Reborn

Born Again

The Lord Jesus told the Pharisee Nicodemus that he must be born again (John 3:1-16). It is important that we understand Nicodemus is a moral man seeking to obey the laws of both Moses and tradition. Nicodemus is also a theologian and teacher. Jesus even points this out referring to Nicodemus as the “teacher of Israel”. But Jesus still tells him that he must be born again.

Jesus' point is really that being born again is the only way to see or enter the Kingdom of God. Since this is the case not only for Nicodemus but also for us, the most important question is have you been born again? If your answer is yes, then how do you know that you have been born again?

Many people relate this with some experience or feeling but we have all had experiences in our lives that later proved false and we have all had feelings that were not valid. So is there something more objective that we can use to validate our subjective experience and give us confidence in our spiritual life?

New Hearts

In Ezekiel 36:25-28, the Prophet proclaims the coming new covenant that God will make with His people. God promises that in this new covenant He will cleanse away all uncleanness and idolatry and give the covenant people new hearts. God is going to perform spiritual heart transplants on those who are brought into this new relationship with God. 

This is the same thing as the new birth that Jesus is telling Nicodemus about in John 3. So if Ezekiel tells us about the fruit of these new hearts then we should be able to conclude that we have been truly born again from the consequences of the new heart being evident in our lives.

The Holy Spirit

The text in Ezekiel tells us that with the coming of the new heart we also receive the presence of the Holy Spirit in us. In the New Covenant, we have the Holy Spirit living us as believers. The new living heart is a hospitable home for the Holy Spirit. We are no longer spiritually dead people but we are made alive by the Holy Spirit who lives in us. If you have the Holy Spirit living in you then you have been born again.

Holiness

The second thing that the scripture tells us about the effect of having a new heart is that the presence of the Spirit will cause us to walk in God’s statutes and keep His rules. This means that those who have been truly born again are also people who are growing in obedience and holiness. While born again people do not live in sinless perfection, we must sin less. Those who continue in willful rebellion against God’s commands and character are not born again.

A New Relationship

God’s promise in this new covenant is that those who are born again are now His people and He is our God! Just imagine how amazing this is! God is bringing us back into the right relationship with Him through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and the victory of Christ from the grave. In this we are now able to enjoy a fully restored relationship with our thrice holy God and even be called His people. Not only do we have a new relationship with Him but He has a new relationship with us as our gracious Lord!

But how are we born again and receive this new heart? In short, this is a miraculous gift from God that He gives to us of His own will. But we receive it by faith. In the famous verse from Jesus' discussion with Nicodemus we are told that the hearts belong to whosoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ!

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