Yeshua (Jesus) told Nicodemus that we must be born of the Spirit. And just as being born in the natural realm means we grow up and learn to function in the natural realm, being born of the Spirit means we grow up and learn to function in the spirit realm. If we are born again then this should be our experience as Christians, but it is clear that we are not walking in and by the Spirit as we should. The time has come, however, to have this experience and we can do it with the help of the Holy Spirit.
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Show Notes:
The term “born again” is used quite freely within the Church, most often with reference to the initial salvation experience of the believer. Yet when Christ told Nicodemus, “You must be born again,” He was talking about seeing the Kingdom of God and being born of the Spirit. Christ went on to describe a two-step process of being born of water and of the Spirit. As Christians we have been born of water for the cleansing and forgiveness of our sins. But have we really been born of the Spirit, where we walk and live and move in the Spirit of God?
Christ described someone who is born of the Spirit as being like the wind, which by itself cannot be known or perceived on a natural level. Does that describe Christians? Are we really moving in a way that is not known or perceived from a natural level? I think the answer to that question is no. From our initial salvation experience onward, we move and live very much from a natural level and are focused on the natural world. Clearly Christians still move by the flesh, expressing the traits and attributes of the flesh rather than the fruit of the Spirit.
If we are honest, we have to admit that, like the disciples, we are still unable to walk in everything the Lord wants us to walk in. But the promise we have is that the Spirit of truth will guide us into all the truth, and I believe we are in a place to receive things from God that we were unable to receive before. We can open up and walk in the Spirit in a way that we as the Body of Christ have not yet walked. And the Holy Spirit is here to teach us, to train us, and to take us on into this life in the Spirit.
Key Verses:
- John 3:1–7. “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
- John 18:36. “My kingdom is not of this realm.”
- Titus 3:4–6. “He saved us … by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.”
- Ezekiel 36:24–27. “I will cleanse you. … I will put My Spirit within you.”
- John 3:8–12. “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”
- John 3:13–16. “No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven.”
- John 12:26. “Where I am, there My servant will be also.”
- Acts 17:28. “In Him we live and move and exist.”
- Galatians 5:14–23. “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”
- John 16:12–15. “You cannot bear them now. But … He will guide you into all the truth.”
Quotes:
- “This spirit realm is something that we are not to just know about. We are to literally engage in it in a real way as we live and walk in the natural realm.”
- “We are able with Christ, through Christ, and through the Holy Spirit to come into this enabling to live, move, and relate in the spirit world.”
- “It is time for us to open up and receive and learn what we have not been able to receive or learn up to this time. But the Holy Spirit is with us and He’s here to train us, to teach us, to impart to us.”
Takeaways:
- I am concerned that we do not stop with a salvation experience that limits or leaves out being born again into the realm of spirit. The fact that we move and live mostly from a natural level in the natural world is in itself a sign that we have not really come into the birth in the Spirit that Christ is referring to.
- We are in Christ where He is now, but this enabling to live with Him in the spirit realm is something we have not focused on in a way that we should. Just as we had to be born into and grow up in the natural realm, we likewise as believers from the Day of Pentecost were brought into the age of spirit, and we are to grow up and relate to the spirit world.
- For two thousand years, the Church has been filled with impurities, sensuality, immorality, outbursts of anger, jealousy, and strife. We have not fully reached into the birth in the Spirit that enables us to live in the Spirit and walk by the Spirit. I feel like this is something we need to go back to as believers and really become spiritual beings.
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