk about THE
REGENERATION. In Genesis, between verse one and verse two of Genesis
chapter one, something catastrophic happened. Something occurred
between the creation of Heaven and Earth in verse one to the condition
we see in verse two. The earth, not the world, but the earth was
without form and void. Peter mentions it briefly in 2 Peter:
2 Peter 3:5 For this they willingly
are ignorant of, that by the word
of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water
and in the water:
2 Peter 3:6 Whereby the world that
then was, being overflowed with
water, perished:
Now the EARTH was flooded in Noah's
day, but that's not what Peter is
referring to here. World is not the same as earth. World is an orderly
arrangement of things. The word is KOSMOS. That includes everything,
including the inhabitants, if there were any. But the EARTH is a
different thing. Earth means dirt. Terra firma. It means land, soil,
things like that. The EARTH didn't perish in Noah's flood. The people
perished. The flood took them all away. The earth was still there. It
stayed wet for about a year but it was still there. And the dove
brought back an olive leaf. The olive leaf was still there. It didn't
perish. Neither did the earth. But the world that then was, in Genesis
1:1 PERISHED. Believers in Christ don't perish. They have everlasting
life. Look at the REGENERATION in Genesis.
Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without
form, and void; and darkness was
upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of
the waters.
Genesis 1:3 And God said, Let there
be light: and there was light.
Genesis 1:4 And God saw the light,
that it was good: and God divided
the light from the darkness.
Genesis 1:5 And God called the light
Day, and the darkness he called
Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
The evening and the morning were the
first day. People talk about the
"Jewish reckoning of time" Reckon where the Jews got it? Well, here's
your pattern. So there is Day and Night and the evening and the morning
are the first day. And then God makes a firmament and it divides the
waters from the waters:
Genesis 1:8 And God called the
firmament Heaven. And the evening and
the morning were the second day.
Now watch very carefully this THIRD
DAY:
Genesis 1:11 And God said, Let the
earth bring forth grass, the herb
yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose
seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
Did you notice that the trees yeild
fruit AFTER THEIR KIND. Notice the
next verse.
Genesis 1:12 And the earth brought
forth grass, and herb yielding seed
after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself,
after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Look at all the things that are
coming forth and bringing forth and
yielding fruit. Now what does that sound like to you? The EARTH BROUGT
FORTH, notice that?
Genesis 1:13 And the evening and the
morning were the third day.
Now go to 1 Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered
unto you first of all that which I
also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures;
1 Corinthians 15:4 And that he was
buried, and that he rose again the
third day according to the scriptures:
Genesis 1:13 And the evening and the
morning were the third day.
Now look at what Paul says further on
down in 1 Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 15:35 But some man will
say, How are the dead raised up?
and with what body do they come?
1 Corinthians 15:36 Thou fool, that
which thou sowest is not quickened,
except it die:
1 Corinthians 15:37 And that which
thou sowest, thou sowest not that
body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some
other grain:
1 Corinthians 15:38 But God giveth it
a body as it hath pleased him,
and to every seed his own body.
Go back to Genesis:
Genesis 1:12 And the earth brought
forth grass, and herb yielding seed
after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself,
after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:13 And the evening and the
morning were the third day.
So REGENERATION is REBIRTH,
literally. It is RENNOVATION. It is
RESTORATION. Look at Revelation:
Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth,
and was dead; and, behold, I am
alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Now I know that there are some who
will ask “what does Paul mean in 1
Corinthians that he was born out of due time?” Actually that's not what
Paul says
1 Corinthians 15:5 And that he was
seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
1 Corinthians 15:6 After that, he was
seen of above five hundred
brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present,
but some are fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 15:7 After that, he was
seen of James; then of all the
apostles.
1 Corinthians 15:8 And last of all he
was seen of me also, as of one
born out of due time.
So he says that he is AS OF one born
out of due time. Not that he WAS
born out of due time. Well, when is due time? The angels have an answer
for that:
Acts 1:10 And while they looked
stedfastly toward heaven as he went up,
behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
Acts 1:11 Which also said, Ye men of
Galilee, why stand ye gazing up
into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Nobody saw Jesus after they saw him
ascend into heaven. And those two
angels said that he would SO COME IN LIKE MANNER. In other words THAT'S
when they would see him again. Now they knew that he had arrived in
Heaven because of what happened in Acts Two:
Acts 2:33 Therefore being by the
right hand of God exalted, and having
received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed
forth this, which ye now see and hear.
But Paul saw the Lord AFTER THAT.
(Paul makes the statement, “Am I not
an apostle, have I not seen the Lord?” To have seen the Lord AFTER His
resurrection was a qualification of being an apostle.) But Peter and
the Twelve did not SEE the Lord after that. It was not due time. The
due time was told by Peter in Acts three:
Acts 3:21 Whom the heaven must
receive until the times of restitution
of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy
prophets since the world began.
But, unknown to Peter, or to anyone,
unknown to the Prophets of the
bible or to anyone on the planet, the Lord made an unscheduled,
unprophesied appearance TO PAUL on the Road to Damascus. Hence
Paul said that he was AS OF, someone born out of due time. So what
would due time be? It would be the time of restitution of all things.
Restitution is reconstitution, and that would be the time of what?
REGENERATION
Matthew 19:25 When his disciples
heard it, (that is, that it is easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, which is IMPOSSIBLE,
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom) they were exceedingly
amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
Matthew 19:26 But Jesus beheld them,
and said unto them, With men this
is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
It is IMPOSSIBLE for a man to save
himself, he needs a Saviour.
Matthew 19:27 Then answered Peter and
said unto him, Behold, we have
forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?
Now watch closely:
Matthew 19:28 And Jesus said unto
them, Verily I say unto you, That ye
which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall
sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
So there is THE REGENERATION. There
it is and there is WHEN it is. When
the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, and right now he
is NOT sitting in the throne of his glory. He is sitting in the throne
of HIS FATHER'S glory. He is NOT ruling and reigning, right now, on the
throne of David. The throne of David is not, and never has been, in
Heaven.
Revelation 3:21 To him that
overcometh will I grant to sit with me in
my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in
his throne.
Now here is WHEN the Son of man will
sit in HIS THRONE. This is WHEN
THE REGENERATION IS:
Matthew 25:31 When the Son of man
shall come in his glory, and all the
holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
In other words, all of those Kingdom
saints who “continued stedfastly”
in (Peter’s) the apostles’ doctrine will be raised from the dead, born
again, to enter the Kingdom. So we just simply don't have to worry
about being regenerated, how to go about getting regenerated, whether
we need to be regenerated before we can have faith or not or anything
like that. The WASHING of regeneration happened to Jesus Christ, he was
RENEWED with the Holy Ghost and it happened in HIS death, burial and
resurrection IN YOUR BEHALF. What God has SHED FORTH on you is his
kindness and love AND GRACE:
Titus 3:6 Which he shed on us
abundantly through Jesus Christ our
Saviour;
Titus 3:7 That being justified by his
grace, we should be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal life.
So the washing of regeneration and
renewing of the Holy Ghost happened
to Jesus Christ, in Jesus Christ, in death, burial and resurrection.
THE REGENERATION then, is at the second coming of Christ. But here is
where you and I fit in:
1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say,
brethren, that flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit
incorruption.
1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold, I shew
you a mystery; We shall not all
sleep, but we shall all be changed,
Now think about it. We live in a body
of flesh and blood. It is a VILE
BODY according to Paul in Phillipians but we shall all be changed:
Philippians 3:21 Who shall change our
vile body, that it may be
fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby
he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
So there is YOUR regeneration. There
is YOUR new birth. And we haven't
even made it to John chapter three.
John 3:1 There was a man of the
Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of
the Jews:
So he is a ruler of the Jews. In
other words he is a member of the
Jewish high court, the Sanhedrin, and he is a Pharisee. Now Pharisees
are supposed to believe in resurrection:
John 3:2 The same came to Jesus by
night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we
know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these
miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
So because of the signs, the Jews
require a sign, because of all these
Messianic signs that Nicodemus has seen, he believes.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto
him, Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Now don't worry about the Greek word.
The word is anothen. It carries
the idea of again, or from above. Greek words carry several different
ideas in some cases. The meaning of a GREEK word is determined by the
context in which it is used. But we are not reading Greek words. We are
reading English words. There is NO WAY that you can learn what an
English word means by looking at definitions of Greek words. You CAN
look in the concordance and see the different usages of words. But the
concordance doesn't have definitions of ENGLISH words. It is not meant
for that purpose. There a lot of would-be theologians who are always
trying to gain DEEEEEP understanding by going to the UNDERLYING Greek.
I am not an underlying Greek. I don't
have to rely on underlying Greek.
I can't just go and look up all the nuances of a Greek word and pick
out a meaning that I like better than the one in the bible just because
I would rather it say something different than what it does say. The
word says AGAIN. It doesn't say "from above." It COULD say "from above"
if that is what it meant, but since that is NOT what it means, it
doesn't say that. It doesn't say "from above" it says AGAIN. To be BORN
AGLAIN you would have to be BORN BEFORE.
Now the underlying Greek word for the
word STUDY in 2 Timothy 2:15 also
carries the idea of being diligent. It carries the idea of labor. But I
can be diligent and I can also labor, or I could be diligent AND labor,
both at the same time, and still not STUDY. You can't go to a Greek
dictionary to find out the meaning of an English word. If you don't
know the meaning of the English word STUDY, you will need to look it up
in an English dictionary. A Greek dictionary won't give you the meaning
of it. So he says BORN AGAIN.
John 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him,
How can a man be born when he is
old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Now that's a legitimate question. He
is not confused. He is trying to
understand, and the Lord is about to help him.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God.
If a man is not FIRST born of water,
then he can't be BORN AGAIN. Born
again means a second time. In order to be born again it says you would
have to be born before. All men are born of water. Water is the natural
way MEN are born. All flesh is BORN of water. All flesh, or scales, or
feathers, come by water, the water of a NATURAL BIRTH. There is a
natural BODY.
1 Corinthians 15:44 It is sown a
natural body; it is raised a spiritual
body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
Angels DO NOT HAVE a natural body.
Angels are not BORN of water. Men
are. Angels cannot be BORN AGAIN. Only men can. Fish are born of water.
But he didn't say anything about fish being born again. Birds with
feathers are born of water, but he didn't say fish or birds, or scales
or feathers, he said A MAN.
So think about it, if a MAN is born
of water what is that? That is the
FIRST BIRTH. If a man is born of water AND of the Spirit, what is that?
That is BORN AGAIN.
John 3:6 That which is born of the
flesh is flesh; and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit.
The first half of verse five matches
the first half of verse six, and
the second half of verse five matches the second half of verse six. A
man is born of water, he is born of the flesh. The actions of two
individuals, a male and a female, result in a man being born of the
flesh. But the second half of BOTH verses is that which is born of the
CAPITAL “S”, SPIRIT. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. There
is a NATURAL body and there is a SPIRITUAL body.
1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is
written, The first man Adam was made a
living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1 Corinthians 15:46 Howbeit that was
not first which is spiritual, but
that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
That which was FIRST is the natural
man, born of the flesh, and
AFTERWARD, born again, that which is spiritual.
John 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto
thee, Ye must be born again.
There's that THEE and YE again. In
other words, I say unto YOU
Nicodemus, that YE, all of you, the whole house of Israel MUST BE BORN
AGAIN. Do you realize that there was no RAPTURE for those people? They
had no promise of a Rapture. They were WITNESSES. The word literally is
MARTYR. They were given power. The power to suffer. They were given the
power to ENDURE TO THE END. As it was for those in Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John, the YE he is talking about in the verse, SO it will be for
those in the Tribulation AFTER the Rapture of the church.
Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud
voice saying in heaven, Now is come
salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of
his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused
them before our God day and night.
Revelation 12:11 And they overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb, and by
the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the
death.
The statement in John 3:16 that
“whosoever believeth in him should not
perish” is a reference to PERISHING in Hell. All of them expected to
die and go down into Hell and be born again. But that is not a
guarantee to you. In our case the Rapture could happen at any time, and
we which are alive and remain, could be caught up in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, be changed, our vile body changed and not even
experience death. We will have already died JUDICIALLY in Christ at the
cross. But not so with those people. The YE that he is talking about in
John chapter three is Israel. And the only way they can enter the
Kingdom is through death. That's why he says in JOHN that YE must be
born again. Paul doesn't say that. Paul says, "behold, I shew you a
mystery, we shall not all die." They didn't have that hope of not
dying. (The Rapture is an event which pertains to the body of Christ.
It is an event that only Paul writes about.).
John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it
listeth, and thou hearest the sound
thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so
is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Now the resurrection of Jesus Christ
is THE example of what he is
talking about here. That's what Peter meant when he said he "hath
begotten us again UNTO A LIVELY HOPE. Peter’s hope was the hope of
resurrection to enter the Kingdom. Think about the wind blowing. You
can't tell where it comes from and you can't tell where it goes. And we
are not talking about weather forecasts. The weatherman predicts
weather and sometimes he is right and sometimes he is wrong. That's not
what the Lord is saying here. He is likening the wind to spirit. Breath
is also likened to spirit in the bible. The Lord says it's like that.
Look at the example here, after Christ was raised from the dead:
John 20:26 And after eight days again
his disciples were within, and
Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in
the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
You can't do that. A "born again"
Christian cannot just suddenly STAND
inside of a room where the doors are shut. And he didn't climb through
a window!
Luke 24:13 And, behold, two of them
went that same day to a village
called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.
Luke 24:14 And they talked together
of all these things which had
happened.
Luke 24:15 And it came to pass, that,
while they communed together and
reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.
Now threescore furlongs is about the
length of forty football fields.
Open road in both directions and swooosh, there he is, walking along
with them. A "born again" Christian can't do that.
Luke 24:30 And it came to pass, as he
sat at meat with them, he took
bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.
Luke 24:31 And their eyes were
opened, and they knew him; and he
vanished out of their sight.
Whooosh. And there he goes, vanished.
That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Look at the
verse again:
John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it
listeth, and thou hearest the sound
thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so
is every one that is born of the Spirit.
I can tell where you come from and I
can tell where you go. In other
words I can look down the road and I can see you coming. I can watch
you come and I can watch you go. Well you couldn't watch him. He just
vanished.
John 3:9 Nicodemus answered and said
unto him, How can these things be?
John 3:10 Jesus answered and said
unto him, Art thou a master of
Israel, and knowest not these things?
A master of Israel should know these
things. Abraham believed in
resurrection. God had promised him that his multiplied seed would be a
great nation, and when the Lord told him to offer his son, his ONLY
son, Isaac, on the alter, he got the knife and the wood and saddled the
ass and off he went. I mean he BELIEVED that God was going to make his
seed a great nation and if he offered Isaac on the alter then God MUST
raise him from the dead. I know he believed that, watch:
Genesis 22:5 And Abraham said unto
his young men, Abide ye here with
the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again
to you.
Now this Nicodemus was a master of
Israel, Abraham's seed. Supposedly
he was operating on the basis of the promises made unto the fathers.
Abraham believed in resurrection. So did Job:
Job 14:14 If a man die, shall he live
again? all the days of my
appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
Did you notice that? MY CHANGE.
Job 19:25 For I know that my redeemer
liveth, and that he shall stand
at the latter day upon the earth:
Job 19:26 And though after my skin
worms destroy this body, yet in my
flesh shall I see God:
Now if worms are going to destroy
this body, did Job believe in
REGENERATION?
Look at what Daniel was told:
Daniel 12:13 But go thou thy way till
the end be: for thou shalt rest,
and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.
So a master of Israel, believing in
the promises, should know these
things, the Lord said.
John 3:10 Jesus answered and said
unto him, Art thou a master of
Israel, and knowest not these things?
John 3:11 Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, We speak that we do know,
and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
John 3:12 If I have told you earthly
things, and ye believe not, how
shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up
to heaven, but he that came down
from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
So, there is a MAN who has ascended
into Heaven. It's not David:
Acts 2:34 For David is not ascended
into the heavens: but he saith
himself, THE LORD SAID UNTO MY LORD, SIT THOU ON MY RIGHT HAND,
So the Lord ascended into Heaven, and
according to Peter, the Heaven
was to receive him until the time of restitution of all things.
Restitution is reconstitution. Now take a look at this word, the word
begotten:
Psalms 2:7 I will declare the decree:
the LORD hath said unto me, Thou
art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
When was He begotten? Obviously Jesus
was begotten in resurrection. He
was born again.
Acts 13:33 God hath fulfilled the
same unto us their children, in that
he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second
psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
Now just a couple of thoughts and we
will close with the final two
questions. Conversion is not born again. Jesus Christ didn't have to be
converted. He is the sinless, virgin born, Son of God. So there is no
way that you could say that Jesus was converted. He was not converted
and he didn't have to get saved. Getting saved or getting converted is
not born again. So the pattern of the new birth is Jesus Christ. He IS
the firstborn, FROM the dead.
Romans 1:4 And declared to be the Son
of God with power, according to
the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
So he was declared to be the Son of
God, how, and when? IN
RESURRECTION!.
Psalms 2:7 I will declare the decree:
the LORD hath said unto me, Thou
art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
FIRSTBORN is the first brought forth.
It means the eldest. Birth means
BROUGHT FORTH, by birth. The Greek word for FIRST BORN is PROTOTOKOS.
And that is exactly what Christ is called:
Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of
the body, the church: who is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might
have the preeminence.
Christ is referred to as MADE ALIVE:
1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ shall all
be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:23 But every man in
his own order: Christ the
firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
So every man WILL BE made alive,
when? Afterward. In other words, AT
HIS COMING. Now this is a reference to the second coming of Christ, but
there are some members of the body of Christ who will be alive when
that happens. The Rapture and the Second Coming are separated by a
period of time of at least seven years (the tribulation period) so Paul
says:
1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold, I shew
you a mystery; We shall not all
sleep, but we shall all be changed,
So in Romans, Paul says:
Romans 8:17 And if children, then
heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs
with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also
glorified together.
Romans 8:18 For I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Romans 8:19 For the earnest
expectation of the creature waiteth for the
manifestation of the sons of God.
Now what is the expectation of the
sons of God. Resurrection! In our
case that will be the Rapture of the church.
Romans 8:20 For the creature was made
subject to vanity, not willingly,
but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Romans 8:21 Because the creature
itself also shall be delivered from
the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of
God.
John 3:13 says that there is a MAN in
Heaven. It also says that NO MAN
hath ascended into heaven except that one man. It is a reference to the
Son of man which came down from Heaven. So Jesus Christ is the
firstborn, first to be BORN from the dead.
Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren.
So we have a “predetermined
destination,” you could say. We are
predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. John says the same
thing pertaining to Israel’s priesthood:
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the
sons of God, and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we
shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
John is making a direct reference to
what David said in the book of
Psalms:
Psalms 17:15 As for me, I will behold
thy face in righteousness: I
shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
Now we started the study with two
questions and we said we would end
the study with two more questions. The questions at the beginning were:
What is regeneration? What is born again? And I hope that all this at
least gives you some food for thought. Now, here are the two closing
questions:
WHEN is regeneration? WHEN is born
again?