by Nadine Drayton-Keen

Created on: June 19, 2008

Being Spiritual Means Being Born Again

Many people are familiar with the Bible's passages that deal with Jesus explaining to Nicodemus why he must be born again, yet many of these same people are still blind about their own born-again condition. They are unaware that being redeemed and being born again are not synonymous. They also simply do not understand that being born again (regenerated) is an imperative. In other words, they fail to understand that their new birth has to be achieved before their salvation can be received.

Jesus teaches Nicodemus that, unless his human spirit is changed so that he can begin his life anew, he will not be able to enter into Heaven. To make sure that Nicodemus thoroughly understands the importance of Jesus' born again command, Jesus adds, "...The truth is, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven" (John 3:5-6, NLT). Now the "water" Jesus refers to in this scriptural passage is the Living Water of Jesus the Christ, which God's Holy Spirit uses to perform the necessary regeneration that human beings must experience before God's spiritual purification (sanctification) process can continue in them. Thus, their dead human spirits first must be born again before they can become spiritual, but the only way for them to be born again is to experience the rebirth of their human spirits that only God's Holy Spirit can make happen. Indeed, no man or woman can become spiritual without first experiencing the regenerating operation of the Holy Spirit.

Unfortunately, there are far too many believers, in Christian churches and ministries, who are using the term "born again" to refer to "something" that human beings do under their own strength, power, and predilection; they insist that being born again is a decision, or a commitment, or a rededication they make. However, the new birth that Christ speaks about is "something" that only the grace of God does. Consequently, a person is not born again because he or she repents, believes and accepts, but a person repents, believes and accepts because God's Holy Spirit already has regenerated him or her! Regeneration, then, is solely the work of God's grace, and not the work of men and women!

Since being born again is wholly, completely, and supremely because of God's power and His marvelous grace, by God's design, humans are not participating in their new birth, because nothing

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