What is the new birth?

You may be wondering what this means or you may be skeptical because you are not familiar with the term. Let me shed some light on this for you. The word “New Birth” is indeed a biblical and divine term. I know that like me back then, many of us do not read our Bibles, and this word sometimes seems strange to us, but let us look at the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus on this subject:

“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. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter into his mother's womb, and be born?” John 3:3-4

Just like Nicodemus, many are quite lost on this term, they say to themselves: "I don't understand. Haven't I already been born?" Let us continue our reading and follow together Jesus' response to Nicodemus when faced with this question:

“Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and 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.” John 3:5-7

“…he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” In other words, the New Birth is mandatory if one aspires to the Kingdom of God. As you can see, God is not talking about your body here, but He is talking about your spirit. The term Born Again presumes that there has been death beforehand. Indeed, in the beginning, Adam and Eve sinned, and the Bible tells us that God had commanded them not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that they would eat of it, they would die (Genesis 2:17); but the devil, having deceived Eve, assured her otherwise by saying: "...You will not die;". God not being a man to lie, He had indeed told the truth to Adam and Eve because the day they sinned, they died, not physically, but in spirit and it is this spirit that is born again today by means of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Jesus is therefore this bridge that reconciles us with God by means of faith.

Many ask, “Isn’t being born again baptism?” The answer to this question is “NO.” One can be baptized but not born again. Being born again is the preliminary commitment that leads to the formal ceremony of baptism. Romans 10:9 says : “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” The new birth involves two main elements: confession on one side and faith on the other. Confession of what or should I say of whom? Of Jesus Christ (“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus…”). Faith in whom? Always in Jesus Christ (“…to those who believe in his name…”; “…if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead…”)

We often hear people say, “We are all children of God…” My intention here is not to frustrate anyone, but to tell the truth: “No, we are not all children of God!” Some may be surprised by this statement, but I am only relying on the word of God, now everyone is free to believe me or not. Let us read together this verse from John 1:12-13: “But as many as received him (speaking here of the Light which is Christ), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

PS: I invite you to read the whole chapter.

Indeed, we become children of God, we are not born children of God. Yes, we are all His creatures, but no, we are not all His children. Why are we not all? Because becoming children of God, unlike when we come into the world through our parents, is a choice and not an imposition or something we undergo due to the belief of our parents.

• “But to all who received it…”

The word receive according to the French dictionary means: to welcome, to admit, to submit, to accept etc. Have you welcomed Jesus into your life, have you admitted that without Him you were nothing, does He feel welcome in your everyday life, are you submitted to Him in the actions you take, have you agreed to live for Him? Be sincere with yourself; if your answers to these questions are negative, don't worry, there is still time to change.

• “…to those who believe in his name…”.

I spoke above about faith and confession. The Bible defines faith as a firm assurance; are you ready today to firmly believe and loudly declare that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior? Remember, faith without works is dead (James 2:26).

• “…she gave the power to become children of God…”

The word power according to the French dictionary means: to be capable, to have the possibility, to have permission etc. In other words, when you firmly believe in Jesus Christ, and you agree to submit to His authority, you are given the permission, the possibility, the capacity, by the power of the Holy Spirit, TO BECOME A CHILD OF GOD.

I want to clarify that we are not born again because we are more or less good and we keep the commandments of God, NO. We are born again because we cannot overcome sin on our own. God in His grace instituted the New Birth to quicken our body and put to death our sinful nature, so that we can be saved from eternal death and gain eternal life. Romans 8:11 (NKJV): “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

To be born again is to become a child of God, and to become a child of God is to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. By this choice, we receive the Holy Spirit who gives life to our body and we thus become new creatures (“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17) If you are interested in making this life choice too (being born again and thus becoming a child of God), then let us pray together:

“Lord Jesus, I ask for your forgiveness, I have lived my life as I wanted for a long time, I have put aside Your Word and I have sinned against You. Today, I come to You with a sincere heart and I receive You as my Lord and Savior. I believe that You died on the cross for me and that You rose from the dead. Come with your Holy Spirit and make me a new creature. In your Name I have thus prayed, AMEN.”

PS: Remember, declare it with your mouth and truly believe it in your heart.

These words may seem trivial, but know that today you have made a new beginning. Now, as I told you, it is a new beginning and who says new beginning, also says change. First, I invite you to begin a more regular reading of the Bible, more precisely of the New Testament. Ask the Holy Spirit (there is an article on the Holy Spirit available on the website) to help you understand His Word and you will see things with new eyes. Do not worry, for my part, I will accompany you with my various articles inspired by the word of God. Stay connected. And if you have not yet read my book "My journey to please the heart of the King", I strongly invite you to do so. I share with you my journey as a Christian and what it implies to want to please Christ and be pleasing to Him.

Be blessed!