What does it mean to be born again?

The term, "born again" is a common theological jargon often used by Christians when speaking about salvation. But unfortunately many people have a shallow understanding of what it truly means to be born again. My emphasis in this blog post is to exposit the biblical meaning of born again. I pray thee to exercise patience and carefully read through this short article for your spiritual edification 

Born again 

The term "born again" appears verbatim in Jesus dialogue with Nicodemus, as he was teaching him the way for him to gain admission into the kingdom of God. Let us look at the passage itself: "Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into 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 be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus said to Him, "How can these things be? Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? John 3; 1-10

The Greek meaning of "born again " is to be "born anew or born from above".  So Jesus was telling Nicodemus that he needs to be born anew or from above before he can enter into God's kingdom. He needs to undergo spiritual rebirth before he could be saved. To be born again is not an option, it is a necessity if you really want to enter into the kingdom of God.

To be born again is to experience a spiritual transformation effected by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in the Man Jesus Christ. Before, we were sinners, dead in our sins and trespasses. We had no love for God, and we often engaged in those things which satisfied our sinful nature, than to please God. 

But through saving faith in Jesus Christ, we have been regenerated by the Spirit of God, and we are now a new creation, we are born from above. Our spiritual rebirth is purely heavenly and divine, because it was the work of God himself. It is amazing that the Holy Spirit does not only regenerate us, but he has taken the time to permanently dwell within us. His indwelling in us is what authenticates our sonship: The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God-- Romans 8; 16

One of the greatest blessing associated with our being born again is that we are now reckoned as God's children, for it written: But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God-- John 1; 12-13.

If you are not born again, then you are not a child of God, only those who have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior are God's children.

How can a person be born again?

To be born again, you need to repent from your sins and call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. You need to exercise saving faith in the person and finished work of Christ from the depth of your heart and you shall be born again (Romans 10; 9-10).

If you continue to reject Jesus, you can never be born anew, you will not experience this spiritual transformation by the Spirit and in effect not enter into God's kingdom. Call on him now, and be saved eternally. God bless you 

A thought to ponder 🤔 

To be born again is to experience a spiritual transformation effected by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in the Man Jesus Christ

We defend and exposit the truth of the gospel

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the purpose of the church?

Beloved in Christ, the biblical meaning of church is an assembly of believers. The Greek word, "Ekklesia" means, ''the called out ones or a Christian community''. Christians are the very people God has chosen and called them out unto himself. The church constitute Christ hand, his eyes, his mouth, his legs, etc. We are the body of Christ and individual members of it, see (1 Corinthians 12; 27). The Church in it's most basic meaning refers to the very people who have trusted in Christ for salvation, they are the people who are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2; 8-9). To delve deeper, I recommend you read my article on, What is the Church? and What does it mean that the church is the body of Christ? Let us look at the purpose of the Church or why does the Church exist? In the book of Acts, it is written : They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer ...
Read more

Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?

This is a very difficult question that many of our brethren in the faith often ask. According to their candid opinion, the God described in the bible is not the same God in the Quran. The question is are their concerns really important? Does it matter whether we worship the same God or not? Other people also consider this question as baseless, because they believe Christians and Muslims worship the same God. The truth is that our understanding about God is different. We do not have the same view about the nature of God, because the God presented in the bible is not the same God in the Quran. Let us look at some of the things which distinguishes the God of the bible from the God in the Quran                            The Trinity   The term trinity is nowhere found in the bible, but the concept of the trinity is truly biblical. God is triune in his nature, meaning he is one God who eternally exists as three distin...
Read more

Can the Holy Spirit leave a believer?

There are differing views about this question, as to whether the holy Spirit can leave a believer in Christ or not. Some people are of the opinion that the Holy Spirit left certain old testament figures and can still leave a Christian today. The people from the other camp also says that the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in a Christian is permanent. These are two contradictory viewpoints which cannot be reconciled. One view is consistent with the scriptures, whiles the other is in antithesis to the truth of the gospel. For this cause, I will labor in the word in order for the truth of God's word to be established. The Holy Spirit dwelt temporarily in the Old testament saints Prior to the incarnation of the Son of God, the Holy Spirit came upon certain individuals and departed from them at will. A typical example, was Saul who was the first king among the children of Israel. Upon his disobedience to the instructions of God, God rejected him and his Spirit departed from him: ...
Read more