Born Again

    Have you been born again? Some of you can answer that question in the affirmative without batting an eye. Others are fairly sure that they have experienced it. Then, some are confused either by the seemingly odd nature of the thought of being “born again,” or by the wide range of explanations given by preachers of different faiths. The truth is that this rebirth is a biblical idea, and one that is essential to a person’s eternal salvation. So, what is it to be born again?

   Peter wrote, “…According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (I Peter 1:3). The “living hope” that Peter spoke about is that hope of eternal life in heaven, and he said that we are “born again” to that hope. 

   The account of Nicodemus’ contact with Jesus Christ sheds more light on what this means.  Jesus told him that “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).  Nicodemus was confused, asking if a man must physically go through the birth process again.  Then Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).

   The birth “of water” is most certainly water baptism. What else could be meant by the “washing of water” (Ephesians 5:26) or the “washing of regeneration” (Titus 3:5)? Peter spelled it out specifically when he told of Noah and his family being “saved through water,” and then said, “There is also an antitype which now saves us--baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (I Peter 3:21).

   The birth of “the Spirit” is that gift that Christians receive upon their baptism into Christ (Acts 2:38). It is a wonderful comfort to know that our bodies are the temple of God’s Holy Spirit, that He dwells within us, and that Through the Holy Spirit, the perfect and complete will of God has been revealed to us in the Bible.  Have you been “born of water and the Spirit?” There is no sense in delaying such a great decision.