Born Again: What Does It Mean?
Marcel Kahne
Translated by Gerald D. Woodard
(Original French text at www.idumea.org)
“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:1‑5).
When Nicodemus visited Christ to find out more about Him, he used one of his usual direct approaches to go straight to the heart of the Christian message: without a radical change from what he is, natural man cannot have the least idea of what the kingdom of God is (“see”) and without baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter there.
Everything is contained in that message. The glory of Christianity was the work of those who brought forth this new knowledge; the shame of Christianity was the work of those (unfortunately much more numerous) who did not understand its need, looking only at the ritual, the surface of the cultural observances
What is Rebirth?
Through the apostles Paul and Peter, the New Testament defines it as a commitment to radically change one’s life, a commitment that is witnessed by the rite of baptism:
“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” (Romans 6:4-6)
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
“But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.” (Ephesians 4:20-22).
“Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Colossians 3:9-10).
And what is the “old man”? Paul gave us a partial list of his faults: “lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof [. . .]” (2 Timothy 3:2-5).
“The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God)” (1 Peter 3:21)
These passages explain why baptism must be by immersion. It is a rite that symbolizes our desire to bury our old man (we commit to eliminating all aspects of our thoughts and actions that are contrary to the teachings of Christ) and thus give birth (by coming out of the water as a baby emerges from his mother’s womb) to the new person we want to and should be. As Peter stated, rebirth is a commitment to God, which requires a deliberate and constant effort on the part of Christians to centre their lives on the Gospel. The Book of Mormon has much more to say on the topic.
Rebirth as Seen in the Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon establishes a contrast between the “natural man” and a “saint”: “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” (Mosiah 3:19). The natural man was also referred to by Paul:
“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
The natural man is your average person, who cares not for God, except when he finds himself in situations that are beyond him, in which case he turns to God, whether to bet him or curse him. As Christ said to Joseph Smith, citing Isaiah 29:13: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (JS-History 1:19). The natural man is more concerned with his rights than his duties, more with his daily life than his eternal destiny, more with judging others than judging himself, more with acquiring material possessions than spiritual possessions, more with using others or trodding them underfoot than being concerned with their welfare. He wants to be free from all external limitations, particularly regarding Divinity, and thus of necessity becomes its enemy.
The “saint”, however, is he who renounces everything that is natural, who humbles himself before God, that is to say he recognizes divine supremacy, is willing to submit himself to God, to receive “the things of the Spirit of God”, to be taken into His care, to deeply question himself, to embark on the road to perfection. This new birth is made possible on the one hand by “the answer of a good conscience towards God”, to use the words of Paul, and on the other hand by the effect of the Spirit of God on the believer.
Nephi indicates what this commitment must include: “follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism” (2 Nephi 31:13).
At the end of what was probably a feast of tabernacles, the crowd, speaking to King Benjamin, who had just addressed them, cried: “with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually [. . .] And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days [. . .]” To which Benjamin replied: “And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters” (Mosiah 5:2). In this passage, we see a concrete indicator of whether we have truly been born again.
Alma the Elder was unquestionably an authority on the issue of being born again, as he had experienced it in a spectacular way (see the details in Alma 36). He stated: “all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters; And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. I say unto you, unless this be the case, they must be cast off; and this I know, because I was like to be cast off.” (Mosiah 27:25-27).
Chapter 5 of the book of Alma (this is Alma the Younger, the son of Alma the Elder) examines much more closely the issue of being born again. This chapter is an in-depth test to help us determine, by means of 42 questions, whether we have truly been born again.
He begins by recounting the personal experience of his father, Alma the Elder: “And according to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart. Behold I say unto you that this is all true. And behold, he preached the word unto your fathers, and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled themselves and put their trust in the true and living God. And behold, they were faithful until the end; therefore they were saved” (Alma 5:12-13).
He then continues by asking the following questions: “And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?” (ibid. v. 14)
We must look carefully at the first of these three questions, as he is asking to people who have been baptized and are members of Alma’s Church. This means that it is possible to be baptized and be a member of the Church without having been born again. Being born again is not automatically associated with baptism, even if baptism is a symbol of it. You are only born again when you experience “this mighty change in your hearts,” which, we must remember, is the fruit of the firm commitment that we take to apply the Gospel in our lives, thus allowing the Holy Ghost to guide us.
The second question is also interesting: “Have ye received his image in your countenances?” or “it can be seen in your face.” This is the ultimate question that should lead us to believe too quickly that “we are saved.” Are we so close to God that it can be seen in our face?” How do others see us?
Later, there is another question that should give us pause, as it highlights the very fact that, even if we have come to a new knowledge, it is not definitive: “And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?” (ibid, v. 26). This question should remind us that, even if our life has drawn us close to God on one or more occasions, the erosive effect of our daily lives can cause us to lose sight of the Christian ideal to which we adhere, that being born again is not a fait accompli and is only maintained through a constant effort.
Alma also examines two major driving elements of human behaviour, the superiority complex, which results in pride, and its opposite, the inferiority complex, which results in envy: “Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. Behold ye must prepare quickly; for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand, and such an one hath not eternal life. Behold, I say, is there one among you who is not stripped of envy? I say unto you that such an one is not prepared; and I would that he should prepare quickly, for the hour is close at hand, and he knoweth not when the time shall come; for such an one is not found guiltless” (ibid, v. 28-29). Must we be reminded that pride and envy are closely tied to many of our relationship problems?
The final question in the test is particularly relevant: “And again I say unto you, is there one among you that doth make a mock of his brother, or that heapeth upon him persecutions? Wo unto such an one, for he is not prepared, and the time is at hand that he must repent or he cannot be saved! (Alma 5:30-31). We can imagine workplace harassment, which we hear of so often today. Or we can imagine the dramas that take place far too often in the home, where one family member is the scapegoat for all the others. And we can particularly imagine the attacks against the Church by anti-mormons, generally members of fundamentalist protestant movements, who pride themselves on being “born-again Christians”.
What must we do to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4)?
In Christian circles, pre-eminence is often given to the effect of divine grace, and the role of man’s actions in his own salvation is often minimized or outright denied. We have already shown (see Are We Saved by Faith or by Works?) that the scriptures do not support this point of view and that the Book of Mormon proposes the perfect formula in this regard: “it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23), a formula that reveals the wisdom of a God who expects man to do what he can, with grace representing divine intervention for what man is unable to do, i.e. the Atonement, Redemption and Resurrection.
What does God expect man to do to “walk in newness of life”? Do what he says: “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46)
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven [. . .] Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them [this refers to the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5-7; this quote is from the end of the Sermon], I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:21, 24-27).
This is even more striking in the Book of Mormon. In 3 Nephi 11-14, the Sermon at the Temple, the equivalent to the Sermon on the Mount, is literally framed by this warning at both ends.
Chapter 11 ends as follows: “And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them. And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock; but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them. Therefore, go forth unto this people, and declare the words which I have spoken, unto the ends of the earth” (v. 38-41)
The Sermon begins in Chapter 12 and ends in Chapter 14 with the following passage: “Therefore, whoso heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock — And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand — And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it” (v. 24-27).
The message is very clear: Anyone who claims to be of Christ must apply the Sermon in their lives. The Sermon on the Mount is not a collection of uplifting thoughts that we read but are not required to apply, it is a veritable road map that Christians must follow.
“Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.” (Deuteronomy 5:32, italics added)
“Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.” (Psalms 119:4, italics added)
If Christians had applied this rule over the last two thousand years, with the diligence demanded, the world would be a different place.
“Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life.” (Deuteronomy 4:9).
In addition to a study of the Scriptures, particularly the Sermon on the Mount / Sermon at the Temple, and their diligent application in our lives, the Bible recommends another sources to which disciples of Christ can turn in their efforts to “walk in newness of life”:
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-15, italics added)
Paul is clear: Christ wanted the Church, among other things, with his apostles and prophets, benefiting from revelation, to help the saints become perfect and bring them to “the stature of the fulness of Christ”. Without the Church and its inspired leaders, men are but “children, tossed to and fro, and carried out with every wind of doctrine.” This statement is particularly relevant at a time when a lot of people, defending freedom, want to make their own religion and reject what they call “organized religion”.
An Indispensable Warning
The questioning of oneself and the acquisition of intangible virtues are difficult tasks and man is often greatly tempted to focus instead on external and quantifiable practices. However, to do so is to sacrifice the essential for the accessory and we fool ourselves if we consider the accessory to be essential. This was Christ’s main criticism of the scribes and Pharisees. Referring to the payment of tithing, he said:
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.” (Matthew 23:23-24)
Speaking of food restrictions, he taught:
“There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” (Marc 7:15-23)
And Paul, speaking of tolerance in eating habits, concluded: “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 14:17)
This must be remembered by Latter-Day Saints. We also pay tithing and are committed to living the Word of Wisdom, doing work for the dead, fulfilling Church callings, etc. This of course in no way minimizes the need to do these things, but to put them in their rightful place in the life of a disciple of Christ. As the Master said: “these ought ye to have done [gospel virtues], and not to leave the other undone [such as tithing, etc.].” It is a good thing to take care to pay tithing, fast and observe the Word of Wisdom, as long as we take as much care to observe the rules that our Saviour gave us in the Sermon on the Mount.
A Powerful Tool: Prayer
The Scriptures and Church leaders have a lot to say on the Christian way of living our relationship with God, with ourselves and with others and, generally, these merits of these teachings seem clear to everyone. The real difficulty arises when the time comes to apply these nice principles to our daily lives. It is very easy to complain about one’s neighbour and just as difficult to see one’s true self. Therein lies the gulf between what Christians believe and what they actually practice.
The mirror that others give us in their perception of us is a very useful evaluation tool, but this is often complicated by our instinctive reactions: exhortation can be seen as referring to others, not us, and direct reprimands can offend or hurt. In both cases, the process of repenting or adjusting one’s approach is not undertaken. The best process is the work that we deliberately undertake on ourselves.
Prayer, when properly used, can be a powerful tool in solving this crucial problem. God does not need our prayers, but we need to pray. Why? Because, unlike mechanical prayer or the repetition of formulas that have been robbed of their meaning through routine, true prayer is a dialogue with God. Of necessity, such dialogue involves dialogue with oneself. We are not referring here to prayers in Church or even family prayers, but to private prayers, those in which we confess to God, confession that is only possible if we also confess to ourselves.
Dialogue-style prayer thus sets in motion the process that we find hardest to undertake: conducting a daily review of our own conscience, without any excuses, but also without any destructive feelings of guilt, a state in which our own accountability is placed, as accurately as possible, placed exactly where it should be.
The best illustration of this process is what happens when a rocket or shuttle is sent into space. The astronauts on board the vessel are in constant communication with their land base, reporting, evaluating, correcting and receiving instructions. The success of their mission and their safe return to earth depend on this. We too are astronauts. We have landed on a distant planet and, for our mission to be successful, we must also be in regular contact with our base, God, to report, evaluate and correct our path based on his recommendations.
Seen in this way, prayer can be a two-stage process, the first being evening prayer and the second being morning prayer.
To be effective, evening prayers must include two elements: the first is a dialogue with oneself and then a dialogue with God. The first element, the more sensitive, consists of reviewing the day’s events and evaluating our behaviour in the situations in which we found ourselves. This requires a sufficient knowledge of the Scriptures to be able to instantly recognize the principle involved in each situation. We must then decide if our attitude in each situation is the attitude that we would have adopted had Christ been present and seen us at the time in question. It is essential that we do this honestly and fairly, without looking for excuses, without trying to dodge the issue and without any self-justification. Our judgement must be the same as we would pass on another person with the same attitude in the same situation.
Having confessed to ourselves, it is essential that we then move on to the second step, confessing to God, asking his forgiveness and his help to not do it again. Describing the facts in sentences in our prayer helps embody our awareness and is an important step in the process of “correcting our path”.
All humans have a sense of fear of the universe around them, a feeling that results in an imbalance and causes them to instinctively seek a reassuring position. Admitting our mistakes recreates that imbalance, at least temporarily, and instead of seeking balance by correcting our mistakes, we are often tempted to return to our old ways that avoid the imbalance, particularly by refusing to admit anything that can cause us to question ourselves. We thus close doors, refuse to look or listen, eliminate dialogue with ourselves. As time goes by, it becomes increasingly difficult to undertake that dialogue, as the fear of opening long-closed doors increases with the unknown nature of what has been accumulating behind those doors over the years.
That is where daily introspection, dialogue with oneself in prayer, becomes important. Repeated each day, three hundred sixty‑five days per year, it will gradually open all the doors, Habit will take over and things will become easier.
Morning prayer in which we return to the conversation from the night before is an essential follow‑up. It is an opportunity to seek God’s help in the coming day in not making the same mistakes that day to which we confessed the night before and in making the necessary corrections (obtaining forgiveness or reconciliation, making amends, etc.).
Conclusion
Rebirth, as foreseen by Christ, consists of a profound and permanent change in oneself through a “mighty change of heart”, to come into line with the principles taught by Christ, in a desire to commune with God and the Holy Ghost and to sincerely and truly love one’s neighbour as oneself. This is at the very heart of the Gospel and is essential to our salvation.
