Born Again

About the subject of “Born again”

This message is directed to unbelievers and to members of the body of Christ, who are in the order or level of the general assembly. The word ‘unbelievers’ as used above is an expression to describe the multitude of souls in whose hearts Our Lord Jesus do not dwell, them that do not belong to the family of Christ. This would include those outside the church as a body, not involved with the activities of the church, and those who merely join the various members of the body in their edifices of worship (Church structures) on their respective days of worship. Marvel not that I say unto you that a greater percentage of Church goers are NOT a part of the body of Christ.

Members in the order of the general assembly are the members of the body of Christ who occupy the outer courts of the tabernacle after they are born again. In the book of Hebrews (12:22-), the Apostle Paul reveals the various estates of heaven which are proportional to the levels of maturity of believers in a descending order. Maturity in this sense has nothing to do with a person’s earthly age nor the number of years one has spent in the body but it is the maturity related to the things of God. In this order, a greater number of believers may not have gained in a wholesome nature, the truth of the word and knowledge of the new birth.

The purpose of this message is to extend the graces of knowledge of God to those who fall under these two dimensions, not wholesomely knowledgeable in the subject to be discussed. To the unbelievers, the message is to present to you a more beautiful life of glory which we have seen and are witnesses of, that you may also partake of this life and not perish. To the order of the general assembly, the message is for you to gain a wholesome understanding of the process that translated you into the Kingdom of Light, a solid foundation that would catapult you into various higher verities of the life you live now.

“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye MUST be born again" (John 3:7 KJV).

The lord Jesus clearly states how delicate and essential this topic is by reason of the word “must” used. Everyone who is a member of the body of Christ is born again and for any man to be legally regarded as a member of the body, such a person MUST be born again.

Being born again signifies a new birth into Christ which translates a person from the Kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, into the realm of the Kingdom of heaven, where one is opportune to see the Kingdom of God. Jesus said to Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, that

“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3 KJV).

You gain access to the extension of the Kingdom of Heaven which is here on earth and by this you are able to see the Kingdom of God which we would have to enter after we have seen.

In verse 5 of the same chapter, Jesus opens our eyes to another dimension of the whole process where we are born of two different elements to have access to enter the Kingdom of God.

“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.”

One is able to understand this if he or she is able to perceive the difference between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven… Paul the Apostle, knowing this addresses the issue of the entry in to the Kingdom, to people who were already in the faith as this;

“Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22 KJV).

The words born again are from the Greek words, ‘gennao’ and ‘anothen’. “Gennao” means to regenerate and “anothen” means from above or from the beginning. Piecing the two together reveals a regeneration that is has its source from above and its connection to; 1) the beginning (Jesus), 2) to the beginning of man, so that man would continue in the purpose for which he was made to exist. The reason for the existence of man was that he would be made into the image of God and after their likeness (Genesis 1:26), which is Christ. This process was interrupted when man meddled with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of which he was not to. The spirit of man hence became corrupted and hence the regeneration of that spirit had to take place for the plan of God to be continued and completed. Jesus further expounded that this birth is related to the spirit;

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:6)” 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.”

Man is a spirit. He lives in his house called body (the medium of operation on earth) and he has a Soul which came into being after the Spirit was breathed into the body…The process of being born again is a spiritual activity yet it is of the earthly things, something that takes place while a man is on earth. Though of earthly things, it is received from God and it has implications in the spirit.

“If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?” (John 3:12)

I would briefly run through this section since there are a lot of matters in here that would require a lot of writing to elaborate in detail.

God had from the foundations of the earth already made a plan for man that his spirit (man) after his fall would be regenerated and that he would receive His image and be made into the fullness of His image as was in the original plan. God then gave to the world, Jesus, who had to carry out a work on the earth to restitute man to his original purpose. The work of Jesus was in two folds; to deal with sin and also to regenerate the spirit of man. Jesus had to shed his blood by means of death which was the solution to handling the root and nature of sin that was with man (John12:24).

This would then lead to the most important part where the work of regeneration could be completed by His resurrection. In receiving this complete work of the Lord, a person becomes saved. Anyone who attributes their being born again to only the death of Jesus is not actually born again. The death of Jesus only redeemed man from sin, by his blood. To be redeemed from sin is not the same as to be born again. Being redeemed from sin doesn’t get any man saved. Peter, the Apostle knowing this wrote in 1 Peter 1:3

“3 Blessed [gratefully praised and adored] be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant and boundless mercy has caused us to be born again [that is, to be reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose] to an ever-living hope and confident assurance through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

It is the resurrection of Jesus that actually gets us born again. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. (1 Cor 15:14) The death of Jesus without his resurrection would not have been the complete work of God which he was supposed to carry out. Man through divine participation in the complete work of Jesus gains the full benefits thereof. No man can be born again outside of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6)

There is a creator of this world and this is a fact. Irrespective of how people may want to interpret existence, it is a fact that the source of is existence is the creator of it and it is Him we refer to as God. Believing this or not does not change that fact. Man, in the consciousness of his fall has over years past through many acts, tried to be reconciled with God. We have had many come, who have proposed ways through which man can be reconciled with God. It has never happened that God allowed man to choose a way of doing things for Him. It is always God who instructs man on what to do. With the issue of man’s fall, it is only God who by his plan and mercy was and is able to save man. This is the reason why he gave us His Lamb to be killed as the sacrifice for the remission of sins. God did not send any of the other faiths as the way to reconciliation with Him. God confirmed Jesus as the truth when he raised Jesus from the dead.

“This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses”. (Acts 2:32)

“Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.” (Acts 4:10)

“Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;” (Acts 10:40)

“But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.” (Acts 13:37)

Now for a man to receive this work of grace, the word of God shows the right way or actions that would qualify a person whom God’s grace finds for salvation. There are two aspects to this; confession and believing. These two would be the witnesses to your salvation. What do we confess and what do we believe?

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

A lot of people during various altar calls are found to confess their sins in attempt to receive Jesus. Looking at the scriptures we find that act to be an error. We are to confess the Lord Jesus and not sins. According to the word of God, God does not hear sinners. This is why any prayer labeled as the sinner’s prayer is not in consistence with the word of God. More seriously, it is not a prayer that gets people saved. By this we would start to wonder the number of church goers who are not actually saved, going by the scriptures. God have mercy on us all. Amen

“Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.” (John 9:31 KJV)

We are to believe with our heart not anything but that “God raised Jesus from the dead” pointing back to God confirming Jesus and also that our salvation by the work of God.

“For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:10)

Righteousness is gained by the heart believing in the work of God. We see this with Abraham who was before the time the work of Jesus was carried out.

“For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3)

“Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (Galatians 3:6)

“And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)

At this point, the spirit of him/her that has received the Lord Jesus becomes regenerated. The Holy spirit comes to dwell in him/her as a seal of his/her salvation. The person is now joined to the Lord and attains the name, Christ and heaven as his dwelling place.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1) …..

If you are not born again, this is the time to receive the Lord Jesus. It is not necessary that you follow these confessions but to those who want to please confess with a believing heart and be a part of this great family of glory whose dwelling places are with the Lord Jesus

Thank You father that your grace and mercy have located me this moment.

In this very hour, I confess that Jesus is Lord over my life.

I believe that God raised Jesus from the Dead.

I believe that the blood of Jesus has taken away all my sins

And I thank You that I am born again even by the resurrection

of Jesus from the dead.

My heart is open and prepared for the indwelling of the Holy spirit.

I now live the life of Christ even to your glory in Jesus’ name. Amen

My dear reader, if you have confessed the Lord Jesus, be assured of your salvation never doubting. God bless you. Amen

“My dear Christians” series