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By James Quansah
THE LORD Jesus Christ and Peter, the apostle, used the term “born again” (1 Peter 1:23, John 3:3). And today many Christians hear and use the same term “born again”, but very few seem to correctly understand it.
According to a deacon, “born again” means “the renewal of a person’s mind” while a Sunday School teacher understands it to mean “a total conversion from old life to new life”. Again, an usher said the term means “a change from old deeds to new deeds”.
But are their explanations correct? Well, they did their best but they are wrong. Now, the best way to understand the term “born again” is to understand a similar term, perhaps, “eat again.” When a father tells his child to “eat again”, it means the child previously ate but he is currently hungry so he needs to eat anew.
Similarly, when Jesus says “unless a man be BORN AGAIN” it means man was previously born or he lived, but he is currently dead so he needs to be born anew. We must understand that we are talking about a person’s spiritual birth or death, here.
Spiritual death is the separation of a person’s spirit from God or a break of his relationship with God while spiritual birth is the restoration, regeneration or renewal of a person’s relationship with God.
The latter happens when Christ Jesus breathes on the believer to receive the Holy Spirit. You remember Jesus breathed on His 12 disciples, telling them to receive the Holy Spirit after His resurrection (John 20:22). That was the time they were spiritually regenerated, recreated or born again.
Thus, when a believer experiences new birth in Christ Jesus, his dead spirit receives supernatural strength and life. The Holy Spirit through the Word of God makes the man’s spirit right with God.
This is what we call regeneration, spiritual renewal or re-creation. When a person is regeneration it means he is spiritually renewed or born again.
In the new birth experience all things become new. The mind can be renewed with the truth of God’s Word, but the spirit is recreated or born again through the operation of the Spirit and the Word.
In other words, there is a new creation of his spirit man. This is why Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Now, if there is a new creation then there is an old creation. Remember also that during the old creation which is recorded in Genesis, God breathed on man to receive the breath of life which is the Holy Spirit thereby creating a relationship between God and man.
It was sin that brought separation between God and man. And it is through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross that the relationship between God and man is restored or renewed.
James Quansah is the Executive Director of Christ-Conscious Leadership Centre (CLC) and lead Pastor of End-Time Christ’s Commissioners (ECC), Kumasi, Ghana. James is also a journalist by profession. He is married with four children.
