Experiencing the Spirit

Graham Beynon

• Publisher: IVP
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9781844744800
• eBook ISBN:
  9781844746958
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christianity

For some Christians, God the Holy Spirit is something of a mystery, and they are not too sure what to say about him. Others speak with confidence and enthusiasm about him, challenging us to be 'filled with the Spirit', or to live a 'Spirit-filled life'. As a result, the work of the Spirit has sometimes been controversial.
Graham Beynon looks at the main New Testament passages in which the Spirit's work is described. With freshness and clarity, he builds a picture of what the Holy Spirit does, and hence what experiencing him in our lives should look like.

New life in the Spirit:
John 3:1–8

A friend and I used go hitchhiking together. Whenever we got a lift I would slump back in my seat and relax to enjoy the ride. My friend Martin, however, would always feel the need to start a conversation with whomever was kindly giving us a lift. Having jumped into one car, he leant forward from the back seat to talk to the driver and his companion in the front.

His opening gambit ran: ‘Nice car, this.’

‘Hmm,’ said the driver.

Martin tried again. ‘Nice and fast, not like our last lift. Really slow, that was.’ (Our previous driver had insisted on driving at about 25 miles per hour.)

‘Oh,’ said the driver.

Undaunted, Martin pressed on. ‘And we had a really heavy conversation with the last guy as well.’ (We’d mentioned being Christians to our previous driver, but he had responded with his philosophy of life, which seemed to revolve mainly around organic vegetables.)

‘Oh,’ said our driver. Then he finally responded: ‘He wasn’t one of those born-again Christians, was he?’

Martin beamed. ‘No,’ he said, ‘but we are.’

I still smile at the memory of that. But I also wince at the memory of the tone of voice with which that driver asked his question. The phrase ‘born-again Christian’ was uttered, not with venom, but with an unmistakable mocking tone. If the answer from us had been, ‘Yes, he was one of those born-again Christians’, no doubt the conversation would have turned to laughter at such silly people who believe such ridiculous ideas.

The term ‘born-again Christian’ conjures up a variety of images. It might be the American TV evangelist in his shiny suit. Or the preacher on the street corner, calling out, ‘You must be born again.’ Or the mocking newspaper article about a celebrity: Britney Spears becomes a born-again Christian! Whatever the precise image is that may come to mind, the connotations aren’t usually good ones.

As a result, some today within the church want to avoid this term, or at least rethink the whole concept of being born again. We’ll think about that at the end of this chapter. First, we need to look at what Jesus said about it.

Jesus on being born again

Jesus uses this term in a conversation with a Pharisee. We read about it in John’s gospel:

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For you could not perform the signs you are doing if God were not with you.’

In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God without being born again.’

‘How can anyone be born in old age?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!’

Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, no-one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again.” The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.’

(John 3:1–8)

Nicodemus is interested in Jesus. He recognizes there’s something special about him because of the miraculous signs he’s been doing, and it looks as if he’s come to find out more. We don’t really know what his exact question is, though, because Jesus doesn’t give him a chance to ask it. Instead, Jesus simply replies by saying that no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.

Nicodemus, however, doesn’t seem to understand, and asks how that could ever work. So Jesus says it again but slightly differently in verse 5: no-one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. So we have two statements of Jesus on this which we can put side by side:

• No-one can see the kingdom of God without being born again (verse 3).
• No-one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit (verse 5).

Seeing the kingdom and entering the kingdom are really two ways of saying the same thing. They both refer to being in the kingdom. ‘Seeing’ the kingdom means ‘experiencing’ it. For example, later in the gospel Jesus speaks about ‘seeing life’, meaning experiencing life personally, not seeing it with your eyes.

We need to think about the different elements of these statements. What did Jesus mean by the kingdom of God, and what is this new birth needed to get into it?

The kingdom of God

You know the ‘Which side are you on?’ stuff in films. In Star Wars it’s ‘Which side of the force are you on?’ In The Lord of the Rings it’s ‘Are you with the king or with Sauron?’ There are two forces battling against each other and you are on one side or the other.

Jesus says there is a spiritual equivalent to do with God: there is the kingdom of God and there is the kingdom of darkness. And you are in one or the other. You’re either in God’s kingdom or you’re fighting against him. You’re his subject, or you’re a rebel. So what Jesus is talking about here when he speaks about being in the kingdom of God is about being under the rule of God, being on God’s side, rather than being his enemy.

Now Nicodemus, as a Pharisee, would have known that God was going to bring his rule, his kingdom, in a new way in the world. The Old Testament looked forward to such a time, when God would be seen to be king and his rule would hold sway. Pharisees like him looked forward to such a day. And he would have expected that he would be included in this kingdom automatically. He presumed he was on God’s side, and when the kingdom came he’d be one of the subjects. After all, he was strict in his obedience, pious in his religion and conservative in his theology. Surely he was on God’s side already.

But Jesus shoots down all his assumptions. To be in the kingdom, to be on God’s side, Jesus says, you must be born again. In fact, Jesus stresses the absolute necessity of it. No-one, he says, can see the kingdom and no-one can enter the kingdom without this experience of new life. This might help us see why Jesus doesn’t even let Nicodemus ask his question. He has come to Jesus assuming that he’s on God’s side already, and wants to see what Jesus can add to his knowledge. Jesus, however, stops him in his tracks. He wants to make it clear that Nicodemus can make no assumptions, and indeed cannot consider himself under God’s rule unless this dramatic change of being ‘born again’ takes place.

Being born again

So what does he mean by ‘born again’? Well, first of all, we need to notice that the term Jesus uses can mean either ‘born again’ or ‘born from above’. Later in this passage, in verse 31, Jesus uses the same word when he talks about himself as the one who has come down ‘from above’. So people have debated which way it should be translated, and most Bibles have a footnote with the alternative rendering. Actually, I think we’ll see that Jesus chooses this word deliberately to convey both ideas.

Secondly, we need to look at the phrase ‘born of water and the Spirit’. That phrase has also been taken in different ways. Some have suggested it means born physically (which, as anyone present at a birth can tell you, involves a variety of fluids – which could be referred to as ‘water’) and then by the Spirit. Others have suggested it means ‘baptized in water and born again by the Spirit’.

Both of those are possible, but we should notice that in verse 10 Jesus seems to think that Nicodemus should understand this stuff: ‘You are Israel’s teacher, and do you not understand these things?’ That comment suggests that the answer to this idea is to be found in the Old Testament. Nicodemus, as a teacher of the Old Testament, should have known better.

A number of Old Testament passages looked forward to a time when God would work by his Spirit in a new way. For example, Joel chapter 2 talks about God pouring out his Spirit on all people. The most important of these references, however, is from Ezekiel 36, because it mentions not only the Spirit but also water:

‘I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.’

(Ezekiel 36:25–27)

You can see the idea of being washed clean by water and being renewed in some way by the Spirit, which fits with this idea of ‘new birth’ that Jesus is talking about. And that passage in Ezekiel is followed by Ezekiel’s famous vision of a valley of dry bones in chapter 37. Ezekiel sees what is basically a pile of skeletons. And he is told to prophesy to them, and as he does so God’s Spirit comes and makes them alive. God says in that passage, ‘I will put my Spirit in you and you will live.’ That’s the background Jesus has in mind when he speaks about being born again.

Spiritual corpses

This is a view of people that thinks of them as spiritually dead, or as spiritual corpses. If you have ever seen one of those horror films where you have zombies walking around, you’ve got a picture of the ‘living dead’. They are alive in a sense, but not properly alive. That’s what Jesus is saying we’re like. We are alive physically, but spiritually we’re dead. There’s a whole side to us missing.

This takes us right back to what God said in the Garden of Eden. God told Adam that they must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. His warning was: ‘When you eat of it you will surely die’ (Genesis 2:17). But when Adam and Eve ate from it, they didn’t die physically on that day. Physical death came later, but the significant thing that happened that day was that they were put out of the garden. Or we could say they were put out of God’s kingdom. On that day they died spiritually. Their relationship with God as their father and king ended.

And that’s our situation – we are spiritual corpses. That is our problem. And because that’s our problem we can see what the solution is. Jesus doesn’t come to give us a moral reform programme; he doesn’t come to tell us about religious practice. None of that will help when you’re a spiritual corpse. What we need is new life – we need to be born again.

Re-creation

We need God to work by his Spirit in us, to re-create that spiritual part of us that has died. That is what Jesus is talking about here. This is the ‘new life’ we need. Later in John’s gospel Jesus gives us a definition of this life. He says, ‘Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent’ (John 17:3). True life is about knowing God; it means a relationship with God which has been lost in spiritual death and can be regained only by spiritual birth – being ‘born again’.

This is why I think Jesus chose a word that had two shades of meaning. We could translate it ‘born again’ because it is about a new life. We could translate it ‘born from above’ because it is about God working to give us a new life. I think Jesus wanted to convey both those ideas. It is a new life, but it’s not just us turning over a new leaf; it is new life coming from outside ourselves. It comes from above, from God himself.

This idea of being re-created to know God, being born again, is a truth that is repeated in the rest of the New Testament.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins...[God] made us alive with Christ even when we were dead.

(Ephesians 2:1, 5)

He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

(Titus 3:5)

If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation.

(2 Corinthians 5:17)

Here is an incredible truth. We are re-created by God’s Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who brings life. It’s as though God breathes his Spirit into us to resuscitate us. Or the Holy Spirit comes and brings that divine shock that gets our spiritual heart beating again. We move from death to life. Part of us is re-created by God.

Thinking about becoming a Christian

I mentioned earlier that some people say we need to rethink what being born again means. The suggestions vary, but include things like ‘turning over a new leaf with God’, or ‘deciding to adopt Jesus’ new agenda’. But those sorts of suggestion don’t deal with all we’ve discussed above. What they actually do is play down the change that happens when someone becomes a Christian. They make that change more respectable! The reality is very humbling for us. We don’t simply need to turn over a new leaf with God; we need to be given new life! We don’t just need to adopt a new agenda; we need God to re-create us because we’re dead. That’s how bad it is, and so that’s what we need.

Realize the change needed

How would you describe yourself before becoming a Christian? We all have different pasts, so some would speak of a wild life apart from God, while others would say they were just average people. But the biblical description includes stuff like ‘dead to God’, ‘enemies of God’, ‘lovers of sin’. For example, in Titus 3:3 Paul describes himself and everyone else like this: ‘At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.’

And he goes on to say that God saved us because of his mercy by the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. That’s humbling, isn’t it – to be told the situation was so bad we needed a new heart; we couldn’t just clean up the old one? We were dead to God and needed him to remake us. We were living a life enslaved to sin and needed him to wash us and renew us by his Spirit.

We mustn’t play down the change involved in becoming a Christian. Rather, we need to play it up, because we are all prone to forgetting the depth of change needed. We are all prone to thinking God just needed to dust us off, rather than raise us from the dead. And, of course, if we realize this, we go on to thank God for his mercy and to rejoice in his remaking us. This results in great humility and great gratitude.

Realize that the change is needed by all

This might sound obvious, but we also need to remember that this is the change everyone needs. Remember, Jesus said that ‘no-one’ could enter the kingdom without the Spirit renewing them in this way.

There was a famous evangelist in the eighteenth century called George Whitefield, who kept on speaking from John 3. Someone once asked him why he kept on preaching on this text and saying ‘You must be born again’. He replied, ‘Because, sir, you must be born again.’ This is a necessity for everyone.

In other words, there is only one kind of Christian in the world – the born-again kind. It doesn’t matter what background we’re from, what we have or haven’t done, what skeletons there are or aren’t in the cupboard. We all needed God to work a miracle in us and give us new life.

We can get into thinking that some people are so nice and pleasant that God doesn’t have to do very much to them for them to become Christians, and meanwhile others are so bad that it’s a real overhaul job for God. In other words, we start to grade people. The biblical grading, however, is very simple: everyone is dead spiritually, and everyone needs this miracle of new life.

And so there is only one type of Christian. That is a great leveller among us. That means I can never start to look down on other Christians, thinking to myself, ‘They are lucky: God renewed them.’ I was just as dead as they were, and they are now just as much alive by the Spirit as I am. Equally, God hasn’t made some people more ‘alive’ than others. There can be no grading systems in the church!

Realize that the change can look different

While this regeneration by the Spirit is the experience we all need, we must realize that it can look very different for different people. In some groups, being born again has been presented as a stereotyped experience: usually as a crisis moment when you finally ‘pray the prayer’ for forgiveness. As a result, you can date and time your new birth. In fact, I’m told you can get ‘New Birth’ certificates to keep with your original birth certificate. On this certificate you put the date and time and place of being born again. But that rather presumes you know the details!

Some people, of course, do know the details. They can talk you through the event; they can give you the precise timing; they fit the stereotype. But for others it looks very different. I became a Christian between the ages of seventeen and eighteen, but I can’t tell you exactly when. That year was something of a journey of discovery. I gradually came to understand the truth of the gospel. By the end of the year I’d understood the gospel and I trusted Jesus’ death for me. But I can’t date it any more precisely than that, and there was no ‘crisis’ on the way. And, of course, for many people, especially those who have grown up in a Christian family, they may be very unclear when this new birth happened.

The problem comes when we start to be prescriptive of what it must look like. Sometimes those who’ve had the ‘crisis’ conversion can suggest that unless you too can date and time your new birth, it hasn’t really happened. That’s really unhelpful and undermining of other people’s experience.

Many have used the illustration of a journey, say on a train, where you are unsure when you crossed a certain bridge. The important thing is to know that you have crossed it – you are on the other side; you do have this new life in the Spirit. How can we know? We’ll think about that a little below. The important thing for now is to say that while we all need this rebirth we mustn’t prescribe what it looks like.

Should I call myself a ‘born-again Christian’?

I was getting to know a student called Luke. He was interested in Christianity and we were about to start some Bible studies together for him to discover more about Jesus. Before we began, though, he said he had a question for me. I wondered what was coming.

‘Are you a born-again Christian?’ he a...

Table of contents

• Experiencing the Spirit
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction The big sister?
• New life in the Spirit: John 3:1–8
• Knowing Jesus by the Spirit John 16:5–16
• The Spirit of adoption Galatians 4:4–7; Romans 8:15–16
• Seeing by the Spirit 1 Corinthians 2:6–16
• Walking by the Spirit Galatians 5:16–26
• Getting more of the Spirit? Ephesians 4:1–6; 5:15–21
• Resisting the Spirit Acts 6:8 – 7:60
• The gifts of the Spirit 1 Corinthians 12:1–11
• Empowered by the Spirit The book of Acts
• The Spirit and the future Ephesians 1:13–14
• Conclusion
• Further reading