Are You a Born Again Christian?
by Steve Dewhirst
What other kind of Christian is there? Jesus told the night-visitor Nicodemus, "Unless one is born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God." When Nicodemus expressed his puzzlement, the Lord explained, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he
cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:3-5).
This rebirth is universally equated with the forgiveness of
sins and salvation. Jesus testified of two elements necessary
to experience our new birth: water and the Holy Spirit. The
Spirit is involved in several ways. First, His work of revealing
God's Will to man is the avenue through which we learn of
God's desire to save us. "Of His Own Will He brought us
forth by the Word of Truth..." (James 1:18). Second, the Spirit "seals" or marks-for-identific
But the other essential element of being born-again is
water. The only sense in which water is ever mentioned in
connection to a "new life," is when speaking of water baptism
for the remission of sins (Romans 6:3,4; Colossians 2:12,13). It's also
interesting to note that many denominational commentators,
who personally reject baptism as having any connection to
salvation, admit that John 3:3-5 teaches water baptism for that very purpose.
The late Dr. Merrill C. Tenney, well known theologian and
long-time lecturer at Wheaton College in Illinois, taught in his
Bible classes that John 3:3-5 teaches water baptism for the
remission of sins. To Dr. Tenney, the meaning was so obvious it could not be
denied. But when asked how he reconciled the fact that Jesus taught water
baptism, while
being affiliated with a denomination that denied the importance of it, he replied, "I can't." Well, he was nothing, if not
straightforward.
Water baptism is an act of faith that declares our confidence in God to raise us to a new spiritual life, just as He raised Jesus from
the grave (Colossians 2:12). We have faith to obey Jesus in baptism because the
Holy Spirit inspired men
to write God's Word for us. The Spirit and water are both
essential to being born again; hence, Jesus' Words: "Unless
one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." There can be no real Christians, except born-
again Christians.
Curiously though, the world has completely redefined the
meaning of being born-again. Nowadays it's relatively popular to be "born-again.
Instead of being born "of water and the Spirit," folks are
told to just "accept Jesus as your personal Savior," even
though no Scripture is produced to support the instruction.
Or perhaps people are told to "invite Jesus into your heart."
Again, however, no passage can be found to illustrate the
correctness of such a move. In fact, nearly anything can be
an acceptable means of being "born again," except the things
Jesus actually taught!! Conversations can turn downright
ugly if one even tries to mention baptism. Instead of being a
simple act of faith, baptism has been transformed into a "work" that only
ignorant, insincere people use to try to earn
their redemption.
And this, despite the words of the apostle Paul: "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 the renewing of the Holy Spirit..." (Titus 3:4,5).
Even sectarian writers acknowledge that
the "washing of regeneration" is a reference to water baptism. And note that
Paul makes a clear distinction between the meritorious works of men on the
one hand, and
baptism on the other. Baptism, properly understood, is an
act of faith, not a "good work" one does to "win points" with
God. How can it be that everyone wants to be "born again,"
but so few seem willing to do what Jesus taught? It must be
because modern man wants to take the lead in his own salvation, rather than being led by the Spirit.
At any rate, next time someone asks the familiar question,"Are you a born-again Christian?" look at him dumbly and reply, "What other
kind is there?"