What is "born again?" Is it some fanatical Baptist term? When my husband was a Roman Catholic, he thought that "born again" was crazy. He didn't know it was in the Bible - he thought it was a "Baptist thing." Imagine his surprise when he found out that JESUS taught about how to be Born Again:

"Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 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. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." -John 3:7-18

When we become born again, we have died to our old selves, and have become new creatures in Christ:

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

When we become born again, we are saved:

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." -Romans 10:9-11

A saved/born again Christian doesn't just die to their old self, but they die to the law. You see, the law is under the Old Covenant, and Covenants/Testaments only stand as long as the party is alive. For example, the Marriage Covenant is dissolved upon "death do us part." Under the New Covenant, the law serves the purpose of leading the sinner to Christ. The law shows us how imperfect we are, and how sinful we are.

There is not anyone alive who hasn't broken God's law. The law shows us that we are sinners, and in need of being saved. When we recognize this, we turn to Christ, and become born again. The law is our schoolmaster, which leads us to Christ:

"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." -Galatians 3:24-25

Did you see how the above verse calls the law our "schoolmaster?" Notice it also says that after faith in Christ has come, we are "no longer under a schoolmaster," in other words - no longer under the law. Once you are born again, you are dead to the law, and alive unto Christ, as a new creature, no longer under the Old Covenant. I didn't come up with this, I read it in the Bible. Here, I'll show you:

"Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." -Romans 7:1-6

We are under the spirit of the law, not the letter. WHY are we not to bear false witness against our neighbor? The letter of the law says not to. The spirit of the law tells us not to, because we are to love our neighbor. The spirit of the law for the Christian is boiled down to two commandments. When these two commandments are kept, as we walk in the spirit, we are fulfilling the whole law. Remember those two commandments? They are the commandments that the First Epistle of John tells us to keep:

"And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. 1)And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, 2)and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us." -1 John 3:22-24

The New Covenant involves the Christian walking in the spirit. When a Christian keeps the spirit of the law, they are doing it through the spirit, not through themselves, or through the flesh:

"For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." -Galatians 5:17-25

Christians, we are members of the Kingdom of God right now, and we walk and live in it. It's physical manifestation will come when the Kingdom of Heaven comes to this earth, which will be in the form of New Jerusalem, as we read about in many of the Old Testament Prophets, and also in Revelation 21:2. As members of the spiritual Kingdom of God, we are to walk in the Spirit. Remember what we saw in the above Scripture - "But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." When we walk in the spirit, we produce good FRUITS. Meanwhile, walking in the flesh produces WORKS. Notice in the above Scripture, I bolded fruits and works so that you could more clearly see the distinction. When we walk in the spirit we keep and fulfill the law, but not of ourselves. It is a fruit - it happens automatically. An apple tree does not need to work to produce apples - it happens naturally. So it is with everyone who walks in the spirit:

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." -Romans 8:1-4

When we walk in the spirit we are FULFILLING the law. What did Jesus say about this? He came to fulfill the law:

"For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matthew 5:18

"And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me." -Luke 24:44

"But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause." -John 15:25

Christ came to fulfill the law, and Christians fulfill the law:

"That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." -Romans 8:4

"Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." -Romans 13:8

"Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." -Romans 13:10

"For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." -Galatians 5:14

Does Jesus agree? YES:

"Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." -Matthew 22:35-40

Is this not what Paul taught in his Epistles? Of course it is. It's what JESUS told him to write:

"For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." -Galatians 5:14

Jesus, Paul, and the Apostle John all taught this:

"And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment." -John 3:23

When a Christian walks in the Spirit, they keep the spirit of the law. To the letter of the law we are dead. The letter of the law is referred to as "the law of sin and death" in the New Testament. Born again Christians are not under the law of sin and death. Born again Christians are called to walk in the spirit, and the law is fulfilled via the FRUITS of being in the spirit - it's automatic. It is God working through us. It's the Christian tree bearing Christian fruits. This fulfills the law.

The law is profitable, however. For example, it's a good idea to follow the law in places where it teaches such things as not eating pork and lobster. There are common sense laws and moral laws, which do no harm to follow. When these Old Testament common sense and moral laws are followed, we live healthier and happier lives. Yet, the ceremonial laws do not need to be kept, since Christ and Christians fulfill them.

The Lord speaks to His Children. Often it is through the Bible, but sometimes it's via a still, small voice. Are we listening to the Lord? Are our hearts so set on Him, that He's in our every thought? Do we rest our eyes on Jesus? In everything we think and do, do we ask ourselves if it is pleasing to the Lord? In everything we do, may it glorify the Lord.

"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ." -Colossians 3:23-24

Next in this series - "The Christian's Relationship to Spiritual Israel."