How can we be made alive in our spirit?
Answer:
In John 3, Nicodemus asked Jesus a similar question, “How can a man be born when he is old? (v.4)” Jesus replied, “You must be born again. The Wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (v.7-8). The word for “wind” is the same Greek word for “Spirit”.
In other words, in this passage, Jesus is saying that the Holy Spirit saves, or makes alive whoever He desires to or wills.
When the Spirit saves a person, the Spirit first gives him a new nature so that this person now seeks after God and is caused to believe in Him (Jer 32:40; Eze 36). We understand this as being made alive in our spirit; or in theological language, “regeneration”. In other words, while a believer is declared to be righteous before God on the basis of his faith, this very faith itself, is the fruit of a person who has already been given a new nature by God. Regeneration precedes faith and is a gift that the Spirit bestows on whomever He wills. In other words, being made alive in our spirit is a work of God apart from the cooperation of man; this is known as “Monergism”. Salvation is by grace through faith – not by faith through grace. Faith is not a human work that causes God to save us, it is also a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9).
This however, does not mean that as believers, we do not need to evangelize. God has ordained the means (the preaching of the word, prayer) as well as the ends (the salvation of the individual). When the gospel is preached, the Spirit regenerates those He wills to save and creates in them a new heart that seeks after God. Everyone who has heard, learnt, and who has been drawn by the God will come to faith in Christ. (John 6:44-46)
So, in a sense, a person cannot technically cause himself to be made alive in his spirit – only God can do that. But, he or she ought to humble themselves, believe in the gospel and repent of their sins in response to hearing that Jesus Christ has died for their sins. A person who believes in the gospel demonstrates that he has already been made alive in the Spirit. He is justified on the basis of his faith in Jesus and he will be saved.
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