Born Again

Born Again

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 3:6.

It is just as impossible for flesh to be spiritual as it is for a dog to be a man. A dog is born as a dog and can never be anything else, in spite of the most careful care and training.

The natural man also remains earthly and sensual in spite of the best Christian training and all knowledge concerning spiritual things. Therefore Jesus says to Nicodemus, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” V. 5. Nicodemus was a teacher in Israel. He knew much about God, and he realized that Jesus was a teacher who had come from God. However, Jesus said that he had to be born again to see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus could not comprehend how one could be born again, and he said, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” V. 4.

It would have mattered little if Nicodemus had lived his life several times over again, from childhood until his old age. He would still have remained the same old Nicodemus, in life’s various situations, in spite of all his knowledge.

Jesus did not come to instruct the old, corrupt nature how to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is incorrigible and has to be surrendered into death so that the life of Christ can be manifested in us. We have to be born again, forsake everything, and hate our own life if we want to be a disciple of Jesus. Then He can begin to teach us.

For this reason Martin Luther wrote to the Bohemians in his pastoral letter: “To be a priest in the New Testament sense of the word you have to be born to it, and not fabricated, created, or ordained. This birth is not according to the flesh, but by water and Spirit, and transpires in the cleansing of the new birth. For this reason every Christian is a priest, and every priest is a Christian. When they say, ‘I am going to be ordained to be a priest,’ they have thereby said, or admitted in deed, that they have neither been a priest before, nor have become a priest.”

Only after we have been born again and have become wholehearted disciples of Jesus can there be any talk of being a priest in God’s kingdom. All such true Christians are priests, as Luther said. They can perform a priestly ministry for the others to the degree that they themselves have grown in Christ.

However, it is just as impossible for the natural man to be a priest in the New Testament sense of the word as it is for a dog or a horse to be a priest.

Those who live according to the flesh shall die. They cannot please God, and neither can they be obedient to God’s law. Rom. 8.

Everyone has to come as a lost sinner, acknowledging his sin and worthlessness in every way. In order to be born again, I must hate and detest my old life and desire the new life with all of my heart. If I truly hate sin, I am not interested in continuing to live in it, because I have received the Spirit of Christ and His power to overcome sin. However, those who live according to their lusts remain in death even while they are alive, despite the fact that they bear the name “Christian” and are highly esteemed as Christians.

We are born again to live a new life with Christ Jesus. We receive a new heart, a new mind, and a new Spirit, and in this newness we take up a firm fighting position of faith against everything that is old. The flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, but if I have the mind of Christ, the Spirit will always gain the victory. This applies in the battle against my own flesh as well as against all carnal people, whether they are father or mother, sister or brother, wife or children. Jesus said, “Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three.” Luke 12:51-52.

This is a holy war, and if we neglect to fight, the Holy Spirit will depart from us. Flesh and Spirit can never be united; therefore there will always be a gulf between those who are carnal and those who are spiritual.