Diagram of Life - John 3:4 - 7

"Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’"

A person’s physical life begins at conception, but without spiritual live. Because of Adam’s sin, everyone is conceived spiritually dead and is shown by the black area on the diagram. Generally, after nine months of gestation, there is physical birth, accompanied by a marked increase in awareness. If the person was chosen by the Father to be adopted as his child, then at some point there will be spiritual conception, which seems to imply a spiritual gestation period. 

Spiritual conception, I believe, begins the spiritual gestation period and is shown as the gray triangle because of the sin nature we still have. After a length of time, known to the Father, spiritual growth and awareness will have progressed through hearing the gospel and various other means to the point where he causes spiritual birth to occur. At this point there is a marked increase in spiritual awareness. This point is commonly referred to as being born again. It is the point where faith produces belief and like with physical birth, the person knows it is time and yields to the work of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, there are many in the west that think you can convince a person to be born spiritually. In this way many are deceived into thinking they are Christian when they are not.

After spiritual birth there will be change as we are conformed into the image of Christ. This is a joint effort involving God and the individual and continues in our body of sinful flesh until physical death, which is a separation point for believers and unbelievers from our physical bodies. Believers enter heaven through the narrow gate and unbelievers enter hell through the wide gate to experience the wrath of God forever. Justice demands that everyone continue under the wrath of God, but Jesus Christ drank the cup of God’s wrath on the cross for those chosen by the Father, allowing him to show them mercy, removing the penalty of spiritual death.

When we first enter heaven our salvation is still incomplete as we do not yet have a new resurrected body. That will occur when all those chosen by the Father have been born spiritually. When the body of Christ, his bride, is complete at the end of the age when Christ returns, we will be given our new bodies. After the new earth is created we will come to live there with a God.

The plan of salvation is so wonderful as it is solely a gift from God and will not exclude anyone who sincerely believes. I believe the Scriptures are clear that salvation is based on the will of God, not on the will of man.