Born Again?

Good morning, Sisters (& Brothers)! This is today's word from studylight. I was blessed and I hope you will be, too.

"according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" 1 Peter 1:3

Born again - The literal word is "again generated" - anagennesas. This is the technical term for "born again". It is a Greek word that Peter made up. It is not the term that Jesus used in John 3. Jesus told Nicodemus "unless a man is generated from above" not "born again". But it is clear from the reply of Nicodemus that he meant "born a second time". Here, Peter uses a special word to indicate this concept.

We have been seduced by the mystery religions of the Greek culture when it comes to the idea of re-generation. In the Greek mystery religions, regeneration was associated with the idea that the divine spark in mankind was re-circulated from one life to the next. Divinity, dispersed across the animated souls of men, was collected at death and returned in the birth of another. You could think of it as a celestial zero-sum game. Many of the current ideas of past lives and reincarnation are really very old forms of Greek and Oriental mystery cults.

The idea of a new birth was not new in Jesus' time. Even in Judaism, converts were considered re-born. But here the meaning is legal rather than mystical. When a convert comes into the faith, his moral status before God is renewed. He becomes a new man in God's eyes because he is now part of the true religion. Nicodemus was certainly aware of this meaning since he was an official in the Jewish clergy. If Jesus had used the term "regenerated", Nicodemus would probably not have had any further question. He would have assumed that Jesus was talking about conversion to the Jewish faith. When Jesus deliberately said, "born from above", Nicodemus was caught off guard.

Peter also avoids the mystical meaning of this term. But he does so by pointing to the resurrection as the means of regeneration. Being "born again" is God's act, not ours. It does not occur because we follow some initiation rite or make vows or work ourselves into a mental or spiritual condition. God empowers regeneration because He is merciful and for no other reason.

What an incredible statement! My new birth does not depend on my efforts. I don't have to follow a set of rules, hoping that somehow I will be changed. God draws me to Himself and changes who I am in the process. It is regeneration by adoption into His family, not adoption on the basis of my will to conform.

"Born again" the watchword of evangelical faith is God's handiwork. And thank God it is. We have graciously survived centuries of religious requirements that were never part of the plan. It was God first, last and in-between. What a relief!

Copyright 2003 © Skip Moen and AtGodsTable.com. http://www.studylight.org/

In Him,
Edna