A Look At The New Birth
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin Articles
In looking at the new birth, we see that there must first be a planter or father — one who begets. God is the originator of the “seed” which produces Christians (James 1:18) and the “seed” is “the word of God” (Luke 8:11).
The one who teaches truth is called the “planter” or “father.” Paul reminded the Corinthians, “I planted” (1 Corinthians 3:6) and “yet you do not have many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel” (1 Corinthians 4:14-15).
There must be the reception of the seed into a condition suitable for reproduction. There must be “good ground” or “a noble and good heart” (Luke 8:15). James says, “Lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). The seed cannot grow in rocks and thorns, nor in an impenitent heart.
The seed must grow it must if it is to produce fruit. James says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). Jesus said, “having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15).
Since the Lord commands baptism, as well as faith and repentance (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38), these become a part of the fruiting process, with baptism bringing us “into Christ” (Gal. 3:27). Baptism is not the whole of the process, but it certainly cannot be left out of the “new birth” as defined in the Scriptures.
In the final analysis, the “heart” receives the seed (God’s word), and a new character proceeds from the heart (Proverbs 4:23). “Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This spiritual “new birth” then produces a child of God.
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