When Did Born Again Pass Away?
When did born again pass away? It is only mentioned two times in the bible. It must not be important.
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. (John 3:3)
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (v. 7)
Being born again,... (I Pet 1:23)
If it were really important, it would be in every chapter of the bible. Certainly, it would be on every page. Every character in the bible would address it constantly. It must have been in force while Jesus and maybe the apostles were alive. Too bad it is not for us today. It sounds like a real nice idea. Oh, to have lived in those days, when people got born again.
I hope everyone realizes I am not serious in the above. Where is born again today? It is in the foundation.
(You all) are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; (Eph 2:20)
Jesus chose 12 men to be apostles or sent messengers (12 – Judas + ?). These were intended to be more than figureheads or subjects in Medieval artwork. These were men meant to do a very important work. They were personal emissaries of Jesus. They were to take what Jesus had said and build upon those words. They were to stand upon what Jesus said as a cornerstone and then lay what would be a foundation upon which Christians from all time would construct their lives. The apostles were led by the Holy Spirit to produce the unmovable foundation of what the believers would believe for the entire Church Age.
Where did born again go? It is in the foundation. If Jesus said it once, it is important. The apostles built upon that. They built upon what Jesus said as the basic foundation of their teachings. Why does someone have to repeat it on every page of the bible in order for it to be valid? Maybe we are waiting for God to say, “OK. This time I really mean it!” And like Mom who yells at the kids for the 13th time and then screams it again with a volume that is off the chart, they finally take it seriously.
When I lived in Mexico, we began constructing a small church building. Someone gave the church a part of their lot. This was far out in a rural area. We dug a trench for the footing. It did not have to be very deep since there is no frost there. After we gathered some cement block, it was time to lay them for the walls. We knew a Christian man who was a Master Bricklayer from another town. We had him lay the first row of block. It looked real good.
The next week, we came to continue on the next row of block. A man showed up who wanted to help. This was a very small town. We had never seen him before. He said he knew how to lay block. We thought this would be a good thing, getting a local unsaved man to become involved with the church by putting some labor into the building. It was the philosophy of the missions agency I was with to not make a North American culture center, but rather to have the project be completely Mexican, in this case.
I do not know what he did but this “Master” bricklayer messed up the next couple of rows of block. It was crooked, sinking, twisted and so bad that we had to quit for the day just in hopes that this man would go home.
The next time we came to work on the church building, we made sure to bring our friend, the real Master Bricklayer, who had originally laid the first row of block. This man was a professional and did excellent work but even he could not repair what the bad bricklayer had done. He worked at it a long time, but after laying several rows of block, even up to the roof, he could not undo what the fake bricklayer had started. The wall was crooked and twisted all the way to the roof. Our friend made the building usable but the work of the bad bricklayer could never be hidden from view.
I named the bad bricklayer, The False Apostle. My reason was that he laid the bottom rows of block as if he were trying to destroy the project. The “work” that he did was close to the ground. It was foundational. It made the entire building look wrong.
There are many people today which call themselves apostles. That may be fine but they are not in the same class as the 12 Apostles of the Lamb. Apostles today should use that title with fear and trembling. They are going to have a global focus with a local participation. They are not going to be career Pastors.
The original apostles were commissioned by Jesus to stand upon His words, then speak as they were led by the Holy Spirit. What they taught would be foundational. That is, their work would be considered an extension of the words of Jesus. The words of Jesus were to be the basis of all revelation or understanding. Then, the apostles, taking the words of Jesus, would continue building, as if laying row upon row of block to form a perfect building.
So, I ask the question, Where is born again? It is in the foundation, the words of Jesus and the basics the true apostles built upon them.
Alright, you knew this was coming.
When did tongues pass away? This thing that is mentioned a few times in scripture, where is it?
It is in the foundation. Tongues and born again are twin truths in the most basic, fundamental sense.
Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, is the main one who deals with this doctrine. He is laying truths upon Jesus' truth. If he is a true “sent one” his words are true and accurate.
The foundation part of the building ends with Paul and his contemporaries. However, the building process does not end there.
According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. (I Cor 3:10)
We are all building something that will be evaluated. The apostles built upon the words of Jesus. We build upon the foundation that they laid. The foundation that has been laid already is good. Now, how will we build upon that? It is really important.
If someone wants to teach things which are adding to the foundation, it will be refused in the day of evaluation. If someone does not like the foundation that the Apostles laid, I suggest they are in great danger.
Every once in a while you hear of some contractor who builds something in the wrong lot. Or sometimes they are building on someone else's property. No matter how fine the work that they do may be, it is all wrong and subject to a lawsuit.
No matter how good our work for the Lord may be, if we build on the wrong foundation, it will all be for nothing. Therefore Paul says, Take heed how you build. And, of course, it must be on the correct foundation that the apostles laid upon the words of Jesus. Any other thing will be refused in the Great Evaluation (ICor 3:12-15)
Oct 28, 2023