"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again."
(John 3:3) Part 1
The concept of regeneration as found in the Bible speaks of the process of passing out of death into life. A man’s spirit before regeneration is far away from God and is considered dead, for death is dissociation from life and from God who is the fountain of life. Death is hence separation from God. Man’s spirit is dead and therefore unable to commune with Him. Either his soul controls him and plunges him into a life of ideas and imaginations, or the lusts and habits of his body stimulate him and reduce his soul to servitude. Man’s spirit needs to be quickened because it is born dead. The new birth which the Lord Jesus spoke about to Nicodemus is the new birth of the spirit. It certainly is not a physical birth as Nicodemus suspected, nor is it a soulical one.
We must note carefully that new birth imparts God’s life to the spirit of man. Inasmuch as Christ has atoned for our soul and destroyed the principle of the flesh, so we who are joined to Him participate in His resurrection life. We have been united with Him in His death; consequently it is in our spirit that we first reap the realization of His resurrection life. New birth is something which happens entirely within the spirit; it has no relation to soul or body. The writer of Proverbs tells us that “the spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord” (20.27).
During the time of regeneration the Holy Spirit comes into man’s spirit and quickens it as though kindling a lamp. This is the “new spirit” mentioned in Ezekiel 36.26; the dead old spirit is quickened into life when the Holy Spirit infuses it with God’s uncreated life.
Without controversy, the concept of regeneration or new birth is the most misunderstood concept among believers who think that being born again means the adoption of a certain lifestyle and mode of behaviour. So they conclude that you have to behave a certain way to be a Christian. Christianity is not a lifestyle, it is the eternal life of God in a man which produces a lifestyle. The life comes before the style. Without the life, the behavioural style is useless. Until the next post.
Jide Akinbuwa
Epistle of Grace Publications.
+234806316286
I have divine life at work in me
ReplyDelete"The life comes before the style". This is a lovely piece. Thanks Bro Jide
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