fellowship-2

The Bibles reveals the principles by which one could have a personal fellowship-relationship with Jehovah-God, which is the only way that knowledge of Him could transcend belief and become faith: a Divine intuition. Otherwise, the Bible could be deemed a compilation of theory and conjecture and give no expectation of evidence.

Expectation of the fellowship-relationship is in the following two references. The first one is a quote from Jesus and the second a quote from Apostle Paul who was taught by Jesus:

  1. John 16:13 – However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into ALL truth [everything that pertains to life and Godly living] . . . and He will tell you things to come [gives premonitions of occurrences and intuitions for dealing with them].
  1. Romans 8:14 – For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Being guided by the Spirit of truth (Holy Ghost/Spirit) and being lead by the Spirit of God (Holy Ghost/Spirit) are comparable to an Old Testament reference: Proverbs 3:5-6 . . .

  1. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
  2. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Jehovah-God, i.e., the incarnated Jesus Christ, is the only Deity that promises to initiate a fellowship-relationship with anyone that embraces His teachings: the evidence of born again. If the cited Biblical references were not evident in the lives of individuals committed to living by Biblical principals, then Jesus Christ would be the greatest lie ever perpetrated on humanity and Christianity would be reduced to being a mere ideology.

The great debate between Christendom and science is creationism vs. evolution. However, the Christian’s basis for believing that the Bible is true is based on experiencing instances of what it says about God’s interactions with the faithful to Biblical principles.

Agnostics, atheists, members of ideological or philosophical religions, and nonreligious persons could attribute overcoming negative circumstances to positive thinking, which Christians should not refute. However, when facing critical circumstances that could not tolerate decisions with margins for errors, positive thinking CANNOT insure that the decision one makes would produce the best results whereas Divine guidance can.

Such experiences are within the aforementioned fellowship-relations and are evidences that convince Christians to believe creationists over evolutionists. The experiences Christians have consequently keep Darwin’s Theory of Evolution what it is noted to be: a mere theory, speculative. (Please see Analytic Reasoning: The Catalyst for Evidence.)

Let’s begin the explanation for born again with the first book in the Bible, Genesis. Given that Adam was created in God’s image and likeness the focus is the comparison of Adam to God:

Genesis 1:26-27

  1. Then God said, “Let Us make man [humanity] in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
  2. So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

The attributes of God:

  • Omnipresent
  • Omniscient
  • Omnipotent

Jeremiah 23:23-24 proves that God is Omnipresent: “Am I a God near at hand,” says the LORD, “And not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?” says the LORD; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the LORD.”

The disciple, John, proves that God is Omniscient in 1 John 3:20: “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.”

The disciple, Mark, proves that God is Omnipotent in Mark 10:27: “But Jesus looked at them and said, With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”

Jesus noted God as a Trichotomy: Father, Son and Holy Ghost. This is revealed in what Jesus said to His apostles in Matthew 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name (singular) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit/Ghost.”

Adam was neither omnipresent, omniscient, or omnipotent. However, the Apostle Paul notes that a person is a trichotomy: 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The following is a brief outline of the human trichotomy:

I. spirit

  • character: where sin/Holiness originates
  • intuition: insight
  • conscience: judge

II. soul:

  • will: power to change
  • mind: the arena of reasoning
  • emotions: inclinations

III. body:

  • bone: the hard largely calcareous connective tissue
  • flesh: comprised of muscle and fatty tissue
  • blood: the life sustaining liquid tissue of the body

The only similarity between God and Adam can be drawn from the following two references:

  1. John 4:24 – “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
  1. 1 Thessalonians 5:23, (the human spirit): “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The references are from Jesus and Apostle Paul respectively. Note that Jesus associates the upper case “S” in Spirit to God and the lower case “s” in spirit is humanity. Paul also associates lower case spirit to humanity. Therefore “spirit” is the commonality between God and Adam.

The first record of Jesus expounding on “born again” is in His conversation with a man named Nicodemus. He was a member of the grand Sanhedrin, which was the highest judicial and ecclesiastical council of the ancient Jewish nation, composed of from 70 to 72 members. Nicodemus was referred to as “Master” or “Doctor” of the Mosaic Law, which is based on the ten commandments. Note the dialogue between Nicodemus and Jesus in the following text: John 3:1-8:

  1. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
  2. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
  3. Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
  4. Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
  5. Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
  6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
  7. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
  8. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

The word, “again”, in the phrase, “born again”, denotes a second birth. The last thing that Jesus said to Nicodemus on the subject is, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” In other words, the presence of the wind is known by physical manifestations: swaying foliage, waves on water, and etc. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit: actions more than words comprise the testimony of being born again. This is why Paul said the following in the book of 1 Timothy 4:12: “. . . be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”

Jesus said in verse 6 above, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Namely, a flesh-bone-blood creature gives birth to a flesh-bone-blood creature: the same characteristics. Therefore, given that God is a Spirit what is born of Him is also spirit. Therefore, “born again” is applicable only to the human-spirit.

Spiritual rebirth is only in the New Testament. As previously established, the textual distinction between God and human is the upper case “S” in Spirit represents God and the lower case “s” in spirit is human. The upper and lower case words are found together in only five verses:

  1. John 3: 6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (with the same characteristics: holiness).”

  2. John 4:24, “God is a Spirit: and those that worship Him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

  3. Romans 8:16, “The Spirit Himself bears witness [communicates] with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”

  4. 1 Corinthians 2:11, “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.”

  5. 1 John 4:2, “By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God . . .”

Paul is noted in Theological studies as the foremost teacher in the New Testament. The reason is that he made the greatest contribution to the subject of being born-again without ever using the phrase. Nevertheless, he thoroughly defined it in the word, “saved”, which is to be kept from the dominance and ruin of sin through Jesus Christ in this life and to be assured of heaven when we die. “Saved” also means that the Spiritual rebirth causes us to escape the judgments of God, which will ultimately be on those that reject submission to Jesus Christ.

Paul briefly describes how we are saved in his writings to his Spiritual son, Titus. He used the word, “regeneration”, which is synonymous to “born-again”. “Regeneration” is used only twice in the New Testament: once by Jesus and once by Paul. In the letter to Titus, Paul refers to it as the work that the Holy Ghost performs in us. Titus 3:4-5, “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit . . .”

The other time “regeneration” is used is by Jesus in reference to Himself in the creation of a new heaven and new earth, which is yet to come. Note what he said in Matthew 19:28, So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration [reconstruction], when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Without getting into the subject of Eschatology (the study of the end of times) and to put what Jesus said in perspective, it is important to refer to just three references on regeneration; one from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. The first one is from a prophecy by the prophet, Isaiah. Note the text from Isaiah 65:17: “For, behold, I create a new heaven and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come to mind”.

The second was written by Peter, around 65AD, approximately 35 years of the Ascension. Note what he said in his writings, 2 Peter 3:10-13:

  1. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
  2. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
  3. looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
  4. Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

The third reference is in the book of Revelation by the beloved disciple, John, about 97AD, around 67 years after the Ascension, while he was in exile on the isle of Patmos. Note what was revealed to John in Revelation 21:1, “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.”

The New Testament word, “regeneration”, comes from the Greek word paliggenesia (pal-ing-ghen-es-ee’-ah). It means rebirth, renewal, restoration, recreation, and renovation. The world will be purged completely of sin and its effects: evil, diseases, storms, earthquakes, depleted and polluted natural resources, and etc. This world will be completely renovated by Jesus Christ as was revealed to John in Revelation 21:15, “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful”.

What God said is going to happen to the world in the future is precisely what the Holy Spirit does in the human spirit now when Jesus Christ is accepted as Savior and Lord. Namely, it does not matter what the history of a person’s life-style, addictions, or habits is. The mystery of the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit could change anyone wanting to change; no exceptions. It would be the realistic experience, which is what Paul said in describing how we are Saved: “. . . by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of [by] the Holy Spirit . . .”

The word, “renewing”, comes from the Greek word “anakainosis” (an-ak-ah’-ee-no-sis). Similar to regeneration, it means renovation; to make new.

This is comparable to what Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, Greece, in the book of 2 Corinthians 5:17, “. . . if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

The washing, regeneration, and renewal are further substantiated by what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11:

  1. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,
  2. nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
  3. And such WERE some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
  • washed: sins remitted
  • sanctified: consecrated
  • justified: rendered innocent by God’s forgiveness

It is therefore by the Holy Ghost/Spirit that we are washed, sanctified, justified, as Paul said to Titus. He simply expounded on what Jesus said in John 3:5, “. . . born of water [baptized] and the Spirit”.

Romans 8:16-17

  1. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
  2. and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer (ridicule, persecutions) with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

Water Baptism

Water BaptismThe significance of water baptism is best described in Romans 6:4: “. . . we were buried with Him [symbolically] through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life [exemplifying born-again after emergence from the water].” Baptism is consistent with what Jesus said to Nicodemus as previously referenced: “. . . unless one is born of water and the Spirit”.

Emerging from being submerged in water baptism is comparable to the birth of a baby. When a pregnant woman’s water (amniotic fluid) breaks new life emerges. Therefore, one’s willingness to be baptized is an outward acknowledgement and demonstration of her/him being born-again into a new (renewed) life as the emergence breaks the surface of the water. This new life is sustained by obeying Biblical principles and abstaining from old lifestyles such as Apostle Paul had reference to above when he said, “And such were some of you . . .” (past tense).

Conclusively, being born-again does not only prepare us for heaven. It’s also experiencing the fellowship-relationship that Jesus [the incarnated Jehovah of the New Testament] initiates in the psyche: the peace and fulfillment that cannot be experienced from personal achievements, social status, relationships, and/or tangible possessions. Only experiencing the fellowship-relationship could prove it to be reality.

Ref: 1 John 1:3, . . . that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

It’s The Law Of The Spirit.