What is the difference between someone who has been “born again” and someone who has not? What is being “born again” anyway, and why do people use that title? Some who are reading this may wonder about such questions, and as we have been studying the book of First John together we are discover what the apostle John says about this as well as sin and righteousness. Today John helps us answer those questions, and after looking into his words in verse nine of the same chapter, maybe we will gain some greater understanding. He wrote:
Whoever is born of God does not commit sin; for his seed remains in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
If you will recall, we have been talking about the idea of “practicing” or “maintaining as a habit” certain traits. There are those who “practice' sin, and there are those who “practice” righteousness. John has shared with us that those who are practicing sin do not know Jesus, and those who practice righteousness are those who recognize Jesus' perfect ability to be righteous. Today's verse shares the idea of being “born of God” or “born again”. When Jesus was speaking to a great leader of the Jews named Nicodemus in the book of John chapter three and verse three he said, “you must be born again”. Nicodemus did not understand that Jesus was speaking about a “spiritual rebirth” that occurs when we receive Jesus into our hearts as Savior. Nicodemus asked, “How can a man be born again? Can he enter in the second time into his mother's womb?” This was a reference to physical birth, and Jesus clarified that there must be a spiritual birth, and this spiritual birth gives rise to a completely different nature.
The only way for us to have a nature that is prone to be righteous rather than unrighteous is for there to be a different nature about us. For example, a pig is by nature a pig. He loves to waller in the mud. He enjoys the mud, and even if we were to take him out of the mud, give him a bath, paint his toenails, spray him with perfume and place a bow on his head, as soon as he sees a pile of mud, he will be right back in it again. It's his nature. He's a pig. What else would we expect? This is somewhat like our sin nature. As long as we keep the sin nature, we will be prone to go back into sin over and over again, and try as we may, we cannot shake our sinful nature. We must be “born again” and receive a new nature. This is what occurs when we receive Jesus Christ into our lives. We receive a new nature, a nature that is prone to righteousness rather than sin. The “seed” of God remains in us, and where we once had a propensity toward sinful practices, we now have a new nature that desires righteous ways. In John's words, “he cannot sin” or practice sin “because he is born of God.”
This explains why reformation and self-will are incomplete in changing us. We must have an entirely new nature within us or we will make attempt after attempt to be different and constantly find ourselves coming up short. John knows the way to be sinless and to have fellowship with God, and if we are to have true fellowship with Him we must be “born of God” or “born again”. When we are born again, our old sinful nature is replaced with a righteous nature, and righteousness becomes the reigning theme that drives us.
Next time we shall discuss how we can tell if someone has been born again or not, and John adds an additional trait that reveals whether we are in fellowship with God, so read ahead and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow...there is more...
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