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Begin wherever your curiosity leads. The studies will be here when you’re ready. When I shared my first Matthew study on Facebook today, I mentioned that I planned to post daily, though I might not share every post on Facebook. As I continue setting up this blog, I’ve realized that what matters most to me is making my past studies available for anyone who wants to explore them. For now, I’ll be adding posts to my heart’s content as I work through those studies. Some days that may mean one post; other days it may mean several. I’ll continue reading through and preparing each one before sharing it. There is no need to keep up with everything as it appears. This blog is becoming a place you can browse at your own pace—begin with a book, a question, or a study that interests you, and follow from there. The Bible Books page gathers studies by book, while Study Threads helps connect topics that travel through more than one book. The labels on individual posts also bring related material to...
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3. Born Again: The Spirit Gives Life

In the previous post, I examined water and cleansing—the leaving behind of old ways and the inward change described through a new heart.

Now I want to consider the life received.

For me, being born again involves more than recognizing that something needs to change. It concerns receiving life from God and learning to follow the Spirit in the life that continues afterward.

Formed, but Not Yet Living

Ezekiel 37:1–10 presents a striking sequence.

The bones come together. Sinews, flesh, and skin appear. Yet something remains absent: there is no breath in them.

Then breath enters, they live, and they stand upon their feet.

I pause at that distinction between being formed and being alive. The appearance of a complete body does not finish the movement of the vision.

The passage identifies the bones as the whole house of Israel, whose hope has been lost. Within that restoration promise, YHWH (יהוה) connects placing the Spirit within them with their living. Ezekiel 37:11–14

I bring this beside John 3 as a comparison concerning the source of life. It helps me consider why outward form alone cannot answer the question of what lives within.

The Natural and the Spiritual

This distinction also brings me to 1 Corinthians 15:44–49.

Paul discusses resurrection, distinguishing the natural body from the spiritual body. He describes the first Adam as a living soul and the last Adam as a life-giving spirit. He also preserves an order: the natural first, then the spiritual.

These details matter to the connection I am tracing.

Being a living human and receiving spiritual life must not simply be treated as interchangeable descriptions. Paul’s language directs my attention to life, its source, and the transformation he describes.

His discussion also includes the resurrection of the dead and the change from mortality to immortality. Those details deserve their own examination as this study develops. I want to follow the relationship between receiving the Spirit and resurrection without making either disappear into the other.

Life Within and Direction Afterward

Romans 8:9–14 brings the discussion directly to the Spirit dwelling within.

Paul connects belonging to Christ with having the Spirit. He then speaks of putting the deeds of the body to death through the Spirit and being led by the Spirit.

The relationship includes both presence and direction.

That is important to my understanding of being born again. Receiving does not mean I now possess an independent source of life that I can use however I please. I remain dependent upon God and responsible for how I respond.

What am I allowing to guide my decisions? Am I willing to turn from something harmful even when it appeals to me?

The Struggle Does Not Instantly Disappear

Galatians 5:16–17 describes conflict between the desires of the flesh and the Spirit.

This helps me explain why transformation does not mean becoming instantly flawless. There can still be resistance, habits to confront, and choices that require honesty.

In my experience, understanding developed over time. Something could become clear to me, yet living differently required continued attention and a willingness to be corrected.

The existence of a struggle does not excuse surrendering to every desire. It gives me reason to examine what I am following.

Paul’s instruction holds the two parts together:

“If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk.”

Galatians 5:25, ASV

The Life Becomes Visible in Its Fruit

Paul also describes the fruit of the Spirit through love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22–23

That brings this study into ordinary relationships.

How do I respond when someone frustrates me? Can I listen without becoming cruel? Will I tell the truth when dishonesty would protect my pride?

These questions help me examine the life I profess. They keep transformation connected with the person I am becoming and how I treat others.

Life comes from YHWH (יהוה). My response is to keep learning, following, and allowing that relationship to shape how I live.

Threads to Follow

  • Formation, breath, and life in Ezekiel 37.

  • The natural and the spiritual in 1 Corinthians 15.

  • The Spirit dwelling within and being led.

  • The continuing conflict between flesh and Spirit.

  • Hearing, discernment, and the fruit of a changed life.

The books were opened…

🌿 By Maria Emilia

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