Regenerated

A few weeks back I preached about three resurrections in the New Testament. In my final point I discussed how baptism returns us to the state in which we were when we were children. Children are just in God’s eyes and sinless (Eze 18:20 & Matt 19:14). Titus 3:5 shows that Christ has saved us through baptism in which we are regenerated to the state when we were children. Baptism returns us to being just before God. Something that is very interesting to strengthen this point is found in 2nd Kings 5. In that chapter we read of a man named Naaman who had leprosy and he is traveling to Elisha in order to be healed. Elisha informed Naaman that he needed to dip in the Jordan river seven times and then his skin would be restored. Naaman did this and 2nd Kings 5:14 informs us that “his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” Naaman obeyed what he was told and when he came out of the water his skin became like a child! When we obey the scriptures and we raise out of the waters of baptism our skin or appearance does not change (1 Pet 3:21) but we are inwardly or spiritually made like a little child! We are just before God! This can also be paralleled to John 3 in which Jesus is contrasting the physical with the spiritual. Jesus informs Nicodemus that one must be born again and Nicodemus asks how a man can come from his mother again. Jesus spoke of the spiritual birth and Nicodemus was thinking physically. Jesus clarified in John 3:5 that what he was speaking of a spiritual birth. This spiritual birth does not give us a new appearance like Naaman but instead gives us a new start. When we enter that watery grave and rise up we are physically washed in water but spiritually washed in the blood of Christ (1 Jn 1:7) which has the power to remove our sins (Eph 1:7). Thank God.

Waylon Blevins

March 22nd, 2026