OUR BELIEFS: REGENERATION (BORN AGAIN)

Previously, we have established that mankind has been hopelessly and fatally corrupted with a sin nature and we cannot save ourselves. God in His gracious mercy has provided salvation for us. We must repent, believe in and have complete faith in Jesus Christ and His Gospel which is the power, provided by God that is able to save us.

How is God able to change us and reverse this sin nature in mankind? Well, He does it by changing us from the inside out. He gives us a new nature; a new beginning and He does this by giving us His Holy Spirit. This is a gift from God and there is absolutely no way that mankind can earn this; it’s completely grace. Immediately, upon putting our faith in Jesus Christ to save us, God imparts this gift to us and at that moment we become ‘born again’; we are new creations; we will experience regeneration, renewal and a new beginning.

This is illustration is far from perfect, but it really helps bring home what being ‘born again’ and what regeneration is all about. What do we do if our computer CPU is infected with a virus and all attempts at running antivirus software has failed? Well, we must replace the computer CPU with a new one. The Central Processing Unit or CPU is the ‘heart’ of a computer. When referring to the ‘heart’ of a human being in this instance, we are not referring to the physical organ but the inner nature or spirit of a human being. The human ‘heart’ has been infected with a sin nature and we need a new one. Therefore, God puts His Spirit in us and thus renewal and regeneration is now possible.

Another way of looking at this is by understanding that change really does have to come from within. An additional illustration may be helpful. Say a person is serving a prison sentence and during his time in jail, he attends a lot of rehabilitation classes and that person sails through these and outwardly they are polite, obedient and because of this they get early parole. However, on the inside they had been harbouring revengeful thoughts and had in reality had no real regard for authority or rehabilitation at all; they merely put on mask.

Don’t we often do that? Put on a mask I mean! We may smile and put on a disguise but inwardly, what we are feeling is a completely different matter. You see, a person may be able to act out in a certain way but at the same time this is contrary to what they really believe or think. A child in school could easily go through the motions of doing what they are told to do whilst still having a completely rebellious spirit within them.

Simply put, God wants to change us from the inside out. A person who is truly ‘born again’ will, because of their new nature, be continually drawn into a desire for fellowship with God. They will want to please God, and this will be reflected in a pursuit of a holy life. Previously, we just didn’t have the power to do this. But now, God provides us with the Holy Spirit who is the means of the power unto salvation.

One thing that must be brought to our attention and which pretty soon becomes painfully obvious to all those that do become ‘born again’ and that is we do not become instantly ‘saints’ overnight. We do have a new nature that now lives alongside our old nature. Which nature becomes our master is the subject for a future Blog and this is called Sanctification (we are being saved from the power of sin).

When a person receives the Holy Spirit and is ‘born again’ that person then becomes what we call a ‘Christian’.

What does the word ‘Christian’ mean? Simply put, primarily, it means that person has been anointed with the Holy Spirit. And of course, it now means that they are a follower of Jesus Christ but the absolute necessity to be able to be called a Christian is that person must have received the Holy Spirit (The bible helps us in many places to be assured that we have the Holy Spirit. John’s letters are a good start if reassurance is needed).

Christ is not Jesus’ second name. It declares who He is. He Is the Anointed One of God. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit (as well as being the Messiah, of course). And so, just as Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit, so must his disciples also be.

Going to Church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to McDonalds’ makes you a cheeseburger. A Christian is a Christian because they have received the Holy Spirit.

Here are some of the things that the Bible says about regeneration:

God promise of a new heart and that His Spirit would dwell in us.

Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Ezekiel 37:1-14

Jesus said that no one will see the Kingdom of God unless they are ‘born again’

John 3:1-21

Regeneration is a gift of God

1 Peter 1:3; James 1:13-18

The Holy Spirit through the instrumentality of the Word of God produces regeneration.

Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:23

Regeneration means new life and a new beginning.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Next time…

When a person is ‘born again’ some pretty amazing things happen and the first thing we will look at next time is Justification.