What does it mean to be a born again Christian? The classic passage from the Bible that answers this question is John 3:1-21. The Lord Jesus Christ is talking to Nicodemus, a prominent Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin (a ruler of the Jews). Nicodemus had come to Jesus at night. Nicodemus had questions to ask Jesus.
As Jesus talked with Nicodemus, He said, “’I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.’ ‘How can a man be born when he is old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again’” (John 3:3-7).
The phrase "born again" literally means "born from above." Nicodemus had a real need. He needed a change of his heart—a spiritual transformation. New birth, being born again, is an act of God whereby eternal life is imparted to the person who believes (2 Corinthians 5:17; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:3; 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1-4, 18). John 1:12,13 indicates that "born again" also carries the idea "to become children of God" through trust in the name of Jesus Christ
The question logically comes, "Why does a person need to be born again?" The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:1 says, "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins..." (NKJV). To the Romans in Romans 3:23, the Apostle wrote, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." So, a person needs to be born again in order to have their sins forgiven and have a relationship with God.
How does that come to be? Ephesians 2:8-9 states, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." When one is "saved," he/she has been born again, spiritually renewed, and is now a child of God by right of new birth. Trusting in Jesus Christ, the One who paid the penalty of sin when He died on the cross, is what it means to be "born again" spiritually. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17). What do you think?
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And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
ReplyDeleteIn this verse, Jesus does not say that a few misguided souls have a false hope of heaven. He says MANY. He is talking to people who think they are Christians. Nowadays there are a lot of people who say that they are Christians who will not enter heaven. These are people who think that they are going to make it in to glory on their lip service. But when they stand before the King and Judge, they will be rejected. When Jesus says "Depart" you can't appeal and try to get a second chance, you got to go. I KNOW they will be terrified. Included here? All those who choose to "worship" God according to their own beliefs and not God's word. This includes, cultists who claim a Jesus/gospel different from the Bible, e.g., Catholics, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists, Christian Scientists, hypocrites along with every Protestant denomination follower who puts their trust in their denomination, and church attendance.
To be a Christian, you must repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus.
REPENT means saying, "I'm sick of sin and living my own way. I want to live under God's commands!"
BELIEVE means believing that Jesus died for your sins, was buried and rose on the third day and accepting His sacrifice for you. It means saying "Yes Lord! I love you! I want to serve you!" James says the devils believe and tremble--saving belief is more than acknowledging that the claims of Christ are true.
Many people think getting saved means saying, "the sinner's prayer"--that is a lie. They believe some mystical thing happens at reciting some words. No! The prayer is a confession of belief on the Lord. Romans 10:9 says,
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, AND shalt BELIEVE in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Jesus said "Repent ye and believe the gospel." Throughout the whole Bible, we see God telling people, in essence, "Turn from your wicked ways unto me and live." (e.g., Ezekiel 33:11) This is repentance--forsaking the sin lifestyle and saying "Yes, I'll submit to God's ways". Doing some good deeds is not repentance. That's trying to be good enough and that ain't gonna work--Isaiah 64:6 says that even our righteousnesses outside of God are as filthy rags. Saying some words is not repentance. The Bible says, "By the works of the flesh shall no man be justified," so the act of speaking don't do it.
If you are a true believer, your life will demonstrate it and the Bible tells us that over and over again. For us Christians, I believe that in our zeal to stem the cults, we emphasize faith and do not put like proper emphasis on the evidences of saving faith which is a life of holiness. I can say, "I really want to go to Harvard." But if I skip school, don't do my homework, and go to sleep in class, do I really want to go? NO WAY! Anybody could see that because my actions betray my confession. It is no different in confessing Jesus. People say, "I believe Jesus is Lord," yet they curse without abandon, don't go to church, love everything this wicked world has to offer, don't feel convicted of sin, and are uninterested in the things of God. Does this person believe to the saving of the soul? Good chance that the answer is no. Is this a matter of trying to be God and determine who will make it in? No! It is a question of life and death and telling people the truth!
Saving faith will manifest itself in good works. Just read James, Hebrews, I John, Romans--the gospels. If no change occurs in a person's life, we have plenty of scriptures to let us know that there is a VERY good chance true conversion never took place to begin with.
http://www.mylordjesus.ning.com/
Della Morton on January 15, 2010 at 11:04am wrote this blog and I found it interesting, so I placed a link to her comments
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