BORN
AGAIN
There is a topic that keeps
surfacing concerning statements that Yahshua made to Nicodemus regarding being
“born again”. People spend endless hours debating and arguing about just when
this rebirth takes place. Much time is spent trying to decide the meaning of
the Greek words Gennao, Anagennao, and Anothen. One will say that Gennao
means conception and the gestation time, another will argue that it
means the actual birth. Lets look at a couple of scriptures, without wasting a
lot of time, to see who is correct.
Matthew 1:20 But while he
thought on these things, behold, the angel of Yahweh appeared unto him in a
dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy
wife: for that which is conceived ( Gennao # 1080) in her is of
the Holy Spirit. Note that Yahshua was already conceived and in the gestation
period when the messenger came from Yahweh to Joseph.
Lets look at another scripture
to shed more light on this. Matthew
2:1 Now when Yahshua was born
(Gennao # 1080) in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold,
there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem. Notice that this is the same
Greek word as was used for conceived yet this is talking about the time of
Yahshua's actual birth into this world. It can mean both.
The words “begat” and
“begotten” have caused some confusion in their meaning. They are old English
words used in the 1611 King James version of the scriptures. They mean “To
produce or generate”. They are used in both the old and new testament to denote
both the gestation period and also the actual birth. Yalad, the Hebrew word
usually translated begat can also mean the gestation period, the birth, and can
also mean the time of travail accompanying birth, that we would know today as
being in labour.
There is one more word that
we will briefly investigate. It is the word translated again in John 3:3
from the Greek “anothen”. It is used 13 times in the new testament. It is
translated 3 times as “again.” John 3:3, John 3:7, and Gal. 4:9.
The other ten times it translated, from above 5 times, top 3 times, from the
first once, from the beginning once.
Check the following scriptures. Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, Luke 1:3,
John 3:31, John 19:11, John 19:23 , Acts 26:5, James 1:17, James 3:15, James
3:17.
Since we can tell
from the context of Yahshua's conversation with Nicodemus that what had to take
place for one to enter the kingdom of Yahweh is generated from Yahweh's throne,
it is safe to assume that the meaning of Yahshua's statement “Gennao anothen”
is “born from above.” We will understand this more clearly as we go through
this study.
Instead of debating
semantics we should be studying these scriptures deeply and receiving the
message that Yahshua intended. The initial statement of Yahshua is; John 3:3 Yahshua answered and said unto him, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again,(Gennao anothen) he cannot
see the kingdom of Elohim. Nicodemus thought that Yahshua was talking about
literal, physical birth. Yahshua however, was giving spiritual instruction.
This statement seemed strange to Nicodemus because what Yahshua said could not
be understood from a physical perspective. Paul sheds light on this concept in 1
Corinthians 2:14 The unspiritual
man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of Elohim, for they are folly to
him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually
discerned. We need not have this block if we allow Yahweh's Spirit to lead us.
Let us go ahead now and receive the full significance of what Yahshua
told Nicodemus.
Within this conversation
that Yahshua had with Nicodemus there is a point that the majority fail to see.
There are two births from above (gennao anothen) mentioned by Yahshua that are
required before one can enter into Yahweh's kingdom. John 3:5 Yahshua answered, Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of Elohim.
Did you notice that one
must be born of water and of the Spirit? I have been told that this all takes
place at the time of water baptism and the receiving of the Holy Spirit and
that it really means conceived or begotten. I won't debate this point because
Yahshua says this isn't the case so we will let Him explain. John 3: 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh;
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Notice that Yahshua said that one who is born (gennao) of the
Spirit IS Spirit. There need be no confusion as to what He meant because
He elaborates on the condition of one born of the Spirit. Verse 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and
whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Yahshua is saying
that those who are born of the Spirit are like the wind, invisible, coming and
going without detection.
Since we are still visible
and our whereabouts can easily be seen, this birth of the Spirit cannot have
taken place at the time of our baptism and receiving of the Holy Spirit. However, when one has repented and been immersed
into the name of Yahshua there is a rebirth that takes place. This is the first
birth that Yahshua spoke about, being born of water. As with everything in
Yahweh's plan for mankind, there is a sequence of events that take place in a
set time order.
Lets understand this time
order. Notice that born of water comes first. Without first being born of water
one will have no hope of being born of the Spirit. This birth of water is the
precursor of the birth of the Spirit.
Before being born
of water there is are steps that must take place in the proper sequence. The
initial step is taken by Yahweh. He must call us to service. John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who
sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. Once this call has
been issued our participation begins. We must answer that call and respond to
His spiritual urging. When we do there is a step we are required to take before
we can be born of water. Acts 2:38 Repent. Without heartfelt, sincere
repentance the other sequence of events cannot take place. One must fully come
to recognize the condition one is in prior to the intervention of Yahshua. Ephesians
2:1 And you he made alive, when you
were dead through the trespasses and sins. Romans 3:23 since all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of Elohim, Isaiah 64:6 But
we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;
and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us
away. Even our preconversion righteousness was as filthy rags compared to that
of Elohim. Until we come to this realization repentance is not complete. We
were all in line to receive our wages, death eternal. Rom.6:23 Yahweh
would rather give is a gift, eternal life. This gift comes not all at once but
in stages. I will qualify that statement as we go through this study.
Once we have taken this
initial step of repentance we are now required to do something that symbolizes
our death. We must be completely immersed in water in the name of Yahshua the
Messiah. Why completely immersed? It symbolizes our death and burial with
Yahshua. Colossians 2:12 and you
were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through
faith in the working of Elohim, who raised him from the dead. Romans 6:3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into
Messiah Yahshua were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that
as Messiah was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might
walk in newness of life.
Notice that following
baptism we will be walking in newness of life. This is the “born of water”
Yahshua spoke about. 2 Corinthians
5:17 Therefore if any man be in
Messiah, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things
are become new. This is what Yahshua meant when He told Nicodemus that one must
be born of water. This is definitely a new birth, The old sinful self was put
to death and reborn as a new and spotless creature properly cleansed to receive
the Holy Spirit. 1 Peter 1:3 Blessed
be the Elohim and Father of our Lord Yahshua Messiah! By his great mercy we
have been born again (Anagennao) to a living hope through the resurrection of
Yahshua Messiah from the dead, 1 Peter 1:23 You have been born again,(Anagennao) not of perishable seed but
of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of Elohim;
This is not a literal,
physical new birth as Nicodemus thought. This is a spiritual rebirth. The old
sinful nature has been put to death in baptism and born again to no longer walk
in the flesh but in the spirit. Romans 8:9 But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if in fact
the Spirit of Elohim dwells in you. Any one who does not have the Spirit of
Messiah does not belong to him. Being “in the spirit” merely means that we no
longer respond to the urges of the flesh, our carnal nature, but we now respond
to the urging of Yahweh's Holy Spirit. We can do this in our new state because
of the His Holy Spirit within us.
Titus 3:5 he saved us, not because of deeds done by us
in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of
regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit,
This receiving of the Holy Spirit is the initial stage of receiving
Yahweh's gift of eternal life. After the burial in baptism with Yahshua we
receive Yahweh's Spirit. We do not receive this Spirit in full as did Yahshua.
We receive a small portion as a down payment
or earnest toward what we will receive in full at the time we are born
of the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 1:22 Who hath also
sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. 2 Corinthians
5:5 Now he that hath wrought us for
the selfsame thing is Elohim, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the
Spirit. Eph.1:13 In whom ye also
trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation:
in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of
promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our
inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise
of his glory.
This earnest or
down payment of Yahweh's Spirit is the living water that Yahshua spoke about on
the last great day of the feast of Tabernacles John 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the
feast, Yahshua stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto
me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on
me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. 39 (But this spake he of the
Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was
not yet given; because that Yahshua was not yet glorified.) This is a wonderful
analogy which we will explore further at the end of this study.
This initial
portion of Yahweh's Spirit will empower us to live in the way that He has told
us we must. We can no longer live in the way that we once did. Romans
6:6 Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth
we should not serve sin. Colossians 3:9
Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature
with its practices 10 and have put on
the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its
creator.
1 Peter 4:3 Let the time that is past suffice for doing
what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness,
revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry.(RSV)
Have no doubt, at baptism
you became a new person. You have been spiritually reborn. Eph.4:22 Put off your old nature which belongs to
your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
24 and put on the new nature,
created after the likeness of Elohim in true righteousness and holiness.
As we walk in this newness of
life guided by the Spirit of Yahweh and Yahshua we begin to develop within our
minds their thought patterns. Gal.5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness,
self_control; against such there is no law. This is Yahweh's mind revealed to
us. This is what we are to be developing from the time of our spiritual rebirth
until the time of our literal rebirth into Yahweh's kingdom.
We are still flesh and
blood and we are told; 1 Corinthians 15:50 I tell you this, brethren: flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of Elohim, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. As you can
see, in the physical state that we are in we cannot enter into the kingdom of
Yahweh. The spiritual rebirth at baptism is the initial step we must take to
enter into that kingdom.
There is definitely a
literal rebirth as we can see by the following. Yahshua made a very plain
statement to Nicodemus. John 3:6
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. Yahshua explains what one born of the Spirit is like. John
3:8 The wind blows where it wills,
and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it
goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit." Those in the
final rebirth will be spirit beings in Yahweh's kingdom. Just as we cannot see
spirit at this time so we too will be invisible to humans that are left during
the millennium. We will be able to make ourselves visible to them if we wish
just as Yahshua did to the apostles following His resurrection and
glorification.
We are to be the royal
priesthood spoken of in Rev.5: 9
and they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy art thou to take the
scroll and to open its seals, for thou wast slain and by thy blood didst ransom
men for Elohim from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 and hast made them a kingdom and priests to
our Elohim, and they shall reign on earth." Priests teach. We will be the
teachers of those people who come through the great tribulation and live on
into the millennium. We will be seen by those we teach if it is required. Is.30:20 And though Adonay give you the bread of
adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself any
more, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21
And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the
way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
Just as Yahshua was Yahweh's representative on earth so we will be His
representative with Yahshua following
the first fruit harvest of mankind.
Yahshua is the high priest
and we will serve under Him to teach, direct and correct those who have not yet
come to know our true Elohim. Heb.5:8
Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered;
9 and being made perfect he became the
source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by Elohim a high priest after the order of
Melchizedek.
This rebirth at the return
of Yahshua will be a total and complete change to a different state. 1
Cor.15:44 It is sown a physical
body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also
a spiritual body. Romans 6:5 For
if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be
united with him in a resurrection like his. 1 Cor.15:51 Lo! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all
sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the
trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be
changed.
53 For this perishable nature
must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality.
This will be a glorious and
awesome change to be and to look like our loving Elohim. 1 John 3:1 See what love the Father has given us, that
we should be called children of Elohim; and so we are. The reason why the world
does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are Elohim’s children now; it does not yet appear
what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is. Yahweh and Yahshua are glorious spirit beings
that dwell in a realm of all engulfing light. 1 Tim.6:14 I charge you to keep the commandment unstained
and free from reproach until the appearing of our master Yahshua Messiah;
15 and this will be made manifest at
the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and master
of masters 16 who alone has immortality
and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To
him be honour and eternal dominion. Amen.
This is our destiny, to be
born into this glorious spirit realm as true sons of Yahweh. Born into His very
family. If one returns to the original creation of mankind in
Gen.1:26 Then Elohim said, "Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."
27 So Elohim created man in his
own image, in the image of Elohim he created him; male and female he created
them.
If you will notice in the
creation account, verses 24-25 Yahweh created cattle after the cattle kind, birds
after the bird kind, etc. But notice something breath taking. Verse 26-27
we were created after the Elohim kind. We were created to have the same
general shape that Yahweh and Yahshua have. This similarity is because we will
one day be members of Yahweh's very family. Family members resemble each other.
He also did something else
at that time which is very significant. He created within our minds a human
spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man,
save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of
Elohim knoweth no man, but the Spirit of Elohim. Proverbs 20:27 The spirit of man is the
candle of Yahweh, searching all the
inward parts of the belly.
He did this so that at some
time He could make a mind to mind connection with us. This He does through the
Holy Spirit at the laying on of hands following baptism.
This is the spring of water we read about earlier in John 7:37-39.
Just as a spring of water that comes from within the earth will at some point
come gushing to the surface, so this earnest of Yahweh's Holy Spirit will one
day grow to the point that it will completely envelope us at the return of
Yahshua. John 4:14 but whoever
drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I
shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal
life."
Phil.3:20 But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from
it we await a Savior, the Master Yahshua Messiah, 21 who will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by
the power which enables him even to subject all things to himself.
1 Thes.4:15 For this we declare
to you by the word of the master that we who are alive, who are left until the
coming of the Master, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.16 For the Master himself will descend from
heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of
the trumpet of Elohim. And the dead in Messiah will rise first; 17 then we who are alive, who are left, shall
be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and
so we shall always be with the Master.
This is truly being born
again. One can debate and argue endlessly about word meanings to the extent
that the real message intended in the scriptures is lost. There is such simple
beauty in the meaning of Yahshua's statement to Nicodemus that there is no need
for debate. There is a spiritual rebirth at baptism, born of water and a
literal rebirth at Yahshua's return, born of the Spirit..
There is definite
instruction in Yahweh's word in the steps required to be born into His kingdom.
1) Repent, 2) be baptised, 3) receive Yahweh's gift of the
Holy Spirit. There is one final step that is required. 4) Matthew
24:13 But he who endures to the end
will be saved. Hebrews 3:14 For
we share in Messiah, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end.
As we persevere in this way
of life to which we have been called let us treasure the gift of Yahweh's
Spirit within us and let it grow to the point at Yahshua's return when our
physical will no longer be able to contain it at which time we will be born
from above into the very family of Elohim.
Revelation 22:20 He who
testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen.
Come, Master Yahshua!
HalleluYah May Yahweh bless your studies. Elder Dave Ganton