I visited many churches, and they all believed that you must be "born again" to be saved. The last group I was with was particularly strong
in this belief, referring to it as "The Birthing". But what does the Bible actually say about this? We need to set aside any preconceived
notions and teachings about this false teaching. The phrase "born again" is found in John 3:3-5:
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
In most translations, the words "born again" have been used and carried on in a traditional manner, suggesting that a second "birth" must
take placed to be saved or to inter into the Kingdom of God. Many Bibles, in their margins, will have “from above” showing this is what the
original word means. When we look into the words actually spoken, we find that it was Nicodemus who made the suggestion about
entering a second time into his mother’s womb. This was the interpretation that Nicodemus put on Jesus’ words, but Jesus did not say
anything about a second time even if the translations make Him appear to say He did. JESUS DID NOT USE THE WORD “AGAIN”! There
is no manuscript at all that says Jesus used the word “again”.. The word deuteros that Nicodemus spake appears in the New Testament
44 times, and it always means twice, again, etc.Jesus did not use this word deuteros; Jesus used the word anothen.
Strong G509 anothen Includes from above, or from the first.
Thayer anothen Used of the things that come from heaven [from God], or from higher [upper]
place, or from the very first, or from the origin.
Knowing this one word difference helps understanding and shows up the problems there are with the popular concept. Jesus confirmed to
Nicodemus that He was not speaking of a second birth when He told Nicodemus that He was referring to being born of water and of Spirit.
Jesus did not use the future tense as did Nicodemus. Jesus was speaking of something which existed at the time of speaking. The
Christian Church has picked up the words Nicodemus spoke, rather than the words of Jesus. Jesus chided Nicodemus for not knowing
these things [v10]. Likewise today, our teachers need chiding for the same reason of not knowing these things. Jesus went on to say that
not every person is begotten of the Spirit, noting that that which is of flesh is of the flesh, being begotten that way.
AGAIN
The word anothen that Jesus uses appears 14 times in the New Testament and it does not have a meaning similar to deuteros (second
time) or pallin (again), the latter being the word most commonly translated as “again”.. The adverb anothen always relates to place and is
used of past or former time, but never the future time. In order to discuss the word anothen, let us consider examples of how the word has
been translated.
Matt 27:51 and Mark 15:38.... the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom;.....
Luke 1:3 .….having had perfect understanding all things from the very first...
John 3:31 …..He that cometh from above is alone all:...
John 19:11 .… exept it were given thee from above....
John 19:23 .. ...now the coat was without seam, women from the top throughout.
Acts 26:5 Which knew me from the beginning....
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above....
James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above.....
None of these indicate “again” in any sense.
BORN
Begetting and birth are two vastly different events. Begetting as used of men is the action and process of conception, for example,
Abraham begat Isaac [Matt 1:16]. Birth as used of woman, is movement from one environment to another, for example, Mary of whom
Jesus was born [Matt 1-16]. This word gennao varies with the context and it may have an abstract meaning also where it is used of
figurative father-child relationships [1 Cor 4:15]. This word “born” in John 3:3-5 is gennao and it is found 98 times in the New Testament.
The sense usually has connection with procreation; the most prominent meaning being beget or begotten. We must thus now determine
the time when this begetting takes place. All modern teachers insist that people already born can be re-born in the future. But when used
of a male, begotten is usually about the time of conception; when born is used of a female it is usually about physical birth.
Thayer It is of mankind begetting children. It is often used metaphorically of bringing others over
to one's way of life.
Vine Chiefly used of men begetting children.
If we want to understand its use in John 3:3-5 it is necessary to look at the Greek. They are not future tenses. Modern theology or
teaching likes to use the words in the future tense [from tradition], but this is a total error. We have been taught so wrongly to use the
words, except a man be born again in the future tense that it is hard for many to think otherwise. But be born is indefinite with respect to
time. Jesus taught exactly what is taught through the Old Testament, namely that God’s race is born from an original sowing.
BORN OF WATER AND OF SPIRIT.
This is not only an interesting subject; but John 3:5 [Except a man be born of water and of the spirit] is a key verse. Because of the “and”
we see there are two requirements for perceiving the Kingdom of God: water as well as spirit. What is believed here determines which
gospel is believed. We have the choice to believe that any man of any race can see the kingdom of God or we can believe the limitation
that Jesus presents:
The word for water is hudor and it is used of water of all sorts. On its own it means nothing but water! Some religious so-called experts
argue that the expression refers to baptism, but this cannot be so because the thief on the cross [stake] went to paradise without being
baptised. So we have to look further. A person is begotten of water as part of the natural process following biological conception, but Jesus
added the words, and of the Spirit.. This makes it clear that the ability to comprehend the Kingdom of God is included at the time of
conception. To determine what this is about, we must of necessity go back to the Old Testament to see who and what was begotten of the
Spirit. We can anticipate that the Old Testament will agree with the New Testament.
WHO DID GOD BEGET
Exo 4:22 Thus saith the Lord(Yahweh), Isreal is my son, even my firstborn.
Statements like this immediately exclude all the other races and, potentially, those before Jacob. So, there is no need to go further back in
the Bible, apart from noting that both Abraham and Sarah were from the Adamic seed. They could not have been from the pre-Adamic
or other later seedlines. When God separated Abram and Sara He regenerated their ability to conceive a child and commemorated the
event by changing their names adding the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet into their names - Abraham and Sarah. This number is
connected with the Spirit of God! The life in Sarah’s womb was spirit-endowed. Now, consider these questions:
1. If Isreal was God's firstborn son, then who are their offspring?
2. For Isreal to be the son, then who is Isreal's father. Is it not God?
3. Does not Isreal originate from God if Isreal is His son?
Nowhere in the Bible can we find any suggestion of the humanist brotherhood of all men. God is expressed as being the Father of Israel
only. He is the father of all men OF ISRAEL, not all men of all races. Jesus taught His disciples [all Israelites only] to pray saying, our
Father which art in heaven. This is better translated our Father, the One in heaven. Neither God nor man can be called a father until they
have begotten offspring. There is no suggestion of a spiritual birth later in life. God states that He is a Father in Exodus 4:22; therefore He
begat offspring and is the father of all descendants from Israel. The Apostle Peter declares that we [Israelites to whom
he was writing] are begotten from above, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed, by the Word of God.
It must be immediately pointed out that, in this verse, the incorruptible seed of God [the Father] is sporas rather than sperma. The
meaning of this word sporas is the sowing back in the past, or sown seed and refers to the firstborn, Isaac, conceived in Sarah’s womb,
after God had regenerated Sarah’s and Abraham’s ability to conceive a child. It is now an appropriate place to look at Sarah and Abraham,
who are shown to be the place [or origin], being that originating rock or quarry and the pit.
ABRAHAM AND SARAH - THE ORIGIN
Isa 51:1,2 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock
whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.
2, Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed
him, and increased him.
It is not necessary here to establish all the reasons as to why God needed to make a new start with Abraham and Sarah. We have to
accept that He did call Abraham alone. From this beginning, God made promises to Abraham that were to follow on to Abraham’s seed
(zera). Only those born from this new beginning could comprehend the Kingdom of God. This beginning was from God because
God had regenerated Abraham and Sarah enabling them to bear one child. In this way Isaac was born because of God’s action. From
Adam to Abraham, Adam’s pure line contained the breath of life [see Job], so where did the people come from who did not have the breath
of life? These men and women originated from Genesis 1. Through misgenerative activity, Satan had introduced pollution to the
bloodstream of the sons of Adam, and we find that God sought to eliminate the products of such activity.
Noah was pure in his generations [Gen 6:9], and so he and his unmixed family were preserved. Later, the Children of Israel were to
destroy the mixed breed of the Canaanites. These could not receive the things of the Spirit of God. They could not witness in their spirit
and say, the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God [Rom 8:16], as an Israelite is able to do. This
principle is a continuing theme in the Bible. Through Abraham and Sarah, God established the basis for Abraham’s seed to become the
Sons of God [John 1:12]. God was making a new beginning with Abraham. None other than the seed of Abraham, through the son of
promise, Isaac, has this opportunity or potential. Abraham’s seven other sons did not have this potential because they were born before
Isaac. The descendants of Isaac were begotten of the Spirit from their conception. This is why those among Isaac’s descendants
who believe are regarded as being anointed by the Spirit (as from the womb)
[Gal 3:16]. Paul is able to declare, now He which stablishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us is God who has also sealed us and
given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts [2 Cor 1:21,22]. In 1 Cor 2:7-16 Paul, confirming this, tells the brethren [kinsmen of the same
womb of Sarah] that they have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit of God [v12]. He says that through this we might know [or
comprehend] the things that are freely given to us, [the brethren], of God. He goes on to further declare that the “natural” man [those not
born of Isaac’s line] cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God. He affirms Jesus’ statement that anyone who is not begotten of the
original sowing [in the womb of Sarah] cannot see the Kingdom of God.
1 Joh 2:27 But the anointing which you have received abideth in you, ...
1 John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit [practice] sin,for his seed remaineth in him:...
1 John 5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not;....
There is this relationship between the “anointing”, the right “seed”, and being begotten of God.