Lesson Three – Born Again
When a person accepts the Lord as his savior in a sincere act of repentance he is said to be born again. The Gospel of John records Jesus explaining this to Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin. This concept of being born again was confusing to the teacher and he asked “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus’s reply was “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3-4).
Jesus was trying to get Nicodemus to understand that being born again is a spiritual birth – making way for a relationship with his creator. The Lord was speaking of heavenly things while Nicodemus was considering carnal things, and this is the dilemma man experiences in this new life. Let’s see what this looks like in Sam.
Regeneration has taken place; Sam is born again thus opening a pathway for a relationship with his creator through his acceptance of the Lord as savoir. There is however a problem. Sam still possesses, and is influenced by, his carnal mind – he is flesh. This in no way discounts the fact of his salvation, but it does affect his life experience and the bearing of fruit that is pleasing to God. The Apostle Paul expresses his experience and inner conflict with this dilemma:
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“For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” (Rom. 7:14-20)
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Paul’s conflict can be well understood when we consider his words to the Roman and Galatian believers. Paul states “that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” (Rom. 6:6), and “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,” (Gal. 2:20). It seems the apostle had a firm belief in his co-crucifixion with Christ, so why was Paul experiencing this conflict within him, as do many believers today?
In his letter to the Corinthians the Apostle Paul also addressed this problem and speaks of them as “babes in Christ.” The believers in that city had indulged in fornication, jealousy, contentious, party spirit, and many others. The behavior of these Corinthian saints was contrary to what the Word of God requires, and that’s because they had not yet fully accepted the fact of their co-death with Christ. The carnal believer is concerned and occupied with the works of the flesh and struggles with how to overcome and have victory over it. Yet all these sins are but fruits from the same tree, one sin is seemingly conquered and another appears. On the other hand, God is concerned not with the works of the flesh but with “the flesh” itself (Gal. 5:24). Had the tree been put to death the bearing of that fruit would cease.
Here lies a common mistake for believers in not accepting the fact of their co-death with Christ. God’s Word states a fact – that those in Christ have been co-crucified, and are no longer slaves to sin. We will explore what the bible says about the position we have before Christ as born-again believers in the next lesson, and in later lessons we will consider practical instructions provided in scripture, that when followed, lead to a real experience in this co-death with our savior.