What does it mean to be a Christian? Some believers talk about being “saved” and some about being “born again.” And, some equate being a Christian with joining a church. All of the different terminologies are understandable because we all are different from one another. However, without a clear concept of the change Christ brought to the human race, we could be missing the fullness of what God’s absolute love has done for us.
    Looking back to Christ’s walk on earth, John 3:1-21 relates the conversation Christ had one evening with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. When the religious leader started the conversation out by affirming that God was indeed with Christ, the Son of God immediately focused on a concept that was completely foreign to Nicodemus as he spoke these words, “You must be born again.” Of course, Nicodemus had no clue what Christ was talking about and immediately took issue with him, “How can a man be born when he is old?” Christ assured Nicodemus that the new birth concerned being born of the Spirit. Now, we’ve already discussed how Christ was the Son of God because he had received an inner spirit from God when the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary. Could Christ have been talking about the same thing happening to humans?
    In II Corinthians 5:21, Paul made an astounding statement. We’ve already discussed how Christ became sin on the cross, so that when he died, sin died. But, the second part of this verse says that the reason Christ became sin was in order that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ. That righteousness–that inner spirit, that freedom from sin or guilt–is the direct result of Christ becoming sin for us. Could this be the new birth–when the spirit that made Christ the Son of God is “created” within us?
    I think the place to start thinking through this possibility is in Luke 1: 26-38 (the story of Gabriel coming to Mary to tell her that God wanted her to be the mother of His son). If we “stand” above the action and look down, we can see there is a definite sequence of events that happened: (1.) Mary heard the Word of God, (2.) Mary questioned Gabriel until she understood, (3.) Mary “accepted” what God wanted to do, (4.) the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary, and (5.) Christ was conceived with his physical body coming from Mary and his inner spirit coming from God. That inner spirit of righteousness–the freedom from sin or guilt–was Christ’s connection with God. That righteousness was what made him the Son of God.
     The process of the new birth may be much like what happened when Mary conceived Christ. An individual hears what Christ had done, understands what it all means, “accepts” what God’s absolute love has provided, and is then overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. The result is that a new spirit–an inner man–is created within the physical body of the new believer. At that point, the believer is made the righteousness of God in Christ. At that point, the believer has the same inner connection with God that Christ has.
    Now, once a person is born again and is made the righteousness of God in Christ, he or she has everything that is needed to be “saved,” right? Not so fast–Romans 8:10 (NASB) says, “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit [the inner being] is alive because of righteousness.” Remember what Christ said in John 10:10 about his purpose in coming to earth–that humans would have life more abundant than the loss, death, and destruction that Satan brings. The new birth “just” makes us the righteousness of God; it doesn’t deal with the death that is working in our physical bodies. You see, there is one huge difference between Christ and his believers. Christ never had death working in his body until he released his spirit on the cross because he was born with the inner man of righteousness. We believers were physically born without the same inner man, so death began working in us immediately (thus the statement, we begin to die the minute we’re born). So, just becoming the righteousness of God is not enough to overcome the death that is working in us. Something more was and is needed.
      Romans 8:11 tells of the second stage of becoming a son of God, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Right there is the life more abundant that Christ promised. In my next two posts, we will discuss just what the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is and what it accomplishes in our lives.
    Before I end, I want to comment on the controversies that surround water baptism. First, water baptism does represent what happens in the process of the new birth–we “kill” the power of sin in our life and we re-emerge as the righteousness of God through Christ. Second, we do not have to convince the Holy Spirit to overshadow us by being water-baptised. Third, water baptism could be compared to a sales receipt–a physical representation of a legal reality. Think about all the sales receipts you have accumulated over the last month. Are they all exactly alike? Are they all legal documents? I’m just saying…think about it!
    As always, please feel free to comment–just keep it respectful!
    ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.
