"Born-again"-ism

TRUTH TURNED TO ERROR

Doesn't the Bible teach that men must be born again? Was this not an
absolutely fundamental teaching of our Lord, His apostles, and the Church
down through the ages? Yes, of course it was, and without this there is no
true Christianity. But error cloaked in Biblical terms is still error. In
the case of the current born-again movement, Scriptural terminology is being
used to teach just the opposite of its original meaning. The great doctrine
of man's need for regeneration (i.e. miraculous new-birth) is being
presented in a way that denies the very point it is supposed to teach.
Stated simply the error is this —that men are born again as a result of
something they do. This something may be "going forward" at the close of an
evangelistic message, making a "decision" for Christ, or "repenting" and
"believing" the gospel. Whatever the requirement that is put before the
sinner, the impression is given that sinful man himself is the one who
brings about regeneration.
The sad results of such a teaching can be seen all around us. Evangelists
who believe that men dead in sin can and will turn to God if the right kind
of emotional and psychological inducement is presented, push and pressure
lost people into making "decisions." Whatever is necessary to get people to
come forward, or raise their hand, or sign a card, is tried by today's
"soul-winners." Highly emotional meetings, prolonged appeals, repeated
musical choruses, and even the deceitful tactic of having counselors
strategically placed in the audience to come forward at the time of the
"appeal" —all smack of the techniques of crowd psychology.

Those who do come forward (or raise their hand, or sign a card) are then
coached into believing that God has come into their lives, and that they are
now "saved." Deep down, though, they know that nothing has really happened.
The evangelist has done something, the lost person has done something, but
God has done nothing. There has been no miracle. The person may give mental
assent to the doctrine of the new birth and try to rejoice in it, but there
has been no supernatural passing from death to life (Ephesians 2:4-5). This
is why most of the "converts" of this kind of "born-againism" show no real
zeal for God, and many fall away completely after a month or two.

That some people are brought into the kingdom in these situations is no
doubt true. But it is in spite of these methods, not because of them. If we
turn to the section of Scripture most often quoted regarding the new birth
we find the Lord teaching just the opposite of the modern "soul-winner."

YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN

In the third chapter of John's Gospel, Jesus tells Nicodemus, "You must be
born again." What did the Lord mean by this statement? First of all, it
should be noted that Jesus said nothing of any action or decision that
Nicodemus must make, nor did He even tell him to repent and believe the
gospel. As a matter of fact, Jesus was not telling Nicodemus to do anything!
"You must be born again" was not a command Nicodemus was to obey, it was
simply a statement of fact. Nicodemus, in his blindness, misunderstood this
statement and asked how anyone could do such a thing as that —a man "cannot
enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" To this
Jesus said in effect, "I'm not talking to you about you doing anything, I'm
talking about God doing something." "I'm talking about the Spirit of God
coming and miraculously generating life in you. You being flesh can only
produce flesh. Only the Spirit of God can produce the spiritual birth you
must have in order to enter the Kingdom of God, and God's Spirit blows where
He wishes" (John 3:1-8).
The modern evangelist's techniques and teaching are conspicuously absent in
this account. The Lord gave Nicodemus no "Four Spiritual Laws," nor any
instructions on "How to be Born Again," and He certainly used no
manipulative tricks. He was concerned to emphasize just one thing.
Regeneration is a miraculous work of God's Spirit.

We can, and must, tell men to turn from their sins and believe the Gospel,
but in doing this we should realize that when a man does repent and believe,
it is the result of God's prior regenerative working within him. If this
were not the case, if man must actually initiate his own salvation, then it
would be impossible to escape the conclusion that men do not need
regeneration at all, but possess in themselves an innate goodness which
causes them to seek after God. Though it be ever so slight, this goodness is
then the ultimate reason why one man is saved and another is lost. But the
apostle Paul clearly teaches the contrary when he writes:

There is none righteous, not even one;
There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God...
There is none who does good,
There is not even one (Romans 3:10-12)

Here Paul states plainly that there is no "spark of goodness" in man that
causes him to respond to the gospel. In fact, man, blinded by sin and Satan,
does not even understand the gospel. He is in total rebellion against God
and His truth. If regeneration were contingent upon man first desiring God,
no one would ever be born again, for "there is none who seeks for God."
Moreover, if man must ultimately be given credit for coming to God,
Christianity is turned into just one more of the world's man-centered
religions or cults which teach salvation by works. All such man-centered
systems offer a false hope, for it is simply impossible for sinful man to
make himself different than he is —he needs a new heart, he needs to be
"born again!"

Again, it should be stressed that we are certainly to tell men to seek God.
We must tell them to believe and receive Christ. But these commands will
fall on spiritually deaf ears unless God first generates life through the
inward workings of His Holy Spirit.

You may protest that this makes God the ultimate determiner of who is saved.
To this the apostles and prophets with one voice cry, "Amen!" "Salvation is
from the Lord." Christians, as John puts it in the opening chapter of his
gospel, are people, "who were born not...of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13). That's why we give thanks to God
when someone is converted. We know that God has graciously wrought a miracle
—the sovereign, supernatural miracle of the new birth.

This truth should give us confidence to present the pure gospel, knowing
that it is not up to us to somehow maneuver and manipulate men into
Christianity. It should also bring us to our knees before the God Who is
sovereign in salvation. Only He can remove the heart of stone and give a new
heart. Only He can give life to the dead. Only He deserves the blessing,
glory, and honor.