In the teaching of Lord Jesus, self-denial marks the beginning of discipleship and the rebirth. (If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. Luke 9:23)

The new birth does not take place when we hear a message that arouses emotions, when there is no presence of the Word of Christ, repentance, self-denial, nor faith. Being born again is not an emotional, inexplicable experience of the soul.

Just as any biological birth (whether plant, animal, or human) is based on a seed, so is with this new birth; it cannot occur if it does not have the Teaching of Christ/the Seed of God as its basic element.

Three main elements participate in the birth of a plant: the seed, the soil and water. Like with the birth of a plant, the Scripture also mentions three elements that participate in the new birth.

The human heart resembles the earth. (But those on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the Word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. Luke 8:15)

Christ’s Word/His teachings, from which life sprouts, is the Seed. (The seed is the Word of God. Luke 8:11; He willingly gave birth to us through the Word of truth. James 1:18)

The Holy Spirit is the third mandatory element. Just as the plant does not germinate from the seed if it does not have water, without the Holy Spirit, new life will not begin. (…by the renewal of the Spirit. Titus 3:5)

Lord Jesus tells us that only if we hate the old man, if we abandon the old things, only then will we be able to start a new life, and this will be a life as a disciple/slave of His. (If anyone comes to Me and does not hate… even his very own life, he cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:26) The new birth does not occur without me giving up the old “man” and without submitting to Christ. (You have stripped the old man of his deeds. Colossians 3:9) The Lord enters into covenant with us only when we give up our own will and agree to submit to the Teachings of Christ. From this moment, life of discipleship begins. We become His disciples from the day we accept Him in all things as Teacher and Lord. To be a disciple of Christ means to be enrolled in His school, to learn from Him the new things from above, and to master them, as they are strictly necessary for our life in the Kingdom. We become His disciples from the first day of school, from the first day of the new life.

The Lord’s commandment to the apostles was, “Go and make disciples… and teach them to keep all that I have commanded you”. (Matthew 28:19-20) In other words, He sent them to go and make disciples, to enroll them in His school.

If we look at the work of the apostles, this is exactly what they did. (…they preached the gospel in this city and made many disciples. Acts 14:21)

They taught people to renounce their own will, to submit to Christ, and to keep what He commanded. Whoever did so became a disciple in the school of Christ. (For the first time, the disciples were called Christians. Acts 11:26)

In the school of Christ, we are God’s slaves, we are subject to Him in all things, so that we can reach our sanctification. (Once you have been delivered from sin and made God’s slaves, you have your fruit in sanctification, and the end: eternal life. Romans 6:22)

The new birth is the beginning of the disciple’s life, and the final result of the discipleship and God’s work is man in the image and likeness of God.

Attention! If any of these elements is missing, such as: the Word/seed, repentance, faith and obedience, one cannot speak of a new birth or the beginning of a life of discipleship, where Christ is Teacher and Lord.