The phrase Born Again is commonly associated with Christians today! In this write-up, we shall take some theology lessons to investigate the scriptural exegesis of the phrase, to whom it was said and, who said it. Do many of us who profess to be born again, in reality, know exactly what we are claiming? Could a poor understanding of what we claim explains the reasons why our lives as Christians are a complete contrast to what is expected of us as the children of the Most-High God? If I may ask you, how do you know you are born again? I know I am born again because I confessed Christ. How do you know that you confessed Christ? Some of us will say, Oh yes, I became born again when I was baptized! Of course, many people did that also, but your life is not different from those who are not even Christians! If I may ask you, whose idea was this phrase Born Again? I know what would come to mind, it was Jesus! Did Jesus say so? No! Nowhere in the Bible Jesus had mentioned the word Born Again! The word Born-Again was a misrepresentation of what Jesus said to Nicodemus, the Jewish ruler, and scholar who long admired Jesus' teachings. Nicodemus had come to meet Jesus in the dead of the night, he said, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. Surprisingly, Jesus' response was a strange twist to the ongoing conversation, he answered that verily, verily, I tell you no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born from above! You see, Jesus saw Nicodemus’ desperation and needs to be saved, he had been drawn by God to Jesus through his miracles. This was what prompted Jesus to change the course of the conversation, Nicodemus had in fact, come to ask Jesus what he needs do to be saved. However, he was caught unaware of Jesus’ answer then he replied Jesus, how can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born? It was this response from Nicodemus that became the famous phrase Born Again! But is this what Jesus meant? No, Jesus did not give in to Nicodemus' misrepresentation of what he said, instead Jesus said verily truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. Jesus having observed that Nicodemus was perplexed with his answer, said again, do not be astonished by what I said to you, you must be Born From Above!
The lesson here is very clear. Born again is not the same as Born from Above, so they could not have had the same meaning. The Greek word Jesus used in the conversation with Nicodemus was “anothen” which means “from above”. Born again is what many of us are taught in our churches today, and that is exactly what we have become, which could explain why we are still slaves to sin and to our old selves! How can I say that you may ask? How did you become born again? Who made the decision for you to be born again? Of course, you made the call, you decided to become a born again, and you become! Isn’t it? The implication of this is that no one gave birth to you, instead, you have only given birth to yourself! As you can see, you are still your old self, you are a resemblance of yourself, in fact, you have only succeeded inheriting yourself! The truth is that you can only look like your parent, in this case, you are your own parent, you are your father, and whose characters and lifestyles you will also reveal. Fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing were your old characters, but after your of being a Born Again, have you really changed? Is it possible to be born again, yet not Born From Above! Yes, it is possible! It is what you are, it is what we are all are! The reality of this misrepresentation is that we are aiming for the impossible. Can anyone contribute to their own birth? May I ask what contribution you made when your parents gave birth to you? What input did you make when you were born? Of course, no one contributes to their own birth, and no one can make such a decision. Your parents decided to give birth to you, it was their call, and they made it without your contribution in the process. If so, what makes believe you can make the decision to be Born from Above? To be Born from Above, your parent must be from above also, Jesus said our Father who art in heaven! It is only my Father and your Father in heaven who can give birth to us! Jesus explained further to Nicodemus what it is to be born from above, he said, you must be born from above, the wind blows where it CHOOSES and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit! Our Father in heaven is the Spirit, He is the only one who CHOOSES who to be Born from Above through His sovereign mercy and grace! Apostle Paul said, it depends not of human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy. The scripture says, but to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the power to become the children of God, who were born, not of blood or the will of the flesh or the will of man, but of God! In fact, he went further to say that for by grace you have been saved by faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, he went further to say so that no one may boast!
You cannot give birth to yourself, and the decision to do so by yourself is impossible. Moses said to the Israelites, you forgot the God who gave birth to you. The Israelites did not give birth to themselves as a nation of God, it was God’s decision, he called them out of many nations and chose them as his own people. Abraham, the ancestor of Israelites did not contribute to this process, God had chosen them long before he was born. Moses said in his song that when the Most High apportioned the nations when he divided humankind, God fixed the boundaries of the people according to the number of gods, but the Lord’s own portion was his people Jacob his allotted share. The story in this song revealed to us also that before the nation of Israel was born, the Lord has chosen them as his own. In reality, Moses in the part of this song was describing events that took place just after Noah’s flood. The scripture says, to Eber were born two sons, the name of one was Peleg for in his days the earth was divided. You see, Peleg was the great, great, great, great grandfather of Abraham. So, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were not in the picture when God chose the nation of Israel as his own people. It is God’s sovereign attribute to choose those who will serve his will and purpose without anyone contributing to their selection. The most terrifying verse in the scripture is when God said, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion! So it depends not on human will or exertion, Apostle Paul says, but on God who shows mercy! Every one of us is at His mercy to be saved, there is nothing we can do on our own to be saved. We need the divine revelation from him, we need that Eureka moment, we need the igniting spark from God through the Holy Spirit to convict us that we are in dire need to be saved!
The scripture says, but to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the power to become the children of God, who were born, not of blood or the will of the flesh or the will of man, but of God! Note what Apostle John says carefully here, it is only those who received him and believed in his name that he gave the power to become the children of God. How do you receive him and believe in his name? To answer these questions, we have to identify what Jesus Christ is giving from himself to you, this is nothing but God’s laws and commandments, therefore receiving these laws and commands is receiving him, and obeying these commands or laws is believing who Christ says he is! Jesus said, if you love me, you will keep my commands! So, it is a delusion to think you have received Christ and believed him yet you cannot accept his commands (laws) or do his will. To think so brethren, is a gross folly, Satan’s mastery of deceits is unrivalled, he is on top of his game with this church illusion, sadly everyone is believing the lie! The scripture made it clear that it is the acts of obeying God's commandments and doing His will, that will give us the power to become the children of God! This statement implies that when you submit to obeying God’s commands and doing His will, that is when you can be conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit from above, then, it is at this moment that you and I will be giving birth to as the children of God. You see, for one to be Born from Above, obeying the commandments and the will of God must happen long before the Holy Spirit will conceive you and give birth to you. This is when God becomes your father, notice that when you are being conceived and formed you are already obeying the commandments and the will of God, the Holy Spirit will then conform you with these characters so that by the time you are born from above as a new creature, it is these new attributes that will manifest in you as a child of God. Can you know the time you become Born From Above? No! This is not a decision anyone can make, so we cannot know the moment this miraculous event will occur. It is God who CHOOSES whom to be born from above, so he makes the decision. Jesus said, the wind blows where it CHOOSES and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit! Therefore, it is the sovereign will of our Father in heaven, to choose those he will conceive through the power of the Holy Spirit and give birth to as his children from above!
Olayinka Olalekan
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