A "Born Again Christian”?

Now, based on the definitions in the dictionary – and ladies and gentlemen, there is a reason I chose to give the definitions from the dictionary and we’re going to see this in just a moment.

Based on the definitions in the dictionary, a “Christian” is not necessarily a person who is “born again” and a person who is “born again” is usually a Christian who has simply decided to renew his or her commitment to live as a Christian.

Why did I give you Webster’s definition for “born again,” for “Christian,” and for “born again Christian?” Said another way: why did I give you man’s definition for these words? Did you hear me? Why did I give you man’s definition of these words.

When people aren’t sure what a word means, 99% will turn to a dictionary like Webster’s to find its meaning. Now let me tell you a little bit about dictionary editors. They study language as it’s used. So over a period of time, words are added that were not there before. They carefully monitor what words people use most often and how they use them. So, usage is what determines a word’s meaning. Are you following me?

Let me give you an example. When my wife was pregnant with our children in the 1980s, people said she was pregnant. Today it’s called a “baby bump.” Are you with me? It’s called a baby bump! How many of you heard this term before the last four or five years? It’s now in the dictionary!

Webster’s definition for “born again,” “Christian,” and “born again Christian” – now listen to me ladies and gentlemen – is based on how the people in a society, including sub-set considerations like ethnic cultures, use them every day. In other words, society determines a word’s meaning. Do you hear me? Society determines a word’s meaning. Do you see the problem here?

What have we identified as the most critical failure of the dictionary is this: Word meanings are defined by society. We need to understand this when we look to the dictionary for understanding words in the Bible. Because society determine word meanings, the dictionary will never capture the truth of what these terms communicate about us as sons and daughters of God.

This is an excellent object lesson: the dictionary, written and assembled by extremely intelligent men and women, will never, will never, will never, will never be able to capture the essence and truth of the meaning of words from a spiritual context. “

Second Peter 1:20-21 say “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

And the example I always like to give is that of a president of a company calling in his secretary so he can dictate a letter to Mr. Jones. The Holy Spirit wrote the Bible ladies and gentlemen. And the Bible says that holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit to write it. In other words, they took dictation.

What Second Peter is saying is simply this: if you want to understand the meaning of words and passages in the Bible, then you must allow the Bible to tell you what they mean.