There are many doctrines, opinions, and discussions about the rebirth in Christianity. When is someone born again, how can a person be born again, and what does the rebirth mean for people’s lives? Many studies about the rebirth have been done and are still being done. These studies are not only based on the Bible but mainly on human insights and people’s experiences. As a result, many different opinions, teachings, and doctrines about the rebirth have arisen in the church, which may seem genuine and sound reasonable, but are far from the truth of God’s Word. What does the Bible say about the order and the three elements that are required for the rebirth?
The way of salvation for humanity
There is only one way to be saved and to be delivered from the reign of the devil, sin and death, and the power of darkness and that is by faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the rebirth in Him.
This sounds and seems so simple, and it is. But it’s through the interference of natural people, who have humanized the rebirth and made it difficult and confusing. This way, they have turned the truth of the rebirth into an error, that produces miscarriages.
Why have they done this? Because they want to understand the things of God without obeying and following the requirements of the Word of God in their lives.
What does this mean? This means, that they have not obeyed and followed the Word and are not born again themselves and become spiritual. But they do want to understand the things of God.
They have tried to understand and comprehend the things of God from their carnal mind and human intellect (reasoning). But this is impossible! Because the things of God can only be understood through God’s Spirit.
The natural man shall never understand the words and things of God. They are foolishness to the natural man.
But the spiritual man understands the words and things of God, because the spiritual man has God’s nature and Spirit. Therefore the spiritual man believes and does what the Word says and walks by faith in obedience to God and His Word as a fool for the world on earth.
The preaching of the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins
John the Baptist prepared the way for the coming of the Christ. He called the people to repentance and preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
The repentance and baptism were meant for the people, who belonged to the house of Israel. They were called to repentance and be baptized in water. However, the repentance and the baptism in water didn’t create a new man.
Although many people gave heed to his call, repented, and were baptized in water, they were still trapped in the sinful flesh. They still lived under the rulership of the devil, sin, and death, in the power of darkness.
They did have the Law of Moses, God’s Word, that led them on the right path and kept them.
What did Jesus say about the rebirth?
Jesus discussed the rebirth with Nicodemus, a Pharisee and teacher of God’s people. Nicodemus was pious, but he was not born again. Therefore, he didn’t know, who Jesus really was.
Jesus said, that except someone is born again, he can’t see the Kingdom of God. And except someone is born of water and Spirit, he can’t enter into the Kingdom of God (John 3:3-5).
The baptism in water and the receiving of the Holy Spirit from God were required for the rebirth of man.
Jesus didn’t come with all kinds of precepts Nicodemus had to live by. He didn’t come with a list of steps, courses, and educations he had to complete to become the new man.
No, it was through the baptism in water and the Holy Spirit, whereby the new man (who is spiritual and sees and entered the Kingdom of God) would be born.
The rebirth in the Body of Christ
When we look in the Book of Acts, at the first church of Christ, we can conclude that the church was born after the coming of the Holy Spirit to the earth; after the disciples of Jesus received the Holy Spirit from God.
On the Day of Pentecost, the people of the house of Israel were witnesses of the fulfillment of the promise of God of the New Covenant and the birth of the new creation. (a.o. Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:25-27, Hebrews 8:8-13; 12:24).
When the disciples of Jesus, who belonged to the house of Israel and were circumcised and baptized in water (at an older age), were filled with the Holy Spirit, they began to speak in new tongues.
The new tongues were proof that they were filled with the Holy Spirit. As God had foretold and promised His congregation; His people, who were born of the seed of Jacob; Israel.
Repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit
Peter was no longer ashamed of Jesus, but he had received the power to be His witness. Peter preached boldly the crucified and risen Christ and confronted the people with their sins and called them to repentance.
Through his hard and confrontational preaching and the help of the Holy Spirit, the souls were pricked in their hearts. They were convicted of their sins. And based on the words of Peter (his testimony), they asked Peter what they had to do.
Peter answered them, that they had to repent and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission (forgiveness) of sins and they would receive the Holy Spirit.
The 3000 souls of the house of Israël believed the words of Peter. They obeyed his words and repented, were baptized in water, and received the Holy Spirit.
They didn’t have to do anything for this. Peter didn’t say, that they had to take a course, hold a sacrament of confirmation, become a member of the church, or … (fill out the blanks)
The only thing they had to do was repent of their life, which they had lived until that time. They had to repent of their pride, rebellion, and sinful walk after the will, lusts, and desires of their flesh and their disobedience to God.
Then they had to be baptized in water for the forgiveness of all their sins, which they had done in their lives. In the water, they died in Christ and laid down their old carnal life as a sinner and they were raised in Christ from the dead in newness of life as a saint.
The born-again souls died to the world, but became alive to God
The born-again souls were no longer dead to God due to their sinful nature of the flesh, which separated them from God. They were no longer under the authority of death. But they were delivered and justified in the baptism in Christ and became alive to God.
As a sign, that they were no longer a sinner, but were delivered and justified in Christ and made holy unto God and became a saint (a son of God (this applies to both males and females)), they received the Holy Spirit from God.
These three elements of the rebirth belong in the right order in the Church of Christ.
This is the order of the rebirth that God has instituted in the Body of Christ. And every soul, who believes in Christ and wants to become part of His Body, must submit to this order of the rebirth.
The new man can only arise if the old man dies and is buried.
What is the heart of the problem in today’s church?
But through the interference of people, who have been deceived by the devil and believed him, this order of the rebirth is disrupted in the church.
The apostles were not full of themselves but full of the Spirit. They had given their lives to Christ and stood in His service. They gave themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word of God (Acts 6:1-2).
The apostles didn’t mingle with the world. They didn’t fill their minds with the teachings of carnal people and the knowledge, wisdom, and things of the world. Nor did they rely on their own knowledge, understanding, and insight. But they relied on Jesus Christ and went out in the power of His Name.
They had become a new creation and were full of the Holy Spirit and the words of God. And from that renewed state, they spoke and lived (after the Spirit) and delivered the Word of God to the people. So that, the Word and the Holy Spirit could do Their work in the people and the power of God became visible in people’s lives (a.o. Acts 4:31-33; 6:1-4, Ephesians 1:19-23, Philippians 3:10, 1 Thessalonians 1:5, 2 Peter 1:3),
But through false doctrines, that have disrupted the order of the rebirth, most people don’t become born again in the church. There are even people, who stand behind the pulpit, who are still the old man. They preach the words of the Bible from a carnal mind, whereby the visitors of the church remain the old man and/or keep living as the old man.
And so the church will be destroyed through pride and/or a lack of knowledge. Because people have put themselves above God and have rejected His Holy Spirit and His words.
What three elements are required for the rebirth of man?
Everyone, who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that Jesus is the Messiah for the whole human race (not only for the house of Israel) and wants to follow Him, must be prepared to repent and lay down his own life.
Jesus made it clear, what it will cost to follow Him. Then He commanded us to count the cost first, before deciding to follow Him.
If you have counted the cost and find Jesus more important than yourself and the world and you no longer love sin but are disgusted by it and hate sin, and you want to be delivered from sin, death, and darkness, then you are ready to make a choice for Jesus.
Your choice will be confirmed through the death of the old man in baptism and the resurrection of the new man from the dead.
This deed of obedience will be confirmed through the gift of the Holy Spirit, that you receive for nothing from God by His grace.
These three elements are inextricably linked and are all three required for the rebirth of the new man. One can’t do without the other.
The natural birth of a child
For the birth of a child, three elements are required (just like the rebirth). These three elements are the seed of the man, the egg of the woman, and the womb of the woman. Without these three elements, a child can’t be born in a natural way.
The seed needs the egg and the egg needs the seed. And even the seed and egg can’t do anything but need the womb.
This is set by God, just like the rebirth in His Son.
People can’t become a new creation through repentance only. People can’t become a new creation through the baptism in water only. And people can’t become a new creation by only receiving the Holy Spirit (this is impossible anyway).
Repentance and baptism don’t make a new man
If someone repents and is baptized in water, but has not received the Holy Spirit, the person is not born again. It doesn’t matter what ‘learned’ people say or what the human mind and its reasoning is saying, God has spoken the Word by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Peter, that people need to repent, be baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit from Him.
God has determined this. Therefore it’s settled forever, no matter what people say or believe.
The Holy Spirit can’t live in a sinner. Therefore repentance and baptism are necessary.
Repentance only doesn’t make a new man
Repentance itself doesn’t make a new man. Someone can repent (and confess) and go to church and become a member or study theology and preach from the pulpit, but the person shall live, think, and teach from their carnal state as the old man with his sinful flesh. The person shall live under the rulership of the will lusts and desires of the flesh. The person shall have the same carnal mind as the world and therefore live the same life as the world.
Many people don’t want to be baptized. Instead of submitting to the words of God and being baptized as the 3000 souls did, when they heard the words of God spoken by Peter, they become offended or angry and come up with all kinds of reasons for not being baptized.
Why do people come up with excuses to not be baptized in water?
There can be all kinds of reasons why people don’t want to be baptized. Some people are not ready to lay down their lives. They love the works of the flesh and the world too much.
Other people are prideful and stubborn. They find it difficult to be baptized, because they consider it a form of ‘humiliation’. And they don’t want to be humiliated in front of people. But if you disobey the institution of God and don’t dare to be ‘humiliated’ before God, you shall not be able to follow Jesus, Who was humiliated for you on the whipping post and the cross, and He will eventually humiliate you through the baptism with fire.
There are also people, who don’t want to be baptized, because they were baptized as a child.
They consider christening as the circumcision. But the circumcision in the flesh was part of the Old Covenant between God and His carnal people Israel. And only boys (the seed carriers) were circumcised in the flesh. Therefore, how would you explain that girls are baptized as well?
Besides that, Jesus is our example. And Jesus was circumcised and baptized in water by John the Baptist at an older age.
And let’s not forget the 3000 souls of the house of Israel. They were circumcised and baptized in obedience to the words of Peter on the Day of Pentecost.
Baptism means a full immersion and not a sprinkling with water. A few drops of water on the head of a baby is not a full immersion in water. Therefore, theoretically, no child is baptized according to the words in the Bible.
If people refuse to be baptized and come up with excuses and reasons for not being baptized, they have not repented, and don’t love God above all.
By faith and obedience to the words of God, God’s power is revealed in man
If you have found Jesus (the Way, the Truth, and the Life), you will desire one thing and that is to repent, be baptized in water as soon as possible, and receive the Holy Spirit. So that you can be His witness and serve Him and please and exalt Him.
All three elements of the rebirth: repentance, baptism in water, and the baptism with the Holy Spirit are required to become a new creation.
It is through obedience to the words of God of the order of rebirth, that the power of God comes over man and is revealed in man. By the power of God, a person becomes a new creation, who is restored (healed) in his position, changed in nature, and reconciled with God.
Through these three elements, that are required for the rebirth, the new man is perfectly created in Christ. The new man has no more excuses to not do the will of the Father, and to not live as the Word commands, and to not do what Jesus has said.
God created the new man perfectly in Christ
The perfect new man is hardly preached. Because many preachers have not become the new man but live after the flesh. They are natural people, who want to keep doing the works of the flesh. Therefore they preach that you are not perfect and always remain a sinner and therefore always keep sinning.
But that’s a lie of the devil, that keeps the people in his bondage! And it’s about time to destroy the stronghold of this lie in the minds of people and the church.
If Christians say they are not perfect in Christ and therefore keep sinning and/or don’t confront others with their sins (disobedience to the will of God), they say indirectly that the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and the justification of man by His blood is not perfect (not complete), but still has flaws, whereby Christians can’t live as the Word.
But the truth is that the new man is perfectly created in Christ through the rebirth in Him and the power of God.
Through the change of position, nature, and reconciliation with God, the new creation shall live as the new creation in righteousness and no longer live as the old creation in sin.
Your will, your desires, your opinion, your findings, and even your dreams are buried in the baptism. They don’t rule your life anymore. Christ dwells in you by the Holy Spirit, whereby you shall live according to His will.
The new man bears the fruit of the rebirth in Christ
If God’s Holy Spirit lives in you, you shall no longer live as the natural man, who doesn’t have the Holy Spirit, and do the works of the flesh and keep sinning. But you shall live as the new man in righteousness and bear the fruit of the Spirit.
You shall live from your renewed perfect state Christ in obedience to God in the truth of His Word in righteousness.
If this doesn’t happen, then there is nothing wrong with the message, but with the people. Therefore the message should not be adjusted and changed, but the people should change and adjust themselves to the message and the will of God.
God has created the new man perfectly in His Son Jesus Christ and by His Holy Spirit. Just like God created the cherub Lucifer perfectly until iniquity was found in him. And just like God created Adam perfectly until he sinned and evil and death entered.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
