Many question, even me at one point, what it means to be born-again. This is one of my favorite verses discerning the matter...
John 3:1-15:
1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
In verse 3, Jesus, states that we must be born again to see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus in verse 4, then asks how on earth we could be born-again, knowing we cannot go back into our mothers' wombs and be physically born again. That's a question many would be questioning too, I know I did! Jesus then begins to clarify that what's born of the flesh, is flesh, but what is spirit is spirit, meaning when one may hear the term, "die to self", this means to become a new creation in Christ, leaving the old, sinful man behind, walking in true Holiness with the Lord! This is where water baptism is mentioned, as Jesus mentions it in verse 5. Here are verses of scriptures to further clarify. Listen to God's word, not my own. This is what it means to be a born-again Christian. I'd also like to add that Jesus Christ was a Christian Jew and that is where the term "Christian" stems from.
John 3:5:
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit; he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again; he cannot see the kingdom of God.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Acts 8:36-39:
36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.
16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 6:11-14
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
John 3:29-30:
29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Ezekiel 26:26-27:
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Ephesians 2:8-10:
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 1:3-5:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
So, as we can see, by the word of God, to enter the Kingdom of heaven we indeed need to be baptized with WATER and the SPIRIT (Holy Spirit). This way of faith is by no means in correlations to the watered-down, lukewarm Christianity we've come to know and see today. To just go to church isn't enough, to have a good heart, be a good person is not enough. Nowhere in the Bible does it state that we should be giving into worldly ways of living, traditions of man. In fact, it says the opposite, yet I still see plenty of so called, "Christians" today who are still so unhappy, scared, sick with chronic illness/diseases, angry. Watching anything they want to watch, listening to whatever it is they want to listen too. I only speak of this to show the difference between a true born-again believer of Christ Jesus and religious believers. I don't rely on man to teach me a thing in a church, I rely on the word of God for myself, guided by the Holy Spirit who in return gives me the knowledge and the wisdom to understand. "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32) That's what a lot of us lack; wisdom to understand. We cannot read the Bible and understand it with human, flesh intellect, it requires the Holy Spirit. To have a true relationship with the LIVING God, it requires you realizing that this life HERE won't matter when the earth passes away. The Bible states that it does. We don't know when the end is, but by the signs of the world today its evident things are only going to get worse. "They have to get worse before they get better." We need to be willing to give up ANYTHING, even our lives, but to not fear it. To know that you will receive the crown of righteousness and that your flesh, your body, won't be going with you. We live so much for what WE want, when the Bible states to live for Him, what He wants. Father God is our creator, He is the Lord Almighty, and the Bible is our literal tool to our root's, our freedom from this cruel world today. The Bible was the first book in History. Just think about that. Read it for yourselves and invite Jesus into your heart if you haven't done so! What are truly waiting for? Repent. Repent. Repent! For the Kingdom of God is at hand!
I pray this blog has blessed those with the knowledge of a born-again believer, to know religion is NOT the way in which should be followed, the ways and traditions of man. We are to live for the Lord and trust in Him! The Bible states that we have all power over all of the enemy. (Luke 10:19) The Bible states we should be casting out devils, healing the sick, sharing the Gospel, BEING LIKE JESUS, LOVING unconditionally, helping the needy/poor, staying humbled! Yet I don't see the LIVING God anywhere in most churches and foundations today and we wonder why belief is tough for most. We say, "I need to see it to believe it" yet Jesus did AMAZING signs and wonders and gained followers, in which in return He has stated that He has given US! So why aren't Christian churches, why aren't other religious buildings never pertaining the act of God? Why aren't they speaking of the end times? Why is it so uncomfortable for these churches to speak about demons, the kingdom of darkness, and to cast them out, knowing there is evil everywhere in this world and steadily getting worse? It's because satan even knows and believes in the one true God and he trembles! (James 2:19) As true Christians we need to be exposing the enemy, leading people back to the Lord, practicing what we preach! The enemy is active in all of the churches and foundations today. The Bible holds the truth. Cling to it like your life depends on it! The Holy Spirit is real and active and the truth He can reveal to you if you give your life to the Lord, will truly set you free! I'm a walking testimony to his grace and mercy. I thank you so much for reading, God bless you.
* (I thank you, Holy Spirit, for the guidance and ideas for this blog. I pray it helps inspires others to change, to turn back to you, in Jesus mighty name! I love you; I cherish you; I magnify your Holy name Lord! Amen.) *
Thank you for sharing this well clarified meaning of "being born again"