BORN OF THE SPIRIT

 Pastor Goodluck A. David

"To be born of the spirit is also known as the new birth. It is what happens to a man when he receives the Gospel."

This teaching will begin with one of my favourite scriptures which has become a mandate: Ezekiel 37:10-14

Ezekiel 37:10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

Ezekiel 37:11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

Ezekiel 37:12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

Ezekiel 37:13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,

Ezeki14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.

The Scripture above is an assumed dialogue between Prophet Ezekiel and God. It was an instruction to speak to dried, dead bones, which signifies men without life. 

Thus the Lord commanded Ezekiel to speak to the bones to live, and as Ezekiel obeyed the instruction, the bones began to come together, but they lacked life. Hence, God commanded Ezekiel to speak to the wind to breathe into them, and it happened that there arose an exceeding great army. Now, pay attention to something- the breath was what brought about their life and strength. Let's consider Ezekiel 37:13-14

Ezekiel 37:13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,

Ezekiel 37:14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.

What happened in the above verses is profound. 

The Lord spoke about opening their graves and putting his spirit in them so they could live.

What brought about their living is God, putting His spirit in them.

What happened in the above dialogue between Ezekiel and God was a prophecy of the things to come, which are here now. We are in that season already.

Again, let's consider another awesome scripture- Joel 2:25-28

Joel 2:26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. 27. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. 28. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

Glory to God! You see, Joel was speaking by the Spirit that was upon him. He prophesied about God being in the midst of the Israelites and explained how that would be possible by saying, 'God will pour out His spirit upon all flesh.'

Note:  The prophecies of the prophets in the old testament spoke about the blessing that the new man in Christ is to receive. Thus the spirit of God leads them to speak these things, which we are now beneficiaries.

Let's consider the words of Ezekiel again about the Spirit. 

Ezekiel 36:24-27

Ezekiel 36:24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your land.

Ezekiel 36:25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Did you see the place of the Spirit again? A new SPIRIT will I put within you. (Wowwwwwwww! that is a strong word.) It seems Ezekiel was so obsessed with speaking the things concerning the new man whom God has put His spirit within him. (Doesn't this worth laughing in the holy ghost?)

By the time you are done reading this topic, you will be carried to do awesome things for the Gospel. (Glory to God!)

Now, let's journey to a part of the new testament, which has a dialogue between a teacher of the law and Jesus.

John 3:1-4

John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

John 3:2 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.

John 3:3 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: 4 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?

Nicodemus came to Jesus and acknowledged his works, but the master answered him In a very wise way. He drifted his attention from miracles to the real deal. He spoke to him assuredly that except a man is born again, he can't see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus was confused; therefore, he asked how an old man can be born again. He thought Jesus was talking about the normal, physical birth that happens between a mother and a child, but Jesus gave meaning to what he said about being BORN AGAIN.

 Take a look at John 3:5-8

John 3:5 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 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

John 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 

John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Did you see that?-  Except a man is born of the water and the spirit, he can't enter the kingdom of God. The criteria for entering the kingdom of God is to be born of the water and the spirit.

Being Born Again Is The Same As Being Born Of The Spirit And Water.

Pay attention to the word 'water.' He was not referring to 'water baptism' as many would say. One would think the words 'spirit' and 'water' are two different things because of the conjunction 'and,' but they are not two different things; they are one.

The conjunction, 'and' is the Greek word 'kai' which means 'that is'  or 'which is.'

So it would mean that the water refers to the spirit.

Therefore, that particular scripture will be, 'Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water (that is, the spirit), he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.' 

So it would mean that being born of water is the same as been born of the spirit. Thus, the attention is on the SPIRIT.

Consider John 7:37-39 for more understanding.

John 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 

John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 

John 7:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Jesus used water as a symbol of the Spirit.

When he mentioned water, he was referring to the SPIRIT

Again let's consider the dialogue between the woman at the well and Jesus in John 4:10-14  

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 

John 4:11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

John 4:12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

John 4:13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 

John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Did you see the above dialogue between Jesus and the woman at the well? The water that was mentioned above was not the normal water that runs dry; it is the water of life, which is the spirit. That is to say being BORN AGAIN = BEEN BORN OF THE SPIRIT

A Born Again, Man Is Born Of The Very Spirit Of God.

The word 'Born' in Greek is 'Genneo,' and it means 'God making men His sons through faith in Christ'

The word 'again' in Greek is 'anothem',  and it means 'from above'.  

'' THEREFORE, A BORN AGAIN IS ONE FROM ABOVE WHO GOD HAS MADE SON BY VIRTUE OF HIS FAITH IN CHRIST. "

Consider John 1:12-14

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

You see, verse 13 was talking about those that are not born of flesh but born of God. So as many that received Christ and believed in the gospel became sons of God because the spirit now lives in them.

When a man believes the Gospel, his spirit is recreated. 

Take note of Titus 3:5-6

Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Titus 3:6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

At salvation, the spiritually dead man receives a new spirit, which is the very spirit of God. The holy spirit (the very spirit of God) is what convicts a man of his sins. He is the one who brings about the new birth. See it this way; you are a product of your father because your father's sperm brought about your formation in your mother's womb; therefore, you can be called the son or daughter of your father. Therefore, if anyone wants to be sure of whose child you are, the DNA would prove the fact that you are indeed your father's child. Thus when a man believes in Christ, the spirit of God becomes the DNA in that man. Such a man whose DNA is of God is born of God or the spirit. 

So if you have believed the gospel, you are born of the spirit (Congratulations!!!)

Do you know what it means to be born of God?- It means all of God now dwells in you, you are now a carrier of the personality of God, and you now have the very nature and essence of God in you. 

You see, we are the fulfillment of the prophecies of the prophets. We were the very ones Ezekiel was speaking about. (Glory to God!)

Ephesians 1:13-14

Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that, ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Ephesians 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. 

 The Man Who Is Born Of The Spirit Is The Same With God. It Means, If God Is A Spirit, A Believer Is Also A Spirit.

John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

It means a believer is a spiritual entity. A believer is not a natural man. He is not ordinary. Everything happened when he died, was buried and resurrected. Our faith in him brought about the new birth. A believer is a new creature

2 corin 5:17

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

An old creation is one who has never existed because the spirit of God lives in him. Also, note that a believer does not have two spirits but one Spirit, which is the same with God. 1st Corinthians 6:17 proves it.

1 Corinthians 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

At salvation, we are joined with the spirit of God; therefore, a believer is not of the flesh he is in the spirit. He has the Spirit of Christ. The holy spirit is the spirit of Christ

Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now, if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

By virtue of that indwelling spirit, the dwelling place and presence of God changed from a physical building called 'church' to the believer who is now the temple of God.

I Corin 6;19-20

1 Corinthians 6:19 What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which is God's. 

THE BELIEVER IS NOT HIS OWN, BUT GOD'S. BY VIRTUE OF THE SPIRIT, A BELIEVER HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD. JUST AS GOD HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD, A BELIEVER HAS ALSO OVERCOME THE WORLD, BECAUSE HE IS BORN OF GOD.

1 John 4:4, 4. Little children, you are of God [you belong to Him] and have [already] defeated and overcome them [the agents of the antichrist], because He Who lives in you is greater (mightier) than he who is in the world.

See you are God's LEGAL PROPERTY. He is in you forever. 

The Spirit Of God Cannot Leave The Believer; It Is There Forever. There Is Nothing You Can Do To Drive Him Away.

John 14:16-17, 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you FOREVER; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

You see, the spirit is there forever. He can't leave. He has no other place to go. You are the real definition of one chance. 

The holy spirit has occupied you, and nothing else can enter. The Holy Spirit can never leave. (Glory to God!!!)

So when Ezekiel spoke, he spoke of you, when Joel also spoke, he spoke of you as the believer; therefore, when you move, know that God is on the move.

You are the move of God because God is NO LONGER IN HEAVEN HE IS NOW ON EARTH, IN YOU; therefore, we do not need to sing songs like, 'Send down your holy ghost we pray thee oh lord' because the holy spirit is in you and I by the virtue of our faith in the Gospel.

Always remember that you have the spirit Of God. You are born of the spirit. As I round this off, say the following declaration with all confidence: 

I'm a believer I'm born of the Spirit. All of God lives in Me. 

God, the spirit is pleased to live in me. I house him.

He lives big in me. 

I have the very nature of God. 

I have overcome the world. I have victory over the world because I'm born of God

I live by the Spirit. 

I'm conscious of who I am 

I am of God!!! 

Glorryyy!

Henceforth, pay attention to your spirit all time.