Born Of The Spirit
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:6). Two births are here denoted with a different result for each. There is a fleshly or natural birth by which we become living creatures. There is a spiritual birth or new birth by which we become new creatures. The procreative power of the natural birth is in the human family. The procreative power of the spiritual birth is in the divine or Spiritual family. The children of God are born of God (John 1:13; they are born by the word of God (1 Pet. 1:23); they are born of water and the Spirit (John 3:5). Some try to carry the analogy further than the word of God takes it by trying to find a father and mother in the new birth as is found in the natural birth. That can no more be found specified than the father and mother in the "birth of a nation." The process by which a man becomes a child of God, a citizen of the kingdom of God, is called the new birth, a birth of the Spirit. The purpose now is to find how men are born again.
Obedience To The Truth
"Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." (1 Pet. 1:22,23). This inspired statement declares that the process of purifying our souls in obeying the truth is being born again by the word of God. The truth is the word of God; "Sanctify them through thy (God) truth; thy word is truth." (John 17:17). The process, then, is not something mysterious which cannot be explained. We will find it in the word of truth. We can find in the word of God what men are to do in order to have their souls purified, and when they do this they will have been born again by the word of God.
The apostle Paul said, "For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." (1 Cor. 4:15). The gospel did not originate with Paul, he is not the father; God is the Father. The gospel which Paul used to beget children of God is the Father. The gospel which Paul used to beget children of God is God's power to save; "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Rom. 1:16).
The gospel which is God's power to save and by which we are begotten is given by the Spirit unto the apostles and prophets. Paul had this in view when he said that he begot us by the gospel. "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual." (1 Cor. 2:12,13). This is God's power to make us his children. This is how the Spirit produces the new birth. The Spirit produces the gospel, God's power to save; by obedience to the truth our souls are purified; and this is being born again.
Water And The Spirit
"Jesus 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 God." (John 3:5). This is supposed by perhaps a majority of religious people to be some deep mysterious process which cannot be explained. They are wrong. Jesus is summing up the process, called being born again, of purifying our souls in obeying the truth. When we find in the gospel what men are to do in order to be saved, we will have found how men enter the kingdom and what it means to be born of water and the Spirit.
We have already found that the Spirit has given us the gospel, the word of God. It is by hearing this that we believe; "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Rom. 10:17). We are required to believe it and confess it; "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Hence, faith is required obedience; produced by the Spirit's teaching and required by that teaching.
The Holy Spirit empowered Peter to speak (Acts 1:8). Under this influence he commanded, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;" (Acts 3:19). God blots out the sins when men repent as they are required to do by the Spirit in his teaching. This is a step further in the new birth, regeneration, process of the Spirit.
"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:15,16). This statement has been placed in the word of truth by the power of the Holy Spirit upon the writer. This is what is spoken of in 1 Pet. 1:22,23 as being born again of the incorruptible word. It carries the process from beginning to end; from the part which the Holy Spirit has, to the climatic part of man's obedience; unto his salvation from sin, purification of soul, new birth; making him a new creature in Christ (Gal. 5:26,27; 2 Cor. 5:17.).
This has been written with intentional effort to keep away from theological phraseology. That kind of thing becomes confusing instead of revealing. God's revelation of his will to man can be understood by man. We need to deal with it plainly. There may be times when we enjoy a foray with or against the theologians; but let us not forget that we are to understand the Lord's will in this matter as in all others (Eph. 5:17) and that we are to teach others so that they can understand, believe, obey and be saved.