Nazarene Israelite Two House Congregation of Port Elizabeth

What does it mean to be ‘Born Again’ 2?

We continue with the question we addressed partly in part 1 of this lesson. We have seen from John 4: 24 that Elohim is composed of spirit and we read from Genesis 2: 7 that mankind were made from dust. So, even though man is made in the likeness of Elohim, we are not presently composed of the same substance. However, by studying the Scriptures we will come to understand that Elohim’s purpose was to eventually create him out of spirit, as Rav Shaul explains in 1st Corinthians 15: 45 & 46, saying: ‘So also it is written, “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.” The last Adam (meaning Yahshua) became a life-giving spirit. (46) However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.’ Continuing in verses 47 – 49, ‘The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. (48) As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. (49) And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.’ Clearly man is much more than any animal; Man has the potential to become spiritual born again sons and daughters of Elohim and Yahshua the Messiah came specifically to show us the way or how to become sons of Elohim. This is in fact the true meaning of John 3: 16. Astonishing as it may sound, Elohim is now in a process of creating His greatest creation of all – spiritual sons and daughters of Elohim with perfect spiritual characters. Elohim is slowly but surely molding and forming us as Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 64: 8, saying, ‘But now, O YHVH, Thou art our Father, we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and all of us are the work of Thy hand.’ Man’s creation in the Garden of Eden was only complete in the physical sense; Adam was created a perfect specimen, but not a perfect spiritual creation. He was created from dust; he was created corruptible – not incorruptible; he was created subject to death – not immortal. However, Elohim did not intend for man to remain this way!

Job understood that Elohim was developing a special creation in his life when he wrote in Job 14: 14 & 15, saying: “If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait, until my change comes. (15) Thou wilt call, and I will answer Thee; Thou wilt long for the work of Thy hands.” True believers are being fashioned by Elohim for a specific purpose as Rav Shaul testified in Ephesians 2: 10, saying: ‘For we are His workmanship, created in Messiah Yahshua for good works, which Elohim prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.’ The word ‘we’ in the Renewed Covenant, usually refer to Nazarene Jewish/Israelite believers, as Rav Shaul intended in verse 10. We then as called out believers are Elohim’s workmanship and are at this time being created ‘for good works’. When we are immersed into Messiah’s saving name, we are given a portion of Elohim’s Set-apart Spirit and over time it forms Elohim’s perfect spiritual character in us. As we grow in grace and knowledge, asking Elohim for more of His Set-apart Sprit, our lives (souls) should begin to reflect Elohim’s character to the world. Man’s material creation is only the beginning phase of our creation. YHVH is now fashioning and molding us by experience, and with the help of the Set-apart Spirit, into the finished spiritual masterpiece. The Gospel that Yahshua brought to mankind was simply the good news about the coming Kingdom of Elohim. However, that Kingdom is dual as it is not only the ruling government which Messiah will establish on the earth, when He returns, but it will also be the Elohim Kingdom composed of Spirit begotten children of Elohim. Yahshua became the ‘Son of Man’ by being born as a ‘human’ to buy back the property we as members of the lost ten tribes lost due to idolatry, and to pay the penalty due for the sins of mankind as our kinsman redeemer. He became the ‘Son of Elohim’ when He was born-again by His resurrection to show us the way to become children of Elohim like Him, as witnessed in Romans 8: 28 & 29, as follows: ‘And we know that Elohim causes all things to work together for good to those who love Elohim, to those who are called according to His purpose. (29) For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren.’ To be ‘conformed to the image’ of Yahshua means to become like Him – to be glorified and become part of the spiritual Family of Elohim, as witnessed in 2 Corinthians 3: 18, in this way: ‘But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Master, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from YHVH, the Spirit.’

However, before flesh-and-blood believers can enter Elohim’s spiritual Family, they need be changed into spirit beings as Rav Shaul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15: 49 – 51, saying: ‘And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. (50) ‘Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of Elohim; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (51) Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed.’ If we are faithful true believers we are already in this life the children of Elohim as Rav Yochanan wrote in 1 John 3: 1 – 2, saying: ‘See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of Elohim; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. (2) Beloved, now we are children of Elohim, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall like Him because we shall see him just as He is.’ In addition we are already heirs of the Kingdom of Elohim, as Rav Shaul wrote in Romans 8: 14 – 17, saying: ‘For all who are being led by the Spirit of Elohim, these are sons of Elohim. (15) For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Avinu! Father! (16) The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of Elohim, (17) and if children, heirs also, heirs of Elohim and fellow heirs with Messiah, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.’ Even though we are already children of Elohim, we are only heirs – those who shall in the future inherit, since we are presently only begotten children and it is only when we are born of Elohim that we become inheritors of Elohim’s Kingdom – spiritual members of the Family of Elohim.

Before the second phase of our spiritual creation can begin, Elohim the Father must first beget each of us by placing His Set-apart Spirit within us at immersion into Yahshua’s saving name. At that time we are impregnated by the ‘seed’ of eternal life. Similar to the way a newly begotten physical embryo begins to grow in its mother’s womb, we begin to grow in Spiritual Character after we are begotten of Elohim’s Set-apart Spirit. This growth comes through prayer, study and obeying Elohim’s Torah, the way in which Yahshua our Messiah showed us when He was on earth. The Set-apart Spirit makes us into the literal begotten sons of Elohim, as we are going to be just like our Heavenly Father when finally His creation is completed in us. And in this way spiritual-begotten believers have become the unborn children of Elohim, in the same way that an unborn human fetus is the child of its human parents. Because the Set-apart Spirit is Elohim’s Divine Nature, the portion of the Set-apart Spirit that we receive at immersion and the laying on of hands by a teaching elder, we are given access of the Divine Nature of Elohim, as Rav Kepha wrote in 2 Peter 1: 2 – 4, saying: ‘Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of Elohim and of Yahshua our Master; (3) seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. (4) For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.’ Once we have been given a portion of the Set-apart Spirit, we will also begin to reflect the fruits of the Spirit in our lives as recorded in Galatians 5: 22 & 23, as follows: ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.’ We also see from Romans 13: 10 that love enables us to obey Elohim’s Torah, in this way: ‘Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.’ The Set-apart Spirit that a believer receives from Elohim at immersion can be compared to the seed of a human father. Elohim’s Spirit transmits His spiritual attributes to us, even as a physical seed transmits a human father’s attributes to his newly conceived offspring, The Set-apart Spirit; the seed by which we are spiritually begotten imparts to us the nature and life of Elohim our heavenly Father. Elohim placed within you the seed of eternal life. He begot you with the Set-apart Spirit just as the seed from a human father impregnates the egg of the mother. Your mind or the spirit in man can be compared to an egg or ovum. You were impregnated with the spiritual seed of eternal life, but are not yet born-again of Elohim and are therefore not yet immortal.

Yahshua told Nicodemus in John 3: 6, saying: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Since we are in the flesh, we are not yet born-again. When Messiah was resurrected or born again, He walked through a closed door, as recorded in John 20: 19 & 20, as follows: ‘When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Yahshua came and stood in their midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” (20) And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Master.’ Yahshua plainly said that you must become composed of spirit to enter the Kingdom of Elohim (in John 3: 3 & 5). Therefore the new birth is something yet to occur and those in Churchianity who claim to be born-again, whilst they are flesh and blood human beings are simply deceived. Rav Kepha encouraged true believers to grow in grace and knowledge in order to remain protected from being deceived by the error of unprincipled men in 2 Peter 3: 14 – 18, saying: ‘Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, (15) and regard the patience of our Master to be salvation; just as also our beloved brother Shaul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, (16) as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. (17) You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness, (18) but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Master and Savior Yahshua Messiah. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amein.” Messiah especially commissioned His disciples who completed His discipleship program to immerse and teach new believers whom YHVH calls from the lost sheep of the house of Israel, to return to the covenant relationship we had with Him, together with the house of Judah at Mount Sinai. Rav Shaul also tells us in Ephesians 4: 7 -14 that Yahshua made provision to provide His congregations with different gifts, which will enable some to teach them, as follows: ’But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Messiah’s gift. (8) Therefore it says, “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.” (9) (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? (10) He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) (11) And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, (12) for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Messiah; (13) until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of Elohim, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Messiah. (14) As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; (15) but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Messiah.’

In the same way that a human father begets a child in a human mother, our heavenly Father begets us with a portion of His Set-apart Spirit, as Rav Shaul explains in Ephesians 1: 13 & 14, in this way: “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Set-apart Spirit of promise, (14) who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of Elohim’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” The Father does not ‘bring forth’, the mother does that, later. After the father’s role which starts the process, there is always a lapse of time leading to birth. At the time of begettal, birth has not yet occurred. In the case of human beings, it follows about nine months later. In the intervening time, similar as a mother nourished and protects the unborn son or daughter in her womb during the gestation period, so the true congregation is commissioned to nourish and protect true believers. Elohim’s spirit-begotten children must be fed on the spiritual food provided by Elohim - the words of the Scriptures and live by every word of Elohim, in order to grow in spiritual character. If we are matured in spiritual character when Messiah returns, we will become born again spiritual children of Elohim as Rav Shaul explains in 1 Corinthians 15: 51 – 55, saying: ‘Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. (53) For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. (54) But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY. (55) O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” This tells us clearly that once we are resurrected, we will no longer be subject to death. However, if a spirit-begotten child of Elohim does not grow spiritually such a believer may become a spiritual miscarriage and be aborted. Because Elohim is Spirit, when one is born of the heavenly Father, he will also be in Elohim’s likeness spiritually, as David who understood the concept confirmed in Psalm 17: 15, saying: ‘As for me, I shall behold Thy face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake.’ We will be given spiritual bodies just like Messiah’s after He was resurrected as shown in Revelation 1: 13 – 16 (quoted earlier), and all who are thus ‘born of Elohim’ will be able to see Elohim because they will be part of the divine family, in the Kingdom of Elohim.

Most Christians assume that they were ‘born again’ when they first accepted C*h*r*i*s* t* in their lives and by misapplying the King James Version’s translation of 1 John 3: 9, ‘Whoever is born of G-d doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of G-d,’ they also assume that they are no longer capable of sinning in this life. However, Rav Yochanan clearly shows in 1 John 1: 8 – 10 that this assumption is incorrect, as follows: “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” Rav Yochanan further shows in 1 John 5: 18 that once a person is born-again he/she will not sin anymore, in this way: ‘We know that no one who is born of Elohim sins; but He (meaning Yahshua) who was born of Elohim keeps him and the evil one does not touch him.’ Once we are born of Elohim at the resurrection we will be able to live without ever sinning again, because we will possess the fullness of Elohim’s perfect character and divine nature. We will no longer possess a nature which can fall victim to sin. But as long as we are only ‘begotten’ of Elohim we must continue to resist the evil temptations of the flesh. When caught off guard in a moment of weakness, we can sin! But we do not any longer ‘practice (or continually live in) sin’ and are the begotten children of Elohim. Life, to the begotten believer, is a constant struggle against the wiles of Satan, temptations in the world and pulls of our own flesh. Although he has now received the begettal of Elohim’s divine nature, he still has human nature as well, and the one wars against the other, as we read from Galatians 5: 17, in this way: ‘For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.’

But what about the men of Elohim in the Tanach? How can we prove whether any of them were either begotten or born of Elohim? We read in Psalm 51: 10 – 11 that David had the Set-apart Spirit and after His sin with Bathsheba, asked Elohim not to take His Set-apart Spirit from him. Rav Kepha tells us in Acts 2: 29 – 35 that David has not been born-again yet, but is still in his grave, in this way: “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. (30) And so, because he was a prophet, and knew that ELOHIM HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS UPON HIS THRONE, (31) he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID HIS flesh SUFFER DECAY, (32) This Yahshua Elohim raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. (33) Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of Elohim, and having received from the Father the promise of the Set-apart Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. (34) For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘YHVH SAID TO MY MASTER, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, (35) UNTIL I MAKE THINE ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR THY FEET.”’ But, what about all the other patriarchs including Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? We see from the faith chapter in Hebrews 11: 35 that they all qualified to be in the better or first resurrection. But we also see from verses 39 & 40 that they are still waiting to be resurrected when Messiah returns, as follows: ‘And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, (40) because Elohim had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.’ Yahshua our Messiah came to show us the way we are able to like Him one day, become children of Elohim through the resurrection. He was the ‘first born from the dead’ as we read from Colossians 1: 18, in this way: ‘He is also head of the body, the congregation; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything.’ Now since these personages in the Tanach had Elohim’s Set-apart Spirit, and yet Messiah was first to be born of Elohim by virtue of His resurrection, then it follows that those men of old were merely ‘begotten’ of Elohim. The same is also true of every true believer who died since Messiah’s time.

Much of the confusion about being ‘born again’ has resulted from misinterpreting the original Greek translation of the Renewed Covenant. With the exception of James 1: 15 & 18, the Greek word used in reference to spiritual begettal and birth or salvation, is always ‘gennao’. This word means both ‘to conceive’ or ‘to beget’ and also ‘to bear’ or ‘to be born’ and all or any part of the process, which produces a new single human being; whereas in English we use two separate verbs, namely: ‘begotten’ and ‘born’. Since both begettal and birth are included in the meaning of ‘gennao’, we must let the Scriptures interpret the Scriptures in order to know which meaning is intended in a specific passage. Here are a few examples where the Greek word should correctly have been translated as ‘begotten’ and not born: John 1: 12 – 13; 1 John 2: 29; 4: 7; 5: 1 (three times); 5: 4. The King James Version correctly use the word ‘begotten’ in 1 Corinthians 4: 15; Hebrews 1: 5 and 1 John 5: 1. At this point some might ask: ‘What about the Scriptures that refer to Messiah as the only begotten in John 1: 14, 18; 3: 16 & 1 John 4: 9? Do these disprove the truth that true believers are only ‘begotten’ of Elohim’s Spirit, growing toward being ‘born’ of Elohim at the resurrection? The answer is a definite no, since all these verses are referring to Messiah’s miraculous begettal in His mother Miriam’s womb. Messiah’s physical begettal and birth ‘gennao’ were unique. No other human has ever been begotten by the Spirit of the Father in a human mother’s womb! In that sense He is, shall always be the ‘only begotten’ of Elohim. But many have been ‘begotten again’ (1 Peter 1: 3) to ultimately through the process of spiritual growth and birth become the spirit-born children of Elohim.

The physical creation of man spoken about in Genesis one was that of him made of the dust of the ground. That was the material being which Elohim planned to mold, shape and form into a perfect Spiritual creation. Elohim pictures man as a clay model, which He as the Master Potter is forming into the spiritual image of Himself. He uses the example of the human reproduction the process by which He is reproducing Himself, to show us how we will be born-again as His spiritual children. Each human since Adam and Eve started from a tiny ovum, the size of a pinpoint, produced in the body of the human mother. But the ovum or egg is incomplete of itself, since it only lives for about 48 hours and unless fertilized by the life-giving sperm cell from the human father within the limited time, it dies. A human life can only begin when that sperm cell impregnates the ovum. Spiritually speaking, each human mind (or the spirit in man) is like an egg. Each of us was born incomplete; able to live only a relatively short period of time. We were made to need the impregnating spiritual life of Elohim’ s Set-apart Spirit so we could be created in Elohim’s spiritual ‘image’ and live forever. The physical ovum, once fertilized, becomes a begotten human life called an embryo. The mother’s womb nourishes and protects it – carrying it in that part of her body where she may best protect it from physical injury, until it has grown enough to be born. After a number of weeks, the embryo develops to become a fetus, and at birth it is called a human baby. Likewise Elohim’s ecclesia through its teacher/discipleship program protects and spiritually feeds begotten believers with the Word of Elohim so they grow spiritually (as per 2 Peter 3: 18) in the divine character of Elohim until ready to be born into His family. But, there is one major difference in this likeness. The physical fetus does not attain physical and mental maturity before birth. Nevertheless, the spirit-begotten believer must attain a reasonable measure of spiritual maturity before he is spirit-born. The newborn physical baby’s main growth occurs after birth, but this type of the spiritual growing which spiritually begotten Believers must do before their spiritual birth is as Rav Kepha wrote in 1 Peter 2: 1 -2, saying: ‘Therefore, putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, (2) like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.’ Messiah did not grow into spiritual perfection after He was resurrected, but during His ‘human’ life-time, setting us the example, being made perfect, as we read from Hebrews 2: 10, in this way: ‘For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.’

Messiah was born-again as the very son of Elohim by the resurrection as per Roman 1: 4 (quoted before); He was resurrected full grown. His disciples who became His apostles knew He was the same Yahshua after His resurrection, because Kepha, Yaa’cov and Yochanan saw Him in His glorified state before, when He was transfigured before them. He looked like He did before, except He had a spiritual resurrected body covered in glory. When we will be ‘born again’ and changed into spirit bodies at the resurrection, we, too shall look essentially as we do now, as far as physical features are concerned, but the resurrected body will be composed of spirit instead of flesh and blood and we will be covered in light or glory. Spiritual growth simply means character development; the ability as free moral agents, to discern right from wrong, by applying Torah to our lives and to make the right decisions, even against self-desire, impulse or temptation. We must develop spiritual character and grow toward spiritual adulthood during this life; not after we are born of Elohim at the resurrection. Our abhorrent carnal nature must be gradually changed by feeding on the Word of Elohim, through prayer and believing in the one whom YHVH has sent.

 

When Messiah returns to earth, those who remain faithful shall be resurrected, or instantaneously changed into spiritual bodies and our present physical bodies will be made like His glorified body, when we are born-again as Elohim’s own immortal children to reign under Yahshua Messiah as His bride. Halleluyah!