THE MYSTERY OF REBIRTH
Jan Griffith, June 2008
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)
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I was just reading through Bill Davies' wonderful book, Oh The Wonder of His Love, and came upon an experience Brother Bill had back in 1994. He was terribly sick, yet couldn't say "no" to anyone, so when Don Levengood called him up to Ohio, Bill went to Ohio, though he wondered if he would make it back to Missouri alive. I'll quote a short portion of his experience:
We went into the airport and got everything arranged, and Ron waited until my plane was ready to take off. He said goodbye to me and then added, "I wonder if I'll see you again alive." I boarded and sat back by the window. There was a big football player sitting in the middle, and he had a little tiny girl who was his girlfriend beside him. His shoulder stuck at least six inches over in my air space, so when I had to go to the bathroom--which I did often--he would put his hand behind my back and lift me up. I would walk and walk, up and down the aisle, and I don't think the attendants like that. Finally, after a terrible struggle, I arrived at Cleveland, Ohio, and as I walked up the corridor I wondered why I ever stopped halfway or two-thirds of the way up the corridor and leaned against the wall, when all of a sudden a terrible thought came to my mind. "Why am I here on this earth anyway? Why don't I just do away with myself?" And I just felt I could commit suicide, maybe jump out of a high window. How black were my thoughts and my mind, and I realized some time later that Satan could cause one to commit suicide because of the problems they had.
We tend to put people like Brother Bill in a whole different category than ourselves. In many ways, Bill Davies was in a different category. But he was still a human being. Bill occasionally had thoughts that weren't necessarily "perfect." Though it’s hard to imagine, he may have even been “less than perfect” in other ways from time to time.
Just the other day, I had a conversation about this very subject with a friend of mine. I was telling him how – though I spend the majority of my days and nights working for the Lord and speaking to the Lord, and seeking to hear the Lord – I still seem to come up short. Though my desires are righteous, my follow-throughs aren’t always so righteous. Hardly a day goes by but what I will experience an evil thought, even if it’s only about the “crazy” driver who’s tailgating me. Don’t we all have those moments? I know that I do—and if I don’t admit it, then besides those moments of weakness, I am also a liar. And that’s scary, because we are clearly warned that if we don’t repent, even our thoughts will condemn us in “that day.” If today we lie about the sins that occasionally beset us, then tomorrow those sins will be judged. Sometimes I wonder if I’ve sufficiently repented over something, as the same thought can return to haunt me again. And these are just my thoughts. What about my words that I have been known to speak with that awful little tongue – that vile little member of my body that sometimes boasts great things?
Yes, we are all called to "go on to perfection" (Hebrews 6:1), and hopefully we are doing just that. All the while, I wonder if we realize just how "imperfect" we are, and how imperfect we will remain while in this tabernacle of flesh – this corruption as the holy prophets put it, which one day will put on incorruption. Even as we go on to perfection, we will still slip up, and to deny this is to deny what the scriptures say. We all fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23).
So is this an excuse to slip up—shall we sin all the more so that grace may abound? God forbid, said Paul (Romans 6). However, I call this subject to attention so that we might do a reality check about our knowledge of God, and the role his Spirit plays in our lives.
“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. For he that is dead to sin is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.” (Romans 6:6-8)
Our old man? Yes, our old man is the nature of the flesh. We are commanded to “put off” the old man, and do what? Put on the new man.
“Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him; Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but Christ is all, and in all.…put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.” (Colossians 3:9-11)
What are we told? Except a man be born from above, he cannot see [recognize, comprehend, understand, experience] the kingdom of God. To behold the kingdom of God, a spiritual birth is required of us, not a natural rebirth. We already came once through the womb, and God is not asking us to do that again. When he says that we must be “born again,” he is speaking a mystery of spiritual rebirth and the Holy Ghost. Yet though we are spiritually born again, we still dwell "in the flesh" until we die. Though we are called to walk in the Spirit, there is still a war going on between the Spirit and the flesh.
"For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." (Galatians 5:17-18)
Bill Davies, like all men (and women) was occasionally faced with the lusts of his flesh. We can see from his experience in 1994 how even he experienced temporary moments of weakness in the flesh. And these are just a few moments of weakness that he shared with us -- how many more did he face that we will never know? Do these moments of weakness condemn Brother Bill? No. What they do is acknowledge that Bill --like the rest of us-- had two natures; the nature of the flesh, and the nature of the Spirit, and that each nature was at war with the other. When we are spiritually born again, we are no longer captive to our sins, but rather we become captive to God’s law. It is a different kind of captivity because we are still in the flesh.
The apostle Paul acknowledged that he, too, experienced this inner struggle of wills.
"But now I am spiritual; for that which I am commanded to do, I do; and that which I am commanded not to allow, I allow not. For what I know is not right, I would not do; for that which is sin, I hate. If then I do not that which I would not allow, I consent unto the law, that it is good; and I am not condemned. Now then, it is no more I that do sin; but I seek to subdue that sin which dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing; for to will is present with me, but to perform that which is good I find not, only in Christ. For the good that I would have done when under the law, I find not to be good; therefore, I do it not. But the evil which I would not do under the law, I find to be good; that, I do. Now if I do that, through the assistance of Christ, I would not do under the law, I am not under the law; and it is no more that I seek to do wrong, but to subdue sin that dwelleth in me. I find then that under the law, that when I would do good evil was present with me; for I delight in the law of God after the inward man. And now I see another law, even the commandment of Christ, and it is imprinted in my mind. But my members are warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. And if I subdue not the sin which is in me, but with the flesh serve the law of sin; O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:15-26)
Paul was speaking of subduing the sin which still resided in him. Subdue means to “conquer by force,” or to “overcome.” If Paul ever failed to subdue the sin which remained in him, “Oh wretched man that he was!” Well God bless that man! His words remind me of the parable Christ spoke to those who considered themselves to be more righteous than others.
"He [Jesus] spake this parable unto certain men, who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself; God, I thank thee that I am not as other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers; or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess. But the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other; for every one who exalteth himself, shall be abased; and he who humbleth himself, shall be exalted."
(Luke 18:9-14)
When we are spiritually born again, our minds become better developed in the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong. The more we study and learn about Jesus Christ, the more we recognize which sins we need to subdue. Guilt sets in when we sin. We feel bad for what we said, or what we did, or what we thought. Yet according to the Lord, this is a good thing. When we feel guilty, or condemned, this is an indication that the Spirit within us is alive and well, and working to our benefit.
“But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?” (Hebrews 12:8-9)
We are called to be perfect, yet we are also called to recognize our imperfection. All of us fall short, but bless God, his grace makes up the difference, making us perfect in Him. While it may be man’s nature to think so, we cannot achieve perfection on our own. Only one head sets us free and makes us perfect. Were it not for the Holy Spirit (which teaches us, and fights our inward battles), and God’s good grace (which compensates for our imperfection), we would be left to perish in our sins. Yes, it is true, that without Jesus Christ, we are nothing. And until we choose to serve the law of Christ, we will forever serve the law of sin.
What is the sign that proves we are spiritually reborn? The sign of spiritual rebirth is a change of heart. When we are spiritually reborn, we no longer have the desire to sin. I’m not talking about what we say, but what we do. We can say that we don’t have the desire to sin, but do we or don’t we? First we have to know what sin is. Once we recognize it, and begin to abhor it, then spiritually we are being reborn. That is when the spirit goes to battle with the flesh, and that battle is not entirely won until the last day. Though men wish to wear crowns in the here and now, he is not yet worthy right now to wear them.
“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:6-8)
He that searches the heart already knows our thoughts – there is nothing to be gained by lying about them; rather, there is everything to lose. We can learn from King David who cried out that the Lord would “search him, and know his heart and his thoughts” so that perfection might be wrought in him (Psalms 139:23-24). Again, the beginning of spiritual rebirth is that of a changed heart; a desire for God’s Spirit to work within us so that we might learn to do that which is right.
“And now, because of the covenant which ye have made, ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters: For behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him, and have become his sons and his daughters. And under this head ye are made free; and there is no other head whereby ye can be saved.” (Mosiah 3:8-10)
We are born in the flesh of earthly parents, but with God we are spiritually reborn. He searches our heart, and out of the abundance of our hearts do our mouths speak (Matthew 12:29). Our words reveal the desires of our heart. In other words, our works reflect the desires of our heart. Even our thoughts reflect the desires of our heart.
“And now it came to pass that Zeniff conferred the kingdom upon Noah, one of his sons…and he did not walk in the ways of his father. For behold, he did not keep the commandments of God, but he did walk after the desires of his own heart.” (Mosiah 7:1-2)
“And it came to pass that when Ammon arose, he also administered unto them, and also did all the servants of Lamoni; And they did all declare unto the people the self-same thing; that their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil.” (Alma 12:175-176)
Yet all the while we desire righteousness, the flesh remains at war with the Spirit, and the Spirit with the flesh. Notice how Nephi also recognized, and acknowledged, this internal battle which was transpiring within himself:
“For I, Nephi, was constrained to speak unto them, according to his word…For my soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them…Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard. Nevertheless, the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth, O wretched man that I am; yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh. My soul grieveth because of mine iniquities. I am encompassed about because of the temptations and the sins which doth so easily beset me. And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.” (2 Nephi 3:25-34)
Nephi, like Paul, looked upon his corrupted flesh and explaimed, “O wretched man that I am!” Nephi felt “encompassed about” by his flesh. He used the term “encompassed” to identify the daily battle we all face with our sins. Lot faced the wicked city of Sodom as it “compassed” about both he and his house, desiring that they might destroy his family. The Gazites “compassed” Samson, lying wait for him all night so that they could kill him the next morning. Saul and his men “compassed” David and his men, so that he might defeat them. In the Psalms, David cried out concerning his enemies who were “compassing” him about. These words paint a picture of how our sins can so easily tempt and beset us, just as they did with Nephi, and with Paul.
Yet hear now how Nephi responded to the temptations which grieved him:
“When I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.” (2 Nephi 3:34)
Nephi understood that without Jesus Christ, he was doomed. What about Paul? How did Paul respond to his sins which compassed about him night and day? After saying, “O wretched man that I am,” Paul finished with this:
"I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, then, that so with
the
mind I myself serve the law of God." (Romans 7:27)
When we are spiritually reborn, our hearts change, and we begin to use our minds in the ways of God. With man, it is impossible. But with God, all things are possible.
SUMMARY
If we assume that we can no longer sin because we are members of Christ's church, because we witness to others, because we go to church on a regular basis, because we have been baptized, because we partake of the Lord’s body, because we pay tithes, or because we do good works, then we have deceived ourselves. No man is freed from this battle until mortality has put on immortality, and corruption has put on incorruption. And none of these things would be possible were it not for that infinite and eternal sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on our behalf.
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." (1 John 1:8-10)
As I read that passage from Brother Bill Davies above, my heart went out to him, and how he must have felt that day. But the very fact that he recognized that temptation, and that fiery trial, is evidence that he also desired very much to please God and to fight against the old man. His reaction was the sign of someone whose heart was right – the sign of someone spiritually reborn.
"Whosoever is born of God doth not continue in sin; for the Spirit of God remaineth in him; and he cannot continue in sin, because he is born of God, having received that holy Spirit of promise." (1 John 3:9)
Whoever is born of God cannot sin. Yet if we say that we have no sin, then we deceive ourselves. How can we reconcile these two passages of scripture except to understand that two natures dwell within the believer -- the first being our nature by our first birth (the old man—the flesh), and the second being our nature by our second birth (the new man—the spirit). Once we understand this, both passages can be reconciled.
The old remains prone to sin, but the new cannot sin because it is born of God. The evidence of new life is not complacency without a battle, but rather is the consciousness of a struggle, and the realization that alone we are defeated.
Alone, we are defeated. That’s right.
Isn't it ironic, that the only way to spiritual victory is surrender? The victory is won when we recognize that in our own strength, we are defeated, and yield the battle to Jesus Christ. This reminds me a story I once read about a very spiritual man named "Joe." Someone asked him, "Joe, how come you are never defeated and you never seem to fall before temptation?"
Joe replied:
"Whenever the devil raps at my door, I just say to Jesus, 'There is that devil again and I can't beat him. You just go to the door for me, Jesus.' And when the devil hears that, he runs right away."
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"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
(1 Corinthians 15:57)