Common Misconceptions about the New Birth or “born again” experience

Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV)
 

The most common misconceptions people have about born again are the ones that have to do with works. I will highlight some here:

1. You should DO born again. You must DO a new man. You have a WORK of letting “old things” pass away. It is your WORK to make all things to be new.

This belief seems very innocent and neutral, but it is not the truth of the gospel. It denies the grace of God. Let us re-examine the scripture that talked about being born again.

Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV)

If you have a correct KJV, you will notice the words “be” after “any man” and the word “he is” before “new creature” are both in italics. What does that mean? Those words are not in the original Greek; the translators of the bible added them. Thus we could read: “if any man in Christ, a new creature”. It could sound better like this: “any man in Christ = a new creature” or “any man in Christ is a new creature”. Is there any element of “DO” here? Is there anything to “DO NOT” here? Let’s read it again.

Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV)

What is the “WORK” for us to do here to “really” become a born again? What are the things I must not DO here in order to become a new man? Nothing like that here, no not one! You cannot DO your way into new birth! You don’t WORK HARD in order to be born again!

What about the other part of the verse: “old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”  But when we read this, does it sound like “we must let old things pass away, and try our best to let all things become new”?

Jesus used the word “born again” in John 3, and it would be good if we study how he described the process and our responsibility in being born again.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3 KJV)

Again! It is BE BORN AGAIN, not DO BORN AGAIN. What’s the difference? The latter lays emphasis on our work, and describes it as what requires our effort and contribution; while the former (be born again) speaks of what happens to us or is done on us. The former agrees with grace “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship...” (Ephesians 2:8-10 KJV)

So even though we tell a man to be born again, we are not laying any responsibility on him because “IT IS NOT OF YOURSELVES”. So there is no “I CANNOT” in born again. There is no “you try oh, you born again? I have tried several times but I’m not just strong or wise enough to make it to born again”. In fact, He says “we are His workmanship” i.e. we are His finished product. We are the ones He worked on, His masterpiece!

What then was wrong with Nicodemus that Jesus was correcting?
It was a simple question the man asked. “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” (John 3:2 KJV)

but Jesus gave a diverted answer, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3 KJV)

Let’s investigate further if we can spot the “sin” Jesus was rebuking the “sinful Bible Teacher” for. If we find it, then it must be that forsaking such sins is what Jesus terms 'born again', and that would be what we must DO to be born again.

Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you [of] heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, [even] the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:4-16 KJV)

We’ll discover Jesus remained emphatic on being born again.
And now, Bro Nico’s sins?

1. He was not yet born in the manner Jesus was talking of (3:3)
2. He though being “a master of Israel”, did not “KNOW” what it means to be born again “Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?” (v10)
3. He (and other Jewish leaders) did not “RECEIVE” the witness of Jesus. “We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness”. John will later say: “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.” (1 John 5:9-10 KJV).
4. He and others did not “BELIEVE”. “If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not”

Summary of the faults of Nicodemus and the necessary repentance(s):

1. KNOW the gospel that preaches new birth, “faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17)
2. RECEIVE the gospel of Christ. “See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more [shall not] we [escape], if we turn away from him that [speaketh] from heaven:(Hebrews 12:25 KJV)
3. BELIEVE Jesus

And verses 14 -18, it was all about “believe” and “believe not”. So what must a man DO to be born again? It is called BIRTH; birthing a child is the responsibility of the mother not the child to be born. No one know when he was being born into the world, everyone of us had to rely on whatever our mother told us and if not for proper record keeping, some of us won’t know our actual date of birth. The new birth is the same. It is the work of the Spirit who is our Mother in this sense. He is the One that made all things (spiritual) pass. We cannot touch the spirit world by ourselves then, so how can we make “old things” pass by ourselves. In fact, we don’t pray old things to pass, old things simply pass for “any man in Christ”.

Hmmm!!! Jesus expressed the will of God for Nicodemus and his big-bible-carrier guys and it really was not a complaint about robbing God in tithes, or not praying enough, or idolatry, or sexual immorality or whatever sin. He said THE CONDEMNATION IS “he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (v18), and this is why they do evil and will not come to the light.

Oh brother, encourage the sinners around you to come to Jesus IN their sins. Yes! Let them come in their weaknesses. As if to “tempt” them to come in that inability to live holy. God will not condemn them for their sins, He would only condemn them for their not coming to receive victory over the sins. If a sinner turns a receptive ear to the Good News, he will stand justified from all sins and receive a new life that has overcome the world, sin and lusts of the world, flesh and pride of life. The man who will not come because he is a sinner will at the end be in eternal regret. The gospel of Christ is free! New life is free! Righteousness is free! The gospel of Christ is the power of God unto holy living, but that same gospel he has rejected in ignorance; he wanted to live HOLY ENOUGH first so as to be QUALIFIED to be born again. He wanted to push the works of the devil (sin etc) he sees daily aside, so he can declare that “old things I HAVE FOUGHT HARD ON to pass away”. He wants to change his friends, his job, his house, his lifestyle, etc., first, and then come to Jesus and then say “all things are become new, now I want to put myself by myself to be in Christ”. But I would prefer to give Jesus a “hard work” to do on me. I would prefer not to assist Jesus in the saving work. I would prefer those who would make Jesus “sweat” and have a tough time in dealing with big and terrible sins in them. Such people who want to have forsaken all their sins before they accept Jesus, they oft times don’t end up accepting him. They’ll eventually boast in their self-ability. “Do I even really need Jesus? What do those Christians have that I don’t have? Many of them are liars, terrible and unloving people. Do I want to accept Christ and be like them? I think I’m okay the way I am. After all I’m holier than many of them. To hell with Christ!”. “Bro, when will you accept Jesus?”. “Yeah! You see, I’m working on it already”. “Sir, Jesus wants you to be His today”. “Yes, I know, but… I’m trying to put things in place, disconnect my relationship with the occult, gradually reduce my fetish practices, reduce my alcohol consumption, change friends, travel out of this area for security purpose… before I say Yes to Jesus”. How else could a man sever his relationship with the devil and with sin save by confessing Jesus?  He has turned to works. He wants to make himself ready and FIT ENOUGH for salvation. No! Let Jesus take over from the start to finish, that Christ may be all in all. And in the end, you’ll say, “Alleluia! He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, [and] established my goings.” (Psalms 40:2 KJV)

Salvation is “not of yourself” friend! It is the gift of God. Please receive it the way it is!

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