When I was a Jehovah’s Witness, I engaged in preaching from door-to-door. On many occasions I encountered Evangelicals who would challenge me with the question, “Are you born again?” Now to be fair, as a witness I really didn’t understand what it meant to be born again. To be equally fair, I don’t think the evangelicals I spoke with understood it either. You see, I got the distinct impression they felt that all one needed to be saved was to accept Jesus Christ as one’s saviour, be born again, and voila, you’re good to go. In a way, they were no different from Jehovah’s Witnesses who believe that all one needs to do to be saved is to remain a member of the organization, go to meetings and hand in a monthly service time report. It would be so nice if salvation were that simple, but it’s not.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not minimizing the importance of being born again. It is very important. In fact, it is so important that we need to get it right. Recently, I was criticized for inviting only baptized Christians to the Lord’s evening meal. Some people thought I was being elitist. To them I say, “Sorry but I don’t make the rules, Jesus does”. One of his rules is that you have to be born again. This all came to light when a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, came to ask Jesus about salvation. Jesus told him something that confounded him. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” (John 3:3 BSB)
Nicodemus was confused by this and asked, “How can a man be born when he is old? … Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time to be born?” (John 3:4 BSB)
It seems poor Nicodemus suffered from that malady we see all too often today in Bible discussions: Hyperliteralism.
Jesus uses the phrase, “born again” twice, once in verse three and again in verse seven which we will read in a moment. In Greek, Jesus says, gennaó (ghen-nah’-o) anóthen (an’-o-then) which virtually every Bible version renders as “born again”, but what those words mean literally is, “born from above”, or “born from heaven”.
What does our Lord mean? He explains to Nicodemus:
“Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit. Do not be amazed that I said, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8 BSB)
So, being born again or born from above means being “born of the Spirit”. Of course, we are all born of flesh. We have all descended from one man. The Bible tells us, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12 BSB)
To put this succinctly, we die because we have inherited sin. Essentially, we have inherited death from our forefather Adam. If we had a different father, we would have a different inheritance. When Jesus came, he made it possible for us to be adopted by God, to change our father, so as to inherit life.
“But as many as received Him, He gave to them authority to be children of God—to those believing in His name, children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.” (John 1:12, 13 BSB)
That speaks of a new birth. It is the blood of Jesus Christ that allows us to be born of God. As children of God, we inherit eternal life from our father. But we are also born of spirit, because it is Holy Spirit that Jehovah pours out upon the children of God to anoint them, to adopt them as his children.
To understand this inheritance as God’s children more clearly, let’s read Ephesians 1:13,14.
And in Him you Gentiles also, after listening to the Message of the truth, the Good News of your salvation—having believed in Him—were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit; that Spirit being a pledge and foretaste of our inheritance, in anticipation of its full redemption—the inheritance which He has purchased to be specially His for the extolling of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13, 14 Weymouth New Testament)
But if we think that is all we have to do to be saved, we are deluding ourselves. That would be like saying that all one has to do to be saved is to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Baptism is symbolic of rebirth. You descend into the water and then when you come out of it, you are reborn symbolically. But it doesn’t stop there.
John the Baptist had this to say about it.
“I baptize you with water, but One more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Luke 3:16)
Jesus was baptized in water, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him. When his disciples got baptized, they also received the Holy Spirit. So, to be born again or born from above one has to be baptized so as to receive the Holy Spirit. But what is this about being baptized with fire? John continues, “His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Luke 3:17 BSB)
This will remind us of the parable of the wheat and the weeds. Both the wheat and the weeds grow together from the time that they germinate and they are hard to distinguish one from the other until the harvest. Then the weeds will get burned up in fire, while the wheat gets stored in the Lord’s warehouse. This shows that many people who think they are born again will be shocked when they learn otherwise. Jesus warns us that, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21-23 BSB)
Another way of putting it is this: Being born from above is an ongoing process. Our birthright is in the heavens, but it can be revoked at any time if we take a course of action that resists the spirit of adoption.
It is the apostle John who records the encounter with Nicodemus, and who introduces the concept of being born of God or as translators tend to render it, “born again”. John gets more specific in his letters.
“Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.” (1 John 3:9, 10 BSB)
When we are born of God, or gennaó (ghen-nah’-o) anóthen (an’-o-then)—”born from above”, or “born from heaven”, “born again”, we do not suddenly become sinless. That is not what John is implying. Being born of God means we refuse to practice sin. Instead, we practice righteousness. Notice how the practice of righteousness is linked to love of our brothers. If we do not love our brothers, we cannot be righteous. If we are not righteous, we are not born of God. John makes this clear when he says, “Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.” (1 John 3:15 NIV).
“Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.” (1 John 3:12 NIV).
My former colleagues in the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses should consider these words carefully. How ready they are to shun someone—hate them—simply because that person decides to stand up for truth and expose the false teachings and gross hypocrisy of the Governing Body and its ecclesiastical authority structure.
If we want to be born from heaven, we must understand the fundamental importance of love as John emphasizes in this next passage:
“Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7, 8 BSB)
If we love, then we will know God and be born of him. If we do not love, then we do not know God, and cannot be born of him. John goes on to reason:
“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves those born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome, because everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.” (1 John 5:1-4 BSB)
The problem I see is that often people who talk about being born again use it as a badge of righteousness. We used to do that as Jehovah’s Witnesses though for us it wasn’t being “born again” but being “in the truth”. We would say things like, “I’m in the truth” or we’d ask someone, “How long have you been in the truth?” It is similar to what I hear from “Born Again” Christians. “I’m born again” or “When were you born again?” A related statement involves “finding Jesus’. “When did you find Jesus?” Finding Jesus and being born again are roughly synonymous concepts in the mind of many evangelicals.
The trouble with the phrase, “born again” is that it leads one to think of a one-time event. “On such and such a date I was baptized and born again.”
There is a term in the air force called “Fire and Forget”. It refers to munitions, like missiles, which are self-guided. The pilot locks on to a target, presses the button, and launches the missile. After which, he can fly away knowing the missile will guide itself to its target. Being born again isn’t a fire-and-forget action. Being born of God is an ongoing process. We have to keep God’s commandments continually. We have to continually show love for the children of God, our brothers and sisters in the faith. We have to continually overcome the world by our faith.
Being born of God, or born again, is not a one-time event but a lifelong commitment. We are only born of God and born of the spirit if God’s spirit continues to flow in us and through us producing acts of love and obedience. If that flow ebbs, it will be replaced by the spirit of the flesh, and we might lose our hard-won birthright. What a tragedy that would be, yet if we are not careful, it can slip away from us without us even being aware of it.
Remember, those who run to Jesus on the day of judgment crying “Lord, Lord,…” do so believing they have done great works in his name, yet he denies knowing them.
So how can you check to see if your status as one born of God is still intact? Look to yourself and your acts of love and mercy. In a phrase: If you do not love your brothers or sisters, then you are not born again, you are not born of God.
Thank you for watching and for your support.
Further to my comment just now, taking the emblems should have nothing to do with whether someone believes they have been “anointed”. Taking the emblems and being “anointed” are two different subjects anyway.
Hi Eric. Thank you so much for this article. This experience may not solve anything, but it made me wonder. A good friend, who spent sometime in Bethel told me about conversations with a member of the current GB and another “anointed” brother. How do you know you are one of the anointed ? The reply was that it is something you experience. Often you cannot believe it. But when you speak to another anointed then you find your experiences are in common. On the other hand an “anointed” sister I spoke to just two or three years ago, and… Read more »
Juan 3:13 “Nadie ha subido al cielo…” por esta razón es necesario la fe en el señor Jesucristo. Quien le ha visto en el cielo para reconocerlo? Y además, era necesario que muriese para vencer a la muerte, Oseas 13:14. Que la paz este con todos los hombres de buena voluntad.
Juan 3:8 “Nacer de nuevo” La clave para entender este texto esta en el contexto, cito: sabemos que eres un maestro enviado por Dios. Nicodemo no había reconocido aún al Mesias. Por esta razón Jesús le dice a Nicodemo: No sabes ni de donde viene ni adonde va Juan 3:8. Esta idea es aclarada en Juan 8:14. Para nacer de nuevo es necesario creer en Jesus. Jesús es el viento que por sus actos debía ser reconocido es decir oído como el viento. Pero muchos prefieren la oscuridad.
I found his reasoning to be full of personal interpretation and out of harmony with Scripture.
Hi Eric, I’m glad you’re in shape again (thanks our heavenly Father). I hope that your heart will beat until the coming of our Lord. Thank you for this theme, which is important, especially with respect to confusing WT interpretation of Romans 8:16. How can I know that Jehovah is my heavenly Father? Very simply – because He acts and He told me. And how? Many seek the answer in the exact biblical definition (a + b = c). But, for example, how I know that my human father is really my father without that? Certainly not by someone telling… Read more »
Thank you Eric for this clarification. Indeed this expression “Born again” has always questioned me. I remember in Preaching, when I came across Evangelists, they often said to me: “Do you have the Holy Spirit”, or “Are you born again”, in an aggressive and insistent way? I felt uncomfortable because I was divided because the Holy Spirit was urging me to preach, but at the same time, the Watch Tower taught that only 144,000 received the Holy Spirit. I was also uncomfortable because the person in front of me was quite arrogant wanting to prove that he had the right… Read more »
Great reasoning from the Scriptures Eric as usual, Why all this constant debate and confusion over this, do we think that Jehovah or Jesus require all to be Bible Scholars to understand what it means to be Born Again? Nicodemus was highly educated and he even found Jesus’ explanation a challenge. Have we been commanded to have complete understanding of what it means to be Born Again to gain salvation? Although an interesting topic with many viewpoints none should be dogmatic here, that is the GB way. Could it be when reading some of the comments we are displaying a degree… Read more »
Thank you for sharing your ideas based on Bible studying. Excellent points, Eric. And thank you for translating the experience of sister Fani…actually I felt pretty much like her – I did not partake the emblems because WT literature was more significant for me than Bible for 30 years. Then I started to think about Christ’s words in John 6:48-59 regarding to whom he spoke – to all the crowd/to anyone who wanted to follow him. I was really distressed to partake or not for few years. This year my husband and myself decided to partake after listening your speech… Read more »
Oui, je lis bien dans la bible ce que tu as développé. Romains 5 souligne que nous sommes tous au départ enfants d’Adam, enfants du péché. Grâce au sacrifice du Christ, une vie nouvelle s’offre à nous si nous reconnaissons ce sacrifice. Romains 6 : 11 “De même vous aussi : estimez-vous comme bien MORTS par rapport au péché, mais VIVANTS par rapport à Dieu par Christ Jésus.” Rom 6 : 4 “Nous avons donc été enterrés avec lui par notre baptême dans sa mort, afin que, de même que Christ a été ressuscité par la gloire du Père, nous aussi… Read more »
Belle Analyse Fany du passage de la Mort à la vie spirituelle en union avec Christ. En le voyant sous cet angle, c’est très parlant.
Merci beaucoup
Pierre
I can only speak about my own experience but I was most definitely invited. I would have never presumed to partake without a personal invitation from Jehovah. Just studying the Bible did not motivate me to partake.
A good read, thanks.
I am also endeavouring to get a bible; the Borean bible. It is not available as yet but the sample i saw was a wonder.
Le GB, pour rester en accord avec l’idée que seules 144 000 personnes au sens littéral naissent de nouveau, désigne le royaume de Dieu ou royaume des cieux comme étant un gouvernement restrictif. Jésus nous dit en Matthieu 5 : 3 « Heureux ceux qui sont conscients de leurs besoins spirituels puisque le royaume des cieux leur appartient ». Pourquoi tous les jw qui sont conscients de leurs besoins spirituels, n’entrent-ils pas dans « ce gouvernement » puisque le royaume des cieux leur appartient ? Le GB dit que c’est Dieu qui choisit d’engendrer ou faire naître de nouveau une… Read more »
Thank you Eric. Always appreciate your enlightening insights. I would love it if you could sneak into a JW cong and give this article as a public talk. We could watch their minds melt from seeing the scriptures in a new way. I love in 1 John how there is a simple duality; children of God (born again) or children of the devil. he didn’t talk of a third group (a great crowd) that had a different birth. Even though John wrote Revelation possibly in the same period, isn’t it interesting that he didn’t add a third group (with a… Read more »
As a PIMO in mid-fade, I am currently struggling with this specific issue. It certainly seems that there will be ‘no epiphanies’ in personally knowing but I don’t know of any scriptures that specifically mention how the people who were ‘born again’ through the holy spirit knew that there were chosen/saved/foreordained/sealed except if they then had gifts of healing/tongues/etc. What about today? Also, what about Cornelius and his household who were not yet baptized? To what extent do we take the scriptures that say ‘believe in/have faith in Jesus, and you will be saved’? (paraphrase of Acts 16:31 and Romans… Read more »
Often, when things don’t make complete sense, it is because we are working on a premise that is false, but we are unaware of the fact. I wonder if the premise in this instance is the belief that one has to be somehow made aware that one is born again. Certainly, that is an idea that comes from the Watchtower’s interpretation of Romans 8:16. I find that awareness of the working of holy spirit is far more subtle than the Organization would have us believe.
Yes, I am sure that after 40 years there are a lot of ideas that will take awhile to replace which is what I am attempting to do. Nevertheless, I am at a bit of a loss as how to explain to myself from the scriptures how else Romans 8:16 could be understood. Along with that, the scriptures certainly lead me to see that in fact there is no other option to being born again (if we allow the spirit to lead and not grieve it), yet does that also lead to ALL born again Christians will rule as kings… Read more »
First of all, you have to divorce the idea that the taking of the emblems is something that the Spirit tells you to do. Remember, Jesus told his disciples to partake before they ever received the spirit. We partake because our Lord told us to. If you accept Jesus and get baptized, then you must partake. It’s a simple matter of obedience. As you study and pray you will feel the spirit guide you into all the truth. You will come to feel that you are indeed a child of God.
Actually I have no issue with the taking of the emblems. I partook in private for the first time this year. The issues that I struggle with are, as mentioned in my previous comment, in what sense are we to understand Romans 8 and, since all faithful Christians are born again, are all to rule as king/priests. It certainly seems as if there is a distinction between the two groups in Revelation 7; not in terms of ‘heaven vs. earth’ rewards as JWs teach, but in assignments that the we may be given. As ‘James Mansoor’ replied below, I also… Read more »
Hi Rudy
I share your frustration, I too am in limbo, I don’t “feel” This spirit to be moved to take the emblem.
The organisation has played with our thinking.
Moi aussi pendant 45 ans je ne me suis pas sentie poussée à prendre les emblèmes. Pourquoi ? Parce que c’était ce qu’on m’avait dit. Lorsque j’ai pris conscience du commandement de Jésus qui était pourtant si clair et si simple, que j’ai bien constaté qu’il n’avait fait aucune exception dans ses paroles, et qu’il avait même dit à ses apôtres de transmettre tout ce qu’il leur avait dit, j’ai compris que la vraie question était : à qui obéirai- je? A Christ ou aux hommes qui ont ajouté des interprétations ? “Continuez à faire cela en mémoire de moi”… Read more »
For the convenience of others, here’s an auto-translation of Fani’s comment: For 45 years I too did not feel compelled to take the emblems. Why not? Because that was what I was told. When I became aware of Jesus’ commandment, which was so clear and simple, and that he had made no exceptions in his words, and that he had even told his apostles to pass on everything he had told them, I realized that the real question was: who would I obey? To Christ or to the men who added interpretations? “Continue to do this in memory of me.” … Read more »
Hi James. You are right. Organization is playing with their members the game “Don’t think, we think instead of you“ (btw, this is a typical feature of religious cult). However, obeying Jesus Christ is more important than obeying His “spokesmen”. Jesus is our leader, our Lord and our head. With respect to Romans 8:16, the so-called FDS is trying to prevent you from taking emblems by means of intentionally incorrect explanation of 1 Cor 11:27, in connection with Romans 8:16. They know, that most members will search in their minds some specific supernatural message confirmed by specific scriptures, and at… Read more »
True Christians are born again because all true Christians are God’s sons and Christ’s Brothers. Consequently all true Christians are anointed. I agree.
If you were telling the truth about your experience in 1996 then you have a perspective that very few have, so therefore how can you say such a thing? To treat such an indescribable power as something common? As something to be sold off for a bowl of red stew, as Esau did? Be extremely careful because that is the one thing Christ said a person can never be forgiven for. Not in this Age nor in the Age to come. “And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit… Read more »
I am saddenned that you would suggest I am perhaps sinning against the holy spirit simply because I am of the belief that all true Christians are anointed. There was a time when for other reasons, I did believe that I had perhaps sinned against the holy spirit.I came to see in time with Jehovah’s help that nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, while we are on this subject, do you know a sure way to find out if you have or not? It is actually quite simple.Kudos goes to the brothers who wrote an article way… Read more »
I didn’t say Christians are not able to be sons of God. I said there are firstborn sons and there are other sons. Firstborn sons receive the double portion of the inheritance. If your words are true about your experience in 1996, then you have a perspective which very few have. Symbolically 144K. If The Father poured a token of His Spirit into your heart, then you have had a direct interaction with the Holy Spirit, and my comment has to do with snatching you out of the fire with what appears headed to be a deadly misstep as described… Read more »
Jude, your judgmental attitude is inappropriate in this forum. I would admonish you to temper yourr words, season them with salt.
My words may have stung, but they were not said with a judgmental state of mind nor attitude. For Yobec they are a vital life saving warning. If what he said about his experience is true, then he knows what Romans 8: 16, 2 Corinthians 1: 22 and many other scriptures are speaking of when it comes to the calling. That is a direct communication when The Father sends his Spirit. There is nothing subtle about it. At all. I wish that all knew what that is like. It is a frustrating thing. But nevertheless The Father does what he… Read more »