NEW TESTAMENT

THE term “born again” is used only four times in the New Testament. We encounter it, for example by Paul in Titus 3:5 and by Peter in 1 Peter 1:3 and 23. It never features in the apostolic preaching.

It is not unique to Christianity. The first-century mystery religions offered “new birth” into a higher life, often through bizarre rituals. The rabbis thought of the baptised proselyte (convert from another race) as a new-born child, too.

The idea of a fresh start runs through the New Testament, usually described by theologians as “regeneration”. It is a description of the injection of God’s living presence into a person’s daily life. It is illustrated by images such as passing from death into life (Ephesians 2:4,5) and from darkness into light (Ephesians 5:8-11). Christians are also “raised with Christ” (Ephesians 2:6) and the life of the kingdom to come is available to them (Romans 8:11).

However, the new nature isn’t yet second nature. We must “put it on” (and take off the old) constantly, Paul says in Ephesians 4:22-24 and Colossians 3:5-10. The “sanctification” which follows “regeneration” is a life-long process.

God is not a machine, operating in our lives according to set formulae which we can define. He deals with people individually, so there is no biblical justification for claiming a decisive “moment of commitment” or a certain kind of “conversion” experience. Nicodemus’s lack was not so much “experience” as “insight”; he couldn’t see how to relate to God in a personal rather than a mechanical way.

The New Testament test of faith which brings eternal life is not, “Have you said or done certain things?”, but “Are you trusting the LORD now?” (1 John 5:12). The past process is not important; the present reality is. The Bible is clear on this.

However, it is possible to believe the truth of Christianity and to serve, and yet still lack the transforming dynamic of Christ’s energy in one’s inner life. Whether that is a lack of “new birth” or of the fullness of the Holy Spirit, or the “dark night of the soul”, and what effect this has on a person’s eternal destiny, is never speculated upon. Human beings cannot judge the state of someone else’s heart.

What is required of each individual is to ask, am I firing from a distance, or am I embracing the target? If the former, an acknowledgement of guilt and a request to know and trust Christ personally will initiate a closer encounter. But even if the answer points to the latter there is no room for complacency. New birth is not an insurance policy but the launch pad for an often bumpy journey moving forward.

Love and serve the LORD.