“Born again” is first
mentioned and defined in the book of John 3:3-6. According to the story, a certain man by name
Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. Nicodemus
chose to go to Jesus by night because apart from being a Pharisee, he was also
a ruler of the Jews.
Nicodemus was
astonished at the miracles performed by Jesus.
No ordinary person can perform such miracles. Nicodemus in acknowledgement,
said: “Rabbi, we know that thou art a
teacher came from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except
God be with him”.(v2)
Jesus knows the heart
of men. Jesus is not man that can be
carried away by such praises. An
ordinary person would have simply thanked Nicodemus for the compliment, and
then boastfully says: “Oh Nicodemus, you have not seen anything yet; expect
more of such miracles, as the ones you people have seen as well as witnessed
were mere tip of the iceberg”. It could have been an opportunity for an ordinary
person to condemn Nicodemus and his religion.
But Jesus seized the opportunity to preach the word of His Father to
Nicodemus. The answer to Nicodemus is
simply thus:
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”. John 3:3.
By ‘born again’ Jesus
Christ means belief and acceptance of new life which is now in Christ. Jesus means the journey to salvation through
Him is a race and for anyone to qualify to run this race he must first repent
of his sins and be baptised with water to enable the Holy Spirit to take charge
of him. In other words the genuine
repentance must be confirmed through water baptism. Water baptism is initiation into the body of
Christ Jesus. Water baptism is oath
taking that henceforth I am ready to die and rise with Christ. That means no going back to old life. It is an open declaration that no matter what
happens in this race I shall never surrender or retreat.
But Nicodemus
did not understand what Jesus meant by being “born again”. He is
not to blame – any human being in the situation that Nicodemus found himself would
also be confused. Oh, is it possible for any person to go back into the
mother’s womb the second time and then be born all over again? How? It can never be possible; no not even a
tiniest baby just born a few minutes ago can possibly enter the mother’s womb
the second time and be born again. So Nicodemus sorted for clarification by
asking Jesus instead of going home pondering at the saying. “Do you mean Master Jesus that you are capable
of performing such miracle also by causing people to re-enter into their
mother’s wombs and afterwards be born again?” Nicodemus asked:
“How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his
mother’s womb and be born again? John 3:4.
Good question
indeed. Jesus’ answer is direct and
unequivocal. The answer as to how “born
again” can take effect is in verse 5, while the reasons for it are given in
verses 6 to 8.
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.
Now let us go on
a voyage of getting the understanding of the phrases: “Except a man be born
again” and “Except a man be born of water and of the spirit”.
“Except a man”
does not refer to Nicodemus alone. Jesus
did not say “Except you Nicodemus be born again”. Although Jesus was talking with Nicodemus, He
was however saying, except every human being is born again… Note that Jesus says, “…a man and not “you
are” which could have meant Nicodemus.
Notice also that
Nicodemus did not say, “How can I be born again when I am old”, but he asked,
“How can a man be born again when he is old?”
“Can he enter” and not “Can I enter”…into his mother’s womb and not
“into my mother’s womb”. This is to say
Jesus is talking about every living soul on the earth.
Born of Water
Every religion has its rules and
regulations guiding its operation. Ditto every association has their rules and
regulations guiding them. For example initiation
is done to take in new members.
Association requires their members to fulfill certain obligations to
qualify them for admission to be members.
Universities and colleges require that students participate in the matriculation
where they take oath of allegiance before fully regarded as students of the
school. Cultism administers oath to the new members. Even elected politicians do take oaths of
office before qualification to resume duties. It is my candid belief that all
the examples mentioned take cue from the biblical injunction that people who
accept Christ should be baptised to enable the spirit of God to come in to
dwell perfectly in them.
John the forerunner began his ministry
by initiating the genuine repentant through baptism of water. John’s
message is very clear; that Jesus the Son of God is coming to bring salvation
to mankind. What will a person satisfy to qualify him for baptism? It is imperative to confirm from the
scriptures:
“Then
went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea and all the region round about Jordan. And were baptised of him in Jordan,
confessing their sins”. Matthew 3:5-6.
“John
did baptise in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission
of sins. And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of
Jerusalem, and were all baptised of him in the river of Jordan, confessing
their sins. Mark 1:4-5.
“And
he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance
for the remission of sins. Luke 3:3
John preached the baptism of repentance. That means any person desirous of being
baptised needs only to declare that he will not return to his sins again. The
condition to be satisfied for baptism therefore is, believing that Jesus is the
Saviour and the Son of God, confessing of all sins and promise to follow Him all
the days of your life.
What
the baptizer is expected to do is to preach the good news to the would-be-baptised. The baptizer only needs to teach the new
convert that Jesus is the way to salvation.
Baptizer should teach the new converts there is no other way by which a
man can be saved other than through Jesus Christ. The converts must be taught that once
baptised it will be dangerous for them to renege or backslide; that the essence
of baptism is death and resurrection.
That they have died when dipped into the water and have risen when
brought out of water to live with Christ forever.
Questions: Is baptismal class necessary
as done in almost all the churches? How
long will it take for one to qualify to be baptised? Answers will be provided in the subsequent articles.
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