As I have mentioned at the end of the last post, the next step in new creation is the process of getting born again. There was a conversation between Jesus and a jewish officer named Nicodemus in John 3. It is one of the most important conversations in the entire Bible as Jesus plainly put forth the basic condition to see the kingdom of God. Later, Jesus quotes the most popular verse in 3:16, about God's love that forms the crux of the Christian faith, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.". But, let's focus on the process of born again for this chapter. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, probably he doesn't want other pharisees or scribes to see him with Jesus (I am just guessing). Just to give an overview about Nicodemus, we could read about Nicodemus in 2 other places in John, one is where he tries to defend Jesus in John 7:50 and finally we see that he does the final rituals of Jesus after His crucifixion along with Joseph of Arimathaea in John 19:38,39 and at both places Nicodemus was identified as the one who came to Jesus in an earlier night.
The conversation starts as Nicodemus appreciates Jesus by saying "Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." John 3:2. But, Jesus never cared about his praise but directly responded to Him by telling something totally irrelevant to the context but it is the most important stuff and basic eligibility to see the kingdom of God. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3 So, Nicodemus asked Jesus again, what He actually meant by born again, whether one can enter his mother's womb second time to born again. Jesus explains again saying, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." John 3:5
The above is the process of born again, that is to born again of water (Baptism) and of the spirit (New creation). This is the second step after salvation. As we saw in last post, salvation is the very first process that one believes in Jesus, confess his sins and accepts Him and declares that Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Born again is a two stage process because there are two persons involved in born again of every individual. One person is God and the other is the individual. The first step should be from the individual to get baptized by water thereby publicly acknowledging that he or she is accepting Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior. The second step is from the Lord to baptize the individual with the Holy Spirit there by acknowledging his faith towards Him. This is a kind of getting into mutual agreement or covenant (covenant is the right word). That's why Peter explains, "The like figure where unto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:" I Peter 3:21. The original translation says it is the covenant of a good conscience with God. So, if one takes baptism it actually means that he is entering into covenant with the living God to become His child by accepting Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
Why Baptism is required? We read in James 2:17 that "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone". So, we learn that if we have faith in Jesus, we have to show that through our works. The first work probably one should do after being saved is baptism because it is the act that Jesus Himself had gone through. So, we should acknowledge our faith by action publicly by taking the baptism by water. I will write more about the meaning of baptism in my next article.
Let's see the second part of it. God waits for one to acknowledge Jesus through baptism before He starts his works in us. Once we have done the first step, we can be sure that God always hold on to His word to send His Holy Spirit to the person who takes baptism. Though the person may not aware of this fact, this is a 100% sure thing that happens in him. Some people realize this and some don't. But, it doesn't mean that because a person doesn't feel a difference or he doesn't realize, it is not happening. If you are truthful and sincere to acknowledge Christ as your Lord by taking baptism, it is doubly assured that Holy Spirit started to live in you from that moment onwards. It is one hundred percent true that God acknowledges those who acknowledge Him. I could quote many verses for this but limit that to few examples.
Let's start with Jesus who made himself a role model for others to follow. Jesus took the baptism in river Jordan through John Baptist and once when He entered the shore, we could read God acknowledging Him in Matthew 3:16, 17. "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:, And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.". What a wonderful scene that would have been? When David was anointed by Samuel, we read that "Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward." I Samuel 16:13. The Lord spoke to Eli through a prophet and said "for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." I Samuel 2:30 and when you are baptized with Holy Spirit, you have started to live a new life in Jesus Christ and this is all about the starting of new creation.
In my next post, I will write more about Baptism by water and what is the core meaning of it, what is the right way of doing it. All honor, glory, praise to the almighty God through our all sufficient savior Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
The conversation starts as Nicodemus appreciates Jesus by saying "Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." John 3:2. But, Jesus never cared about his praise but directly responded to Him by telling something totally irrelevant to the context but it is the most important stuff and basic eligibility to see the kingdom of God. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3 So, Nicodemus asked Jesus again, what He actually meant by born again, whether one can enter his mother's womb second time to born again. Jesus explains again saying, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." John 3:5
The above is the process of born again, that is to born again of water (Baptism) and of the spirit (New creation). This is the second step after salvation. As we saw in last post, salvation is the very first process that one believes in Jesus, confess his sins and accepts Him and declares that Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Born again is a two stage process because there are two persons involved in born again of every individual. One person is God and the other is the individual. The first step should be from the individual to get baptized by water thereby publicly acknowledging that he or she is accepting Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior. The second step is from the Lord to baptize the individual with the Holy Spirit there by acknowledging his faith towards Him. This is a kind of getting into mutual agreement or covenant (covenant is the right word). That's why Peter explains, "The like figure where unto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:" I Peter 3:21. The original translation says it is the covenant of a good conscience with God. So, if one takes baptism it actually means that he is entering into covenant with the living God to become His child by accepting Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
Why Baptism is required? We read in James 2:17 that "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone". So, we learn that if we have faith in Jesus, we have to show that through our works. The first work probably one should do after being saved is baptism because it is the act that Jesus Himself had gone through. So, we should acknowledge our faith by action publicly by taking the baptism by water. I will write more about the meaning of baptism in my next article.
Let's see the second part of it. God waits for one to acknowledge Jesus through baptism before He starts his works in us. Once we have done the first step, we can be sure that God always hold on to His word to send His Holy Spirit to the person who takes baptism. Though the person may not aware of this fact, this is a 100% sure thing that happens in him. Some people realize this and some don't. But, it doesn't mean that because a person doesn't feel a difference or he doesn't realize, it is not happening. If you are truthful and sincere to acknowledge Christ as your Lord by taking baptism, it is doubly assured that Holy Spirit started to live in you from that moment onwards. It is one hundred percent true that God acknowledges those who acknowledge Him. I could quote many verses for this but limit that to few examples.
Let's start with Jesus who made himself a role model for others to follow. Jesus took the baptism in river Jordan through John Baptist and once when He entered the shore, we could read God acknowledging Him in Matthew 3:16, 17. "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:, And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.". What a wonderful scene that would have been? When David was anointed by Samuel, we read that "Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward." I Samuel 16:13. The Lord spoke to Eli through a prophet and said "for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." I Samuel 2:30 and when you are baptized with Holy Spirit, you have started to live a new life in Jesus Christ and this is all about the starting of new creation.
In my next post, I will write more about Baptism by water and what is the core meaning of it, what is the right way of doing it. All honor, glory, praise to the almighty God through our all sufficient savior Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
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