Born Again! Why?

𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟏𝟑, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐀𝐜 𝟒:𝟐𝟑-𝟑𝟏

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟐:𝟏-𝟗 “𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋:  𝐉𝐍 𝟑:𝟏-𝟖

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.” (𝐯.𝟕) 

           Even when I was already in the renewal, there were many times when I find myself in situations when my former self wants to dominate my entire being and I am aware that things could escalate and get worse. This was what I was before when I couldn’t care less who stands in front of me.

         But for some reason, there is always that timely nudge out of nowhere that keeps reminding me to recollect myself and yield and just at about the same time, I am reminded of one of my favorite verses that you can read in 𝐉𝐚𝐦 𝟒:𝟏𝟎 “𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

         These kinds of scenarios provide me a personal experience of what being born again is like. It is not a physical rebirth in that we are brought back to our mother’s womb and be born again. It is more a radical change of our nature. character, thinking, speech, how we look at things, how we perceive things.

          When meditating on all these things and what has happened to the way my life dramatically changed when Our Lord brought me to the renewal to experience being born again in the Spirit, I couldn’t help but thank the Lord for His timely intervention and His great love for me. I also couldn’t imagine what would have happened if this was not the case or if I rejected the Lord’s invitation for me to be born again in the Spirit.

         When I was brought to the renewal many years ago and found myself being baptized in the Spirit This Gospel today reminds me of the time I wasted when I was ensconced with the world and the joy of what I am doing now. It makes me feel bad that I didn’t realize at that time that the talent I had was in fact a God-given gift that I am to use to honor the God who created me.

         And one time when I was facilitating the second session of the Discipling Program in one of the districts of the Bukas Loob sa Diyos Covenant Community, I just realized that I am reaping the fruit of being born again in the Holy Spirit for I could not imagine myself preaching about how good God is if I turned down God’s invitation for me to join the renewal movement through the BLD community and being born again in his love.

         In a few days from now, I will be turning 80 and I know that I am not getting any younger and there are times when it’s becoming harder for me to stand for five to six hours to facilitate a teaching series. But you know what? It’s not only joy that I feel when I am sent to facilitate a teaching or preach wherever I am invited but a deeper sense of gratitude for serving the God who has given me everything in life.

         When God found me in 1989, I was wallowing in the world and he brought me to the renewal and unlike my human nature, I was surprised why I never asked nor probed what I was getting into which was very much unlike me given the media orientation that I was in at the time. But the moment I stepped into my first prayer meeting after completing our Marriage Encounter Weekend, I knew then that this was what I had been searching for all my life.

         And as I grew up in the community, I learned to obey our pastoral authorities and never even for once did I looked at the legalese of what I was doing or what I was being told to do. What was drummed in my head and heart was the need for me to dirty my hands in serving in the vineyard of the Lord.

       There are many ways of serving and worshiping God and what we should not forget is that worship in essence is “worthship” because the object of our worship is someone who is worth worshipping.

       It presupposes that if the object of worship is someone worthy of praise and worship then the source of worship or the one who is engaged in the act of worship should also be a worthy vessel if we are to worship God in Spirit and in truth.

         And to be a worthy vessel of worship that will rise like incense to the altar of Grace, we “𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐰” (𝐯.𝟕) and this state of being was at the heart of the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus a respected teacher of the law in those days who told Jesus: “𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞?” (𝐯.𝟗)        

         And Jesus laid down the principle that would be at the heart of Christianity beginning at the Upper Room up to today where Christian revival is present through the different charismatic movements throughout the world when he said: “𝐃𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, `𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐰.' 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬; 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭.” (𝐯𝐯.𝟕-𝟖)

         What Jesus told Nicodemus was indeed true for we cannot control how the Holy Spirit works as he works in ways we cannot predict and understand. Just as we were not in control of our physical birth, so it is also with our spiritual birth (𝐯.𝟖)which is a gift from God who acts through his Holy Spirit and this spiritual action is what makes us children of God (𝐑𝐨𝐦 𝟖:𝟏𝟔).

        It is also this Spirit of God that gives us the power to understand those things that come from God (𝟏 𝐂𝐨𝐫 𝟐:𝟏𝟐) and it is by this same Spirit that we have received that empowers us to accept our spiritual rebirth in spite of the sufferings we face as imitators of Jesus Christ (𝟏 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝟏:𝟔).

        But when our actions in the church or community are already headed toward a direction other than to foist unity, harmony, peace and communion, then it is about time to check and discern if are still motivated by the Holy Spirit and not by other spirits.

         Jesus in this Gospel passage emphasizes that spiritual rebirth or being born again is a prerequisite to admission to the heavenly Kingdom because knowledge alone like what the teachers of the law such as Nicodemus had will not lead to salvation.

        While it is important for us to know what the Bible says, it is equally imperative that we must understand and know in a very personal way the God who offered his life for us that we may also have life.

         Just as when he spoke in parables before, Jesus also compared his crucifixion as an atonement for sins with the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up in the desert that brought healing and deliverance to the Jews who looked up at the serpent.

        What he was telling Nicodemus at that time and what Jesus is telling us now is that anyone who will believe in his death and resurrection will bring upon himself the new birth in the Spirit that will fill us with his own divine life by the power of His Spirit.

         And let us not make any mistakes about it. It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit working in us that provides us the courage, confidence and the boldness to share the Good News and to defend our faith by our words and action and never to be ashamed of the Cross of Christ.

        As with the Israelites who looked up at the bronze serpent with the belief that God will heal them if they did, so must we also look up to the Cross of Jesus to remind us of our salvation and by believing we are healed of the deadly bite of sin.

        Nicodemus knew from experience that anyone who wants to be changed, can't change himself and this was what Jesus explained to him that this change could only come about through the work and action of the Holy Spirit.

        And we who have experienced this rebirth in the Spirit know this is not only experiential but very real like the wind that we can feel and hear yet we cannot see.

       This new life in the Holy Spirit prequalifies us into admission in God's kingdom which is a society of men and women who acknowledge God as their Lord and who live according to his will on earth as it is in heaven (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟔:𝟏𝟎).

       To be reborn is to enter that society where God is honored and obeyed and where we live as His sons and daughters. To be born again is to gain possession of that life which comes from God himself, a life of never-ending love, peace, joy, and freedom from sin and the fear of death. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 13, 2026)