There is much talk these days
about the rapid growth of the cults. Jehovah's
Witnesses, Christian Science, Mormonism, the
Unification Church, and a host of lesser-known
groups are making converts at astounding rates. Yet,
the combined effect of all these groups is
overshadowed by a movement that in the last few
years has grown to include over 30% of the U.S.
population. The amazing development of what might be
called "Born-againism" is affecting
all sectors of our society. In fact, if the latest
figures presented in the religious polls are
accurate, the current Born-again phenomenon could
well be viewed as the fastest growing cult in
America. Born-againism has
permeated fundamentalist denominations as leaven in
dough, and expanded into the culture at large.
Candidates espouse it in order to get votes,
entertainers use it to attract crowds, pro-football
players proclaim it to give respect to their Sunday
afternoon brutality, and the business world promotes
it in order to make money. Even the secular press,
radio, and T.V. have found it fashionable to
occasionally slip the little words "born
again" into their speech and print.
That the world has jumped on the
Born-again Bandwagon in order to
exploit it is sad but not surprising. We really
shouldn't expect anything else from the spiritually
blind worldling. The real tragedy is that the whole
mess was spawned and spread by the "Church" and is
now lauded as a great revival of Christianity.
The truth is that much of
contemporary evangelicalism, like the church of
Sardis, appears to be alive, but actually is dead.
(Rev. 3:1) And we can't blame the athieists, the
agnostics, or the liberals for this condition. No,
the fault lies with the supposed "Bible
believers." Error has been preached as truth
and propagated with cultish zeal. As a result
multitudes have believed a lie and are headed for
hell from fundamentalist church pews with a Bible in
their hands and a prayer on their lips. Many others
have become disillusioned with all the hypocrisy and
false "fulfillment", and have concluded
that there is really nothing to this "born-again"
stuff after all.
Truth
turned to error
But doesn't the Bible teach that
we 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. (Eph. 2:4-51 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 modem "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 teachings are conspicuously absent in
this account. The Lord gave Nicodenius 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. (Rom 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. And 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." (Jn. 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.
