CD ROM Paradise Collection 4/CD ROM Paradise Collection 4 1995 Nov.iso/edu/estm41.zip/14.DOC

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                                    CHAPTER 14

                                   THE NEW BIRTH


                                   Introduction

               In order to understand  the  new  birth, let us examine
          the biblical and psychological approaches in defining  human
          personality.
               Harry Stack Sullivan, in his INTERPERSONAL  THEORY   OF
          PSYCHIATRY, defines personality as the "relatively  enduring
          pattern of recurrent interpersonal situations which  charac-
          terized a human life."  (Drakeford,  INTEGRITY  THERAPY,  p.
          45).  This view implies that one's personality  is a product
          of the way one has related to others over a period of time.
               Freud postulated three aspects of the psyche:  (1)  the
          conscious,  (2) the  preconscious  and  (3) the unconscious.
          The conscious is that  part of the mind containing  material
          of which we are immediately aware.  The preconscious is that
          part of the mind from which  we  can recall  stored material
          at will. The unconscious is that vast storehouse of the mind
          from which one cannot recall material at will, but which has
          a profound influence  over  one's  personality.  [Calvin  S.
          Hall, A PRIMER OF FREUDIAN PSYCHOLOGY   (New  York: The  New
          American Library,  A Mentor  Book,  1954),  pp.  54-57].  Of
          course, these  are not actual parts of the brain, but rather
          psychological  constructs  to  help explain functions of the
          psyche.  Some see the unconscious corresponding to the human
          spirit.   However, the writer sees the human  spirit as  the
          essential  person,  on a  deeper level and separate from the
          soul.
               The three levels of consciousness can be compared to an
          iceberg.  The relatively  small part of  the  ice  above the
          water corresponds to the conscious.  The  preconscious  cor-
          responds to about the same size immediately submerged in the
          water.  The unconscious corresponds to the largest  part  of
          the mind.  The term "subconscious" is  a  less-precise  term
          that includes both the preconscious and the unconscious.
               As one leaves science and  goes  to  the scriptures, he
          leaves relative knowledge and goes  to absolute or  revealed
          knowledge.  Paul describes man as  being  spirit,  soul  and
          body:

                    May God himself, the God of  peace,  sanctify
               you through and through.  May your  whole  spirit,
               soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming  of
               our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls  you  is
               faithful and he will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23,
               NIV).

          Many reverse Paul's order to body, soul and  spirit,  due to
          having absorbed the world's values uncritically.  We tend to
          be body and soul controlled rather than spirit controlled.
               Paul further speaks of his body as "my body," as though
          it were a personal possession and not his essential person:

               No, I beat my body and make it my  slave  so  that
               after I have preached to others, I myself will not
               be  disqualified  for  the  prize.  (1 Corinthians
               9:27, NIV).

          Again, Paul says that he

               . . .would prefer to be away from the body and  at
               home with the Lord.  (2 Corinthians 5:8, NIV).

          Kenneth Hagin continues,

               Then in 1 Cor. 14:14 we read, "For if I pray in an
               unknown  tongue, my  spirit  prayeth. . . ."   The
               Amplified Translation reads,  "My  spirit  by  the
               Holy  Spirit within  me  prays. . . ."   In  verse
               eighteen Paul said,  "I thank my God, I speak with
               tongues more than ye all."  Paul  used  the  terms
               "my spirit" and "I" interchangeably.   [Kenneth E.
               Hagin, MAN ON THREE DIMENSIONS  (Tulsa: Kenneth E.
               Hagin Evangelistic Association, 1975), p. 8.]

          Taking Paul's teaching and the general tenor of the New Tes-
          tament, one can arrive at this definition of man: Man is  "a
          spirit being who possesses a soul  and  lives  in  a  body."
          (Kenneth E. Hagin, MAN ON THREE DIMENSIONS, p. 7). With this
          understanding of man, the new birth can be examined  in  the
          light of man's responsibility and God's responsibility.


                             Man's Part: Trust Christ

               The believer is not  just a "forgiven sinner."  He  has
          been given the righteousness of Christ (legally) and he  has
          been  given  a new nature (actually).   Jesus described this
          inward change to Nicodemus:

                    Now there was a man of  the  Pharisees  named
               Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish  ruling council.
               He came to Jesus at night  and  said,  "Rabbi,  we
               know you are a teacher who has come from God.  For
               no one could perform the miraculous signs you  are
               doing if God were not with him."
                    In  reply  Jesus  declared, "I  tell  you the
               truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he
               is born again."
                    "How can a man  be  born  when  he  is  old?"
               Nicodemus asked.  "Surely he cannot enter a second
               time into his mother's womb to be born!"
                    Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one
               can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born  of
               water and the Spirit.  Flesh gives birth to flesh,
               but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.  You  should
               not be surprised at my saying, `You must  be  born
               again.'  The wind blows wherever it  pleases.  You
               hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes
               from or where it is going.  So it is with everyone
               born of the Spirit."  (John 3:1-8, NIV).

          Jesus, in  his  conversation  with  Nicodemus, implied  that
          we have a responsibility in the new  birth.  It  is  obvious
          that we cannot give spiritual  birth  to  ourselves, but  we
          have do have a vital part.  Jesus tells  what  our  part  is
          later in the same chapter:

               "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the  desert,
               so the Son of man must be lifted up,  that  every-
               one who believes in him may have eternal life.
                    "For God so loved the world that he gave  his
               one and only Son, that  whoever  believes  in  him
               shall not perish but have eternal  life.  For  God
               did not send his Son into the world to condemn the
               world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever
               believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does
               not believe stands condemned  already  because  he
               has not believed in the name of God's one and only
               Son.  (John 3:14-18, NIV).

          Our part: One must simply believe in Christ.
               Other New  Testament writers teach about the new birth.
          Here are some quotations from Paul and Peter:

               Therefore, if anyone is in  Christ, he  is  a  new
               creation; the old has gone, the new has come!   (2
               Corinthians 5:17).

               But when the kindness and love of God our  Savior
               appeared, he saved us, not  because  of righteous
               things we had done, but because of his mercy.  He
               saved us through the washing of rebirth  and  re-
               newal by the Holy Spirit. . . . (Titus 3:5, NIV).

               For you have been born again, not  of  perishable
               seed, but of imperishable, through the living and
               enduring word of God.  (1 Peter 1:23).

               For it is by grace you have  been  saved, through
               faith--and this not from  yourselves, it  is  the
               gift of God--not by works, so  that  no  one  can
               boast.  For we are God's workmanship, created  in
               Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared
               in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10, NIV).

          Therefore, it stands to reason  that  man  cannot  transform
          himself--his  part  is  simply  to trust Christ, that is, to
          exercise faith in Christ and repent.
               Not only must one trust Christ initially, but  he  must
          continue to trust Christ.


                         God's Part: Inner Transformation

               PNEUMA can be translated "spirit, wind or breath."  The
          context  determines  how  it  will  be translated.  Also, if
          PNEUMA  is  not  preceded  by HAGIOS (Greek, "Holy") or some
          other qualifying word or phrase, the context will  determine
          whether the Holy Spirit is meant, or another spirit is meant
          (such as human spirit).  In  John 3:6, Translators  indicate
          that the Holy Spirit transforms the spirit of man in the new
          birth.  Other New Testament writers support this position.
               The Holy Spirit continues to abide in the  believer and
          the new Christlike nature  is maintained in the believer  by
          the Holy Spirit:

               And  you  also  were  included  in Christ when you
               heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salva-
               tion. Having believed, you were marked in him with
               a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. . . . (Ephesians
               1:13, NIV).

                    Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though  out-
               wardly we are wasting away, yet  inwardly  we  are
               being renewed day by day.     (2 Corinthians 4:16,
               NIV).

          The Holy Spirit has the hard, complicated part  in  the  New
          Birth--we have the easy, simple part!
               What implication does the new  birth  have  as  far  as
          self-esteem?   There is  a popular saying  that communicates
          it well: "God don't make no junk!"  The work of God  in  the
          human heart is a good work. One's essential being is changed
          in the new birth.  That new nature is Christlike.   It means
          partaking of the nature of God. If one really believes this,
          he will begin to  talk and act like a child of God and self-
          esteem will rise accordingly!

               ASSIGNMENT: CONFESS ALOUD TO YOURSELF AND  FRIENDS,  "I
          AM A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST JESUS!"

                                     END