Born Again Revisited

 

FALSE TEACHERS BRING FALSE BIRTHS

The born from above birth that Jesus teaches, brings forth a new creature in Christ. False teachers bring a false birth... the birth of denominations, the birth of creeds, the birth of ministries, the birth of speaking in tongues. A false birth does not mean a thing.

 

The first time the words "born again" appear in Scripture is in the book of John when Jesus is explaining the Second Birth to Nicodemus. 

The doctrine of "once saved always saved" is like saying once an adult always an adult. Both the physical and spiritual births are a process... conception, gestation, and birth. Once these three steps are accomplished, then comes infancy, adolescents, and adulthood.
 

The Second Birth

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”


Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”


Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ~ John 3:1-7

Let's examine closely what Jesus said, but more importantly, what "born again" entails.

After Nicodemus asks a foolish question, "can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born", Jesus very patiently replies, "unless one is born of water (earthy birth) and the Spirit (spiritual or heavenly birth)." Jesus makes it abundantly clear there are two births... That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Both of these births require a process. If you have been around denominational Christianity very long you know that they teach the "new birth" is immediate the instant you give your heart to the Lord. Churchianity always wants to speed things up and avoid the long hard process. 

In a physical earthy birth the process is approximately nine months with three trimesters called conception, gestation, and birth. The exact process for a spiritual birth is called justification, sanctification, and glorification, and takes a lifetime. We are not born of Spirit until we receive our glorified bodies. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom.~1 Corinthians 15:50.

We are in the process (gestation/sanctification) of being born from above, not actually birthed. Some might say, that's splitting hairs. What difference does it make whether we are born again instantly or have to go through the process? The difference is... one doctrine is from man and the other is from God.

The Bible says, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ ~Matthew 18:16

So let's get the testimony of the Apostle Peter.

"Since you have purified your souls* (your life) in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away". ~ 1 Peter 1:22-24

* Souls are not immortal. Churchianity believes soul and spirit are the same thing. The word soul means living being. We don't have a soul, we are a soul. ~ Genesis 2:7

 

Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins, it shall die. (souls can die, not immortal) ~ Ezekiel 18:4 & James 5:20

So Peter confirms that there are two "seeds" and two births; one corruptible and one incorruptible. He says all flesh "falls away"... dies, returns to dust, passes away, gone. Our earthy birth is temporary, our spiritual birth is eternal. That's why Solomon said the day of a one's death is better than the day of one's birth. ~ Ecclesiastes 7:1

Death is part of God's Great Plan. When the Spirit leaves the body, the body (soul) dies. We are buried and await the resurrection. "I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just (saved) and the unjust (unsaved)." ~ Acts 24:15

Here again, Churchianity wants to bypass the resurrection and go directly to heaven or hell upon death. Without the resurrection our hope in Christ is in vain. Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-43

For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten. ~ Ecclesiastes 9:5

 
Then the dust (the body) will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it. ~ Ecclesiastes 12:7


No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. ~ John 3:13 

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep (died), lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep (died) in Jesus. ~1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

That's all for this installment. Don't believe me. Search the Scriptures.

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The purpose of this post is to get people to think about what they believe and why they believe it, not debate who's right or wrong. To learn the revealed truth of God we must know and understand the true meaning of the words God inspired to be written. Use Strong's Concordance to check the original word before it was translated. Do your own research, make up your own mind, rely on the Holy Spirit to guide you.