Born Again: What Does It Mean? (Part 2)
by Jody L. Apple

In our first article in this series we noted the following: (1) The new birth allows us to see (John 3:3), or enter (John 3:5), the kingdom of God. (2) The new birth includes baptism (immersion) in water. (3) The new birth includes our obedience to the word of God.

We were discussing this third point at the end of the article, and reproduce it here so that you will have it before you.
 te83) The new birth includes our obedience to the word of God.While Jesus affirmed the necessity of baptism (by immersion in water) as an essential element of the new birth, he also affirmed the necessity of the spiritual element in that birth by instructing that such be "of the Spirit." The physical act without the spiritual element would have been meaningless. But what is this spiritual element? How are we born "of the Spirit?"

As we examine the Bible, we note at least these significant points concerning the Spirit: (1) the Holy Spirit is part of the Godhead, which is also composed of God (the Father) and Christ (the Son), (2) every attribute and characteristic of God the Father and God the Son applies with equal force to the Holy Spirit, (3) each person of the Godhead has unique roles which often overlap those of the other two, and (4) one of the unique roles of the Spirit centers around the message of God.

It is this last element of the Spirit's work that is of importance to us as we examine the meaning of the birth "of the Spirit." The Holy Spirit, in both Old and New Testaments, played a unique role in the revelation and the inspiration of the message of God. [End of part one]

It is through the Holy Spirit of God that the Bible, God's word, was revealed to man. The revelation of God's word came from God through the Holy Spirit in the process called inspiration. Let us examine how it is that such takes place.

How Inspiration Works

The Lord is a God of knowledge (1 Samuel 2:3; Psalm 147:4), and as such he knows all that can be known (Job 28:10). God knows: (1) the future before it comes to pass (Isaiah 42:9; 46:10; 48:5-6), (2) all that can be known about the activities and conditions of all men (Exodus 3:3-20; 6:1; 11:1: Numbers 14:27; Job 24:24; Psalm 33:13; 66:7; Proverbs 5:21), (3) the hearts and minds of men (1 Chronicles 28:9; 1 Kings 8:39; Isaiah 66:18; Luke 16:15; Acts 1:24; 15:8; et. al.); and (4) every detail about us, even the number of hairs upon our heads (Matthew 10:29). But God is not the only person that knows all of this, for the Holy Spirit knows all that the Father knows.

This is plainly taught in 1 Corinthians 2:9-13. In this passage Paul states: "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." (vs.11)

Paul's purpose in this text, however, is not simply to inform his readers of how much God knows and how much the Spirit knows. His purpose is to point out that what God and the Spirit know has been revealed to man. He says: "But God has revealed them (things pertaining to salvation-vs.9) to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God." (vs.10) God has revealed, through the influence of the Holy Spirit (i.e., the process of inspiration), those things that man needs to know for salvation (see 1 Peter 1:3-4).

In summary: God, through the Spirit, revealed to certain men (e.g., the apostles, Mark, Luke, et. al), things that he wanted them to write and speak about. When these things were written, or spoken, they were able to be understood by the readers and hearers in such a way that they were able to understand the message not just as the message of men, but as it was intended to be understood-as the message of God.

Paul thus affirmed, in 1 Corinthians 2:9-13, that because the Spirit knows the mind of God, what is revealed to the apostles by the Spirit is from the mind of God. Thus, what the apostles wrote or spoke by inspiration came from God himself. When someone read, or heard, an apostle's message he was reading, or hearing, God's message. To understand that message therefore, was more than understanding the words of mortal men; it was to understand the message (word) of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1; Ephesians 3:1-5) This thought is stated plainly in 1 Thessalonians 2:13: "...because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God..." Thus, because the message came through the influence of the Spirit, to understand the word and message of God is equivalent to understanding the word and message of the Holy Spirit.

Rejecting God's Message Equals Rejecting The Spirit

If what God knows the Spirit knows, and if what God reveals the Spirit reveals, then it seems obvious to conclude that to reject the message of God is not only a rejection of God, but also a rejection of the Holy Spirit too. This is exactly what the Bible teaches.

In Acts 7 Stephen was accused by the Jews of blaspheming the law and the temple. In his defense before the Jewish council he gave an overview of the history of Israel, at the end which he declared that God did not live in houses made with hands. Then, in a terse remark aimed directly at his antagonistic Jewish audience he said: "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers ..." (Acts 7:51-52)%e moD
Notice the allegations, listed in reverse order, made against these Jews by Stephen: (1) you have betrayed and murdered the Holy One, the Christ; (2) your fathers (ancestors) killed those who foretold Christ's coming; (3) your fathers persecuted the prophets; and (4) just as your fathers resisted the Holy Spirit, so do you.

The meaning of the first three allegations is obvious. These Jews, and their ancestors, were actually responsible for the crucifixion of Christ, as well as the killing and persecution of old testament prophets. But how did these Jews and their fathers resist the Holy Spirit? The answer to this question can be found in many Bible passages, but we will focus on just one of them.

After the Jews were restored to their homeland following the period of captivity, there was a need to re-instruct them in the ways of the Lord. In Nehemiah, chapters 8 and 9, Ezra the scribe read the law of God before the nation of Israel in order to inform them of God's ways. In the ninth chapter an overview of Israel's history is presented. This was done to show how God cared for them and taught them his will in the past, and how they had reacted to his commands.

In verse 20 of this chapter we learn that God "gave Your good Spirit to instruct them." Verse 26 says that the Israelites "were disobedient and rebelled against You, cast Your law behind their backs and killed Your prophets who testified against them." Verse 30 states: "Yet for many years You had patience with them, and testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets. Yet they would not listen..."

These passages correspond to Stephen's accusation in Acts 7. The Jews killed the prophets that God sent to testify against them. These prophets, sent by God, spoke by the Spirit of God.

Thus, when the Jews rejected the message of the prophets, they rejected, or resisted, the message of the Holy Spirit. To refuse to listen to or h sh God's message is to reject the Holy Spirit.

We have shown how the process of inspiration works. We have also noted that a rejection of God's message is also a rejection of the Holy Spirit. In our next article in this series, we will show how obeying the apostles' message is the same as obeying the message of the Spirit.

See also:

TheBible.net: Born Again: What Does It Mean? (Part 1)

TheBible.net: Born Again: What Does It Mean? (Part 2)

TheBible.net: Born Again: What Does It Mean? (Part 3)

TheBible.net: Born Again: What Does It Mean? (Part 4)

TheBible.net: Born Again: What Does It Mean? (Part 5)

TheBible.net: Born Again: What Does It Mean? (Part 6)

TheBible.net: Born Again: What Does It Mean? (Part 7)