“However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”
—Romans 8:9

Sometimes when we hear certain words, they bring up preconceived notions that cause us to miss what is being communicated to us. Born again is that kind of term. The minute some people hear the phrase born-again Christian, they think of people who are extreme in their thinking, judgmental, or on the Far Right. But that is not what the term born again means. In fact from my perspective it is a scientific term.

Jesus said, “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). He went on to say, “Truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:5–6). So when Jesus used the term born again, He wasn’t just talking about a change of lifestyle or a new beginning. He was talking about literally being born of God’s Spirit.

You see, there is a first birth and a second birth. The first birth is when you were born from your mother’s womb. But when you receive Jesus, God’s Spirit literally comes inside you. And when that happens, you receive another nature—God’s own nature—because His Spirit comes and inhabits you. This is what the term born again actually means.

This is our reality as believers in Yeshua: those who belong to Christ—those who have been born again— have the Spirit of God living within them. We need to become less focused on what is going on outside of us and be more conscious of God’s Spirit that dwells inside of us. This is how the early believers were able to do supernatural things—because they understood that God’s Spirit literally lived inside them.

Let us not allow the world’s concept of being born again keep us from understanding what Jesus truly meant. God’s Spirit is in you. Begin to focus on that truth and ask the Father to bring that reality alive in your heart.

Father God, I believe and declare that Your Spirit is alive in me. Deepen my awareness of this reality, and move powerfully through me. Raise my expectation of what You can and will do in my life.

Rabbi Kirt A. Schneider, Rivers of Revelation (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2020), Used by permission.