Born Again: Another Look

How the principle of the second birth demonstrates our complete victory over sin - Nathan McWilliams

Introduction

Years ago when I was sitting in a youth worship service, the person leading the service up front asked the audience whether anyone had a testimony to share. Promptly, a young man raised his hand, and the leader motioned for him to speak. Without reserve the young man began to share his testimony, “I just thank God for being so good to me. I've been through a lot of stuff in my life and it is only because of God that I'm able to be here.” He paused for a moment, then continued, “I was born and raised in the ghetto. Christ was nowhere near my mind. I belonged to gangs and I smoked any and everything you can imagine. I ran the streets and didn't let no one mess with me.” The audience grew silent as the young man began to speak louder. “Some of you guys think you know what the thug life is. You guy's don't even know. I lived that life. I've been in and out of jail, I worked the streets, I did it all.” He continued to share with the crowd his life experiences, and I began to realize, just as he said, this guy really had done it all. Eventually he started wrapping up his testimony, “but God came into my life. He changed me around. I could be in jail right now, locked up for who knows what. But instead I'm here praising God. I'm in college and doing something with myself. You guys don't realize how much of a blessing it is to know God. I just praise God for letting me be here.”

Truly that young man is an example of what it means to be born again. His life was a complete turn-around. This is the good news of the gospel. Christ has promised that we can live a new life with Him. Along with that young man, we Christians stake our claim on this promise from God. Many of us boldly proclaim that we are “born-again Christians,” and that our lives are no longer the same.

The idea of being born again is a concept that runs deeper than many of us realize, however. The principle of the second birth, as it is beautifully explained in the Bible, shows us how God has given us complete victory over sin. There are some of us who believe that being born again is only another way of saying that our attitudes have changed, and that we are now living differently. But being born again means so much more than a change in attitude or lifestyle.

Without Christ we are slaves to sin. We have no power within ourselves to live above sin, or to overcome temptation. With Christ we are no longer slaves. Christ promises to release us from the chains of bondage and all He asks is that we have faith that He will do it. In Christ we are a new creation; the old man is crucified with Him, and we now walk in the newness of life. The gift of the new man is the gift of Christ. The gift of the new man is the gift of a new genealogical inheritance. The gift of the new man is the gift of Christian perfection. In this article we will examine more closely what the Bible has to say about the new man and the principle of the second birth.