On being: "Born Again"
THE LAST QUARTER of the 20th century saw the resurgence of religious fervor, particularly among those who have styled themselves as Born-Again Christians. These people and their preachers uphold that salvation can be attained by being “born again” basing their belief on Christ’s pronouncement that unless a man be born again, he will not see the kingdom of heaven (Jn. 3:3). In claiming that they have been born again, these people show that they have allegedly changed from their former evil ways. In their testimonies, they narrate how this remarkable transformation took place in their lives because of their faith in Jesus.
Indeed, one must be born again―not through a rebirth according to the flesh but in spirit―to be saved. But, is the proof presented by those who claim to have been born again valid?
TO BE BORN AGAIN
To change is not as easy as to proclaim that one has indeed changed. The Bible testifies that man by himself cannot change. Prophet Jeremiah tells us this:
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.”
(Reference: Jer. 13:23 New International Version)
Just as the Ethiopian cannot change the color of his skin and neither can the leopard remove its spots, so can’t a man who is used to doing evil change his ways. But, does the prophet refer to those who are accustomed to doing evil as the only ones who cannot change? Let us consider these words from Apostle Paul:
” I know that good does not live in me—that is, in my human nature. For even though the desire to do good is in me, I am not able to do it. I don’t do the good I want to do; instead, I do the evil that I do not want to do.”
(Reference: Rom. 7:18-19 GNT, Emphasis Mine)
While those who claim to have been born again assert that they have turned good and righteous, Apostle Paul, on the other hand, says that “good does not live in me.” He could only desire to do good but he could not do it. Instead, evil is what he does. But does this make Apostle Paul an evil person? This is what he says:
“My inner being delights in the law of God. But I see a different law at work in my body—a law that fights against the law which my mind approves of. It makes me a prisoner to the law of sin which is at work in my body.”
(Reference: Rom. 7:22-23 GNT, Emphasis Mine)
This statement is true to all human beings. Man recognizes that God’s commands are righteous and good, but since man is by nature weak, he cannot obey, much as he wants to, the commandments of God. Thus, the Bible says that “there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin” (Eccl. 7:20, New King James Version). Hence, we cannot accept the claim of the self-styled so-called Born-Again Christians today that they have already turned good and righteous. This is what the teaching of the Bible disagrees with. All men have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23). The Lord Jesus Christ, a man who did not commit any sin (I Pt. 2:22), did not even claim that He is good:
“Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ So Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God’.”
(Reference: Lk. 18:18-19 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
According to Christ, only one is good, the Almighty God. He did not call Himself “good” because He is not God. This, however, doesn’t make Him evil. He was, in fact, sanctified by God and made to be good and holy (Jn. 10:36). He is good because God made Him so. This, again, is in sharp contrast to the claim of those who say that they are good and righteous because they have allegedly become born again.
IN NEED OF REDEMPTION
Man is in a wretched situation because he is a prisoner of sin. Much as he wants to do good and obey God’s law, he cannot. This is why he needs to be saved from his condition. Why does man need to be rescued from his being a prisoner of sin? The Bible says:
“Those who depend on obeying the Law live under a curse. For the scripture says, ‘Whoever does not always obey everything that is written in the book of the Law is under God’s curse’!“
(Reference: Gal. 3:10 GNT)
God’s law demands that a person should always obey everything that is written. Whoever fails to obey everything written in the law is under God’s curse. Indeed, no one could have possibly met this requirement because to sin in even just one of what is written in the law is to sin in all. All men, therefore, are in a wretched condition because all are under the curse of the law. This curse is death: “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23, NIV).
But death, which is the cessation of one’s breath, is not the full payment of sin. There is the second death in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14), the completion of the curse and the full payment of sin. Hence, all men who have become prisoners of sin need salvation because without it, all will be punished in the lake of fire.
One may ask, why did God create man weak only to fall into sin and be punished? What was God’s reason for subjecting man to human frailty? The Scriptures record:
“For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.”
(Reference: Rom. 11:32 NIV)
God intentionally created man weak and inclined to disobedience so that he would be in need of His mercy. Had God created man strong, man would have no need for His mercy, care, and guidance; man would no longer need salvation. Apostle Paul further wrote:
“Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.”
(Reference: Rom. 4:4 NKJV)
Had man been made strong and perfect, that is, capable of doing good by himself, on Judgment Day, he would not need God’s grace of salvation. Instead, it would be as if God is indebted to him. because He would be obliged to give man his due as he was able to do good by himself. Salvation then would no longer be God’s grace.
WHAT MAN NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO CHANGE
Since God created man to serve and love Him, He intended man to be in constant need of Him. What then happens when man falls into sin, which he did? What did God do to save man from his wretched condition, being weak, sinful, and in danger of punishment? Apostle Paul wrote:
“Those who depend on obeying the Law live under a curse. For the scripture says, ‘Whoever does not always obey everything that is written in the book of the Law is under God’s curse!‘
“But by becoming a curse for us Christ has redeemed us from the curse that the Law brings; for the scripture says, ‘Anyone who is hanged on a tree is under God’s curse’.”
(Reference: Gal. 3:10,13 GNT, Emphasis Mine)
Christ redeemed man from the curse of the law. We should, therefore, accept Him. But merely accepting and believing in Him is not enough. Man needs to be embraced by the redemptive act of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through the redemptive act of Christ, man who has been held ransom in death due to sin is being taken away from the curse of the law, and is brought to salvation (Eph. 1:4-5). Hence, those who claim to have been born again should first ask themselves if they have been redeemed. If not, they will remain indebted to God and thus have to pay the wages of their sins, which is death – the second death in the lake of fire.
How then can one benefit from the Redemption? Christ gave an invitation to those who want to be redeemed and be saved:
“So Jesus said to them, ‘Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel’.”
(Reference: Matt. 19:28 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
Only those who are included in the regeneration will be saved. They have undergone true and genuine change in their life, not merely a change in their behavior or character or from their former vices. Apostle Paul explains how regeneration can be achieved:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
(Reference: II Cor. 5:17 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
Those who have undergone regeneration or spiritual rebirth have become a new creation. The old things have passed away and all things have become new. How is this done? Apostle Paul further explains:
“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.”
(Reference: Rom. 6:3-9 NIV, Emphasis Mine)
For a person to be reborn, he must be baptized into death which is done through immersion to symbolize the burial of the sinful self. One who emerges from the water after baptism is no longer the sinful person, but a new creation united with Christ in His death. But which is the true baptism in death? The Scriptures say:
For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”
(Reference: I Cor. 12:13, Emphasis Mine)
Those who have become members of the one body (the Church headed by Christ) have been redeemed (Col.1:18). They are the members of the Church of Christ:
“Take heed therefore to yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, to feed the church of Christ which he has purchased with his blood.”
(Reference: Acts 20:28, Lamsa Translation, Emphasis Mine)
Those who have been baptized into the Church of Christ are the only ones who have truly undergone regeneration. Apostle Paul illustrates them and the Lord Jesus Christ as “one new man” composed of Christ as the head and them―the members of His Church―as His body (Eph. 2:10, 15, NKJV). Hence, man has to be created in Christ as one new man―he has to become a member of the Church of Christ. It is only the Church of Christ that has been redeemed by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which He gave His life for. (Acts 20:28 Lamsa; Eph. 5:25 GOD’S WORD Translation) Hence, when one becomes a member of the one body of Christ, only then can he becomes a true “born again” Christian, and only then can he receive God’s grace of salvation.
IN CONCLUSION
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WE KINDLY EXTEND our visitors an invitation to explore the pristine, unadulterated teachings of Christ and His apostles as they were taught in the first-century Church Of Christ. These teachings presented here is the path that leads to eternal life for all on that appointed day of Judgment:
The Truth About Salvation
CHRISTIANITY IS A RELIGION with over 2.4 billion followers worldwide. It is composed of diverse faiths with thousands of denominations, such as Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, Adventist—the list goes on. The Center for the Study of Global Christianity estimates that there are over 45,000 denominations globally, with more than 200 in the United States alone. Each denomination has its own unique set of beliefs and doctrines, especially when it comes to how one can achieve salvation. Do any of these religions truly teach the proper way of salvation?
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(Eph. 4:29, Amplified Bible)
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(1 Corinthians 13:4-5, Amplified Bible)