Question:  Dear Greg,

            I was brought up being taught that when you get saved you are “born again”.  A friend of mine has a problem with that term.  He says we are not born again until we get our incorruptible bodies and enter the kingdom of heaven.  I believe we are born again spiritually when we receive Christ as our Lord. 

            Please explain this discrepancy between our views.

            Sharon

Answer:  Dear Sharon,

            The Bible clearly teaches what you have been taught: that the new birth of Christians happens while we are in this body--during this life.  The Bible gives no indication that our new birth, being born from above, does not occur until our resurrection from the dead.  The Bible says that we are now given eternal life even though we do not inhabit eternity.  We have been given eternal life by virtue of being born again.  In some respects, of course, there are two dimensions of our new life in Christ: the life that he lives in us now, when we are in this body of flesh, and the life of the age to come, when our bodies will be immortal and incorruptible.

            Your friend’s view is without biblical support.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht