Being born again is like replacing a kitchen faucet?

Replacing a kitchen faucet can be a bit of a task. The first step is to remove the old faucet. You then attach the new faucet to the sink and connect the hoses to the water spigots. Once the spigots are opened, lifting the lever will send clean water through your new faucet and into your sink.

It is a lot like being born again. The old sinful man must make way for the new creation in Christ. Our new man must be grafted on to the vine - that source of living water that flows out of believers of Jesus. As the spigots of the sink must be opened, the new man must be open to the flow of the Holy Spirit into and through them. In order for the fruit of the Spirit to be produced they must take a step of faith and lift the lever of their heart, trusting that the Holy Spirit is at work in them and will make His fruit evident in their life.

The first step and continuing step is to get rid of the old faucet. It produces the works of the flesh, which lead to death. A Christian who cannot put aside the old sinful man is like someone who has two faucets on their sink - one that produces clean water and the other that produces filthy water. You cannot be sure what will come out when you lift the lever.

Just as the water lines are the source rather than the faucet, so is the vine the source rather than the new man in Christ. It isn't enough to be connected to the vine. We must produce fruit; and not us, but the Holy Spirit in us. Jesus said that if we produce fruit, we will be pruned to be able to produce more fruit. If we don't produce fruit, we will be cut off from the vine. Those cut off branches will be gathered into a pile to be burned.

Being a Christian is not something that we add to the life we are living as sinners. It is a complete replacement of what we were for what we are called to be in Christ. Instead of the filth of the world, we now have springs of living water that pour out of those who believe in Jesus. Congratulations, you are a faucet.