What does the Bible mean when it talks about the new birth or being born again? In this video, I will explain what the symbol of being born again is, what the Bible says about it, and how we can experience it.
So let's get into it.
The new birth is a change from sin to holiness, breaking the law to obeying it, or rebellion to loyalty. It is a change of the way we think and feel so we agree with or believe in God's ways. Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” or heaven.
So how do we experience it?
First we must realize we are sinners. Conviction of our sin comes from comparing our motives, thoughts, and actions with the law of God. (James 1 end of chapter) The law of God shows us what a right character is like, and allows us to compare it with our own defective character. The law shows us our sins but does not give us the strength to change.
There is life to those who obey the law of God but death to those to break it. When we repent of our sins, we can be free of the death penalty sin brings, because Jesus' death has already paid it.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Believing in, or agreeing with, God allows us to receive the gift of eternal life. If we continue in our advancement to reflect the character of God, we will keep eternal life and then when Jesus comes, we will be given entrance into heaven.
We are born again when, convicted of our sin, we repent and allow the truth of God to be the fixed principle of our hearts. This truth will guide our thoughts and actions and perfect our characters.
Before the new birth, we lived according the flesh (Romans 8.5). The "flesh", or "carnal desires", means the self-gratification we naturally lean towards without the influence of God on our hearts (Romans 8.8). The new birth transforms our mindset into walking according to the Spirit of God, taking us from death to life and changing our focus from self to God and other people.
The new birth results through our study of the Bible, reflection on its principles, and realization that God is like these principles. Divine truths are imprinted on the heart by the Holy Spirit, arousing us to cooperate with God, and awakening new concepts of what God is like.
Many people persistently cling to their character defects as what makes them special and unique, not realizing that our sinful habits, selfish ways, and incorrect ideas of what is right, need to be given up in order to be reborn. Our opinions on social issues might need to change. What we think and talk about will need to change.
A love for the world and the things of the world will need to die and be replaced by learning and talking about spiritual topics and pure things like nature or God's blessings. There is a transforming power of the truth that is found only in the Bible.
God has worked carefully through the history of the earth with all its holy writers to provide the truths that when studied and accepted, will change what we spend our time doing, how we act, what we spend our money on, et cetera. We will become a new person, given a fresh start. We are reborn as a new person that desires to be like God in every way.
When we see all the rewards that God offers, the tender love that He shows us, the close friendship, being accepted into the loving family of God, and so much more, who would want to stay with the disappointments, sorrow, shame, pain, guilt, and negative consequences of worldly ways?
God does not leave the process of the new birth experience to studying the Bible truths alone; He also give us His Holy Spirit to do a work on our heart. He will change our desires and tendencies as we are willing to have an open mind and pursue God's ways.
2 Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
I pray that you will spend more time studying the Bible and asking daily for the Holy Spirit. If you have not been reborn, I pray that process will take place in you, and if you have already, that the Holy Spirit will continue to cleanse you of all sinful ways.
