BORN AGAIN: THE MIRACLE OF RE-CREATION
Many religious people like to claim that they have been “born again.” What this usually means is that they have exchanged one brand of religion for another.

Usually the religion that they leave does not actively embrace “born again” theology in its doctrines. But the new religion that they adopt does actively embrace “born again” theology in its doctrines and practices. When it is claimed to have happened, the evidence of being born again is in the personal testimony of the born again person and in newly acquired religious activities such as speaking in tongues and other hyper-religious behaviors. All of the behaviors commonly associated with the “born again” condition are matters of public religion — not matters of faith.

Religious people do not understand that the spiritual reality of bring “born again” is strictly a matter of heart change. Heart change is what happens when God gives people a new heart. God’s word has the power to re-create hearts when people hear his spoken voice.

This symbolic language refers to the New Covenant. When God writes his laws on the hearts of New Covenant disciples, he transforms an evil, impure heart into a clean, pure heart. This is the ultimate miracle that only God can perform. This is the symbolic meaning of the creation story.

Born again people do not become God. They are created in God’s image, but that is not the same as being God. What it does mean is that born again people have hearts that are like God’s heart. This can only happen when God writes his laws in their hearts. From then on they cease following religious laws and begin following God’s spiritual laws. From that point forward they stop sinning by listening to false prophets. 

STUDY TIP: God said of David that he was a man after his own heart. This means that David’s heart was clean and pure like God’s heart.

David, like Jesus, was a model New Covenant disciple. He was an anointed warrior who fought with God’s enemies to set people free from religion. All New Covenant disciples aspire to be warriors like David. They must be careful, however, that they do not relax from engaging in warfare because not going to war precedes sin.

The principle of being born again is introduced in Genesis where creation is wrongly interpreted to be creation of the natural world and universe. By focusing on creation of natural things, religious people miss the symbolic reference to spiritual things. The creation story, therefore, should be interpreted as an example of the “first the natural and then the spiritual” principle. With this principle in mind we interpret the creation story to be an introduction to the spiritual process of death, resurrection and new life, which is the essence of being born again.

In the natural world, new life begins when a natural seed dies and then grows into a new plant. The same principle applies in spiritual rebirth. What dies is our affection for religion which is represented as an evil, impure heart. After God does his creative (i.e. recreative) miracle in us, new spiritual life  appears in a good, pure heart. This spiritual change is represented in many different terms in the Bible:

STUDY TIPS: This process is discussed in detail in Death, Resurrection, New Life, Salvation, Heaven.