Born Again
Recently my wife and I got Chinese takeout. We have tried to support our local restaurants during these sheltering-in-place times. One of the unique things about Chinese food is that it typically comes with fortune cookies. Usually, the fortunes are innocuous, and sometimes they are humorous. This particular dinner provided a cookie with a message I wasn’t expecting. It said: “The saints are the sinners who keep on trying.” Many Christians wouldn’t give this fortune a second thought because they live as if it were true. There is a saint problem in the church. One of the issues is a lack of teaching and understanding of who we truly are in Christ.
Born again, born from above, born by water and the Spirit, born anew, born of God, are all expressions of the new life we experience in Christ. Most of the time, when we hear about our new birth by the Spirit we are told what we have, not what happens inside us. We have forgiveness of our sins, we have peace with God, we become His children, and we have hope. These truths are among many beautiful gifts. The things we obtain from God are amazing, but it is essential to focus on who we are in Christ to experience new life here and now. We are truly changed, and we are saints.
Saints aren’t sinners who keep on trying; saints are holy ones by birth from above. We are new creatures. We are new in spirit, and this changes every part of us.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17, NASB®)
Our soul is purified. We are pure in heart. Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. We are good because we are joined to God. It is so important to understand this change. Yes, Christ’s death on the cross provided the payment for our sin, but this is only part of our redemption. We are made spiritually alive because of His resurrection, and we also have life in our mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in us.
New life, true life, comes only from Jesus. Those without Christ are alive in soul and body, but are spiritually dead. They are slaves to sin and walk according to Satan (Ephesians 2:1-3). The beauty of the gospel is that anyone who calls on the name of Jesus can be saved. Being saved encompasses so many wonderful changes, but the ultimate is that we now have real life! This new life in Christ means we are joined with God and will know Him forever (John 17:3). But it also means we can enjoy Him now.
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20, NASB®)
Our spirit is one with God. We have Christ’s life in us and we live by faith in Him. We walk in His Spirit. These facts are only possible by the miraculous change brought about in us. Perhaps the best way to address this change is by contrast. We could look at the difference between the saints and the world because this is where the change manifests itself most powerfully, taking us from death to life. We have touched on that briefly above. However, I believe the contrast that affects the saints the most is how many in the church view their identity in Christ versus reality. I have written on this in prior articles, but believe it is worth exploring further.
The Contrast
Often the church tells the saints that they still have a sinful nature and they must continually do something to remain right with God (see How Did We Get Here? Part 3 Distorted Christianity). This is simply not true, nowhere does the Bible say we still have a sinful nature after we are reborn by the Holy Spirit. When we are born from above we have a new nature because the old was crucified with Jesus (Romans 6, Colossians 2). I find it interesting that the church is often more bent on describing Christians as sinful rather than saints. The Bible is clear, we are cleansed from sin and we are no longer slaves to it. Why do we believe that we are still sinful? Perhaps one reason is because the saints can still sin. But I believe much of our sin is because we still look at ourselves as sinners (see Our Identity in Christ Part 1 Image and Identity and How Did We Get Here Part 2 Identity Crisis for an example in one of America’s largest and most influential churches). There are many reasons we believe we are still sinful and they likely could fill a book, but I would like to discuss one reason here: temptation.
I believe there is confusion between temptation and sin. Because we get many sinful thoughts, some people may conclude that we are still sinners at heart. Many believe that thoughts of sin are the same thing as sin itself. However, the Bible differentiates temptation or sinful thoughts and the act of sin:
But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death (James 1:14-15, NASB®).
Think about this:
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:14-15, NASB®)
Jesus was tempted just like we are. Do you see? For Jesus to be tempted the thoughts had to enter His mind. When Satan tempted Him in the desert Jesus had to think about what Satan was saying. Yet, in all the ways Jesus was presented with opportunities to sin, or was tempted He did not sin. So, a sinful thought coming in your mind is not sin, but what you do with it determines whether it becomes sin or not. You can reject the thought or you can dwell on it and nurture it into sin.
Please don’t believe that thoughts of sin coming into your mind makes you sinful. Quite the contrary it is more likely evidence of your holiness. You recognize the thoughts are not in alignment with God’s truth, you are bothered by them, and you wrestle with why you are thinking this way.
As a saint, you still get sinful thoughts and sometimes you may give into them. However, this is not who you are. You are still assaulted by the flesh and by sin. There is now a war between your spirit and the flesh. The flesh is not who you are, it is a force that wars against you. Likewise, sin is also a force outside of your new self (Romans 6-8). You will experience the battles every day. Before you were reborn, there was no warfare; you were a slave to sin and the devil. Satan will not war against himself. When God the Father drew you to Christ, and you asked Him for mercy, He created you anew, and then the battles began. You must remember that you are afforded victory in the war. You may stumble and fall at times, but you are not defeated. The thoughts of sin are not sin, and you have the means to reject temptation because the Spirit of Christ is in you:
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world (1 Peter 5:8-9, NASB®).
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7, NASB®).
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13, NASB®)
But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you (Romans 8:9, NASB®).
So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh (Romans 8:12, NASB®).
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world (1 John 2:1-2, NASB®).
Remember, if you have a bad thought, it doesn’t mean you are still sinful. That kind of thinking is contrary to God’s Word. When a wicked thought comes into your mind, you can recognize it as such and decide to reject it. You can resist it. However, it’s okay to be disappointed and contrite if you give in and sin, but it’s more important to know that you have an advocate in Jesus, and He has already forgiven you. Remember what Jesus did for you and in you, and return to living like the saint that you are. One of the worst things we can do as Christians is focus on sin; instead, we must focus on Jesus (see Our Identity in Christ Part 3 Our Nature and Confession).
There has been a real change in you if you have been born from above. You are no longer dead but are alive in Christ. The change has a real effect on the way you live. Are you experiencing the abundant life that Jesus provided for you? There is much more to say about our new life. I hope and pray this brief discussion has been helpful. If you have been born again, you are a saint. You are walking with God every moment of every day. In future posts, I will continue to explore how this walk practically affects how we live with God, the church, and the world.