"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," 1 Peter 1:3
The thought of being a "born again Christian" still has resonance in our society, but what does it really mean? Aside from the fact that Christians are not born again, but created through sinners being born again, what is the relevance of the phrase?
Jesus famously told Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council who came inquiring of him under cover of darkness, that it was necessary. He said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3. If we ever want to see our creator, our original birth is necessary but wholly insufficient. There must be a second creation to live a second life.
Nicodemus understandably asked how this could possibly be accomplished. Jesus replied that it involved water and The Spirit, saying that things born of the Spirit are spirit. Rather than get into the argument about the presence of water at our original birth, suffice it to say that when we are baptized, we come into contact with water by immersion and the Spirit meets us there. Physically, we simply get wet, but spiritually, a great transformation takes place when we are brought out of the water by the Spirit, leaving our past lives dead and buried in the water while we experience being reborn into the Spirit by coming newly created and alive out of it. It is the closest we come to Jesus' resurrection until we all experience it ourselves just before judgment.
It must be said, however beloved, that being baptized, in and of itself, neither saves your soul, nor makes you a Christian. You must first believe and then a transformation must take place in your mind, heart and body. Revelation 2:10 states that we must live faithful lives until death to receive our great reward. And that great reward, consisting of far too many things to list here, is what being born again to become a Christian is all about. Oh blessed be our God and Father who loves us and His son who sacrificed that this may be possible.
In Revival,
Lee
1 comment:
Born Again in Baptism
One key Scripture reference to being "born again" or "regenerated" is John 3:5, where Jesus says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."
This verse is so important that those who say baptism is just a symbol must deny that Jesus here refers to baptism. "Born again" Christians claim the "water" is the preached word of God.
But the early Christians uniformly identified this verse with baptism.
Water baptism is the way, they said, that we are born again and receive new life—a fact that is supported elsewhere in Scripture (Romans 6:3–4; Colossians 2:12–13; Titus 3:5).
No Church Father referred to John 3:5 as anything other than water baptism.
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