Ye must be Born Again

But what does it mean to be 'Born Again'

This term first appears in the Bible in
John chapter three...

"There was a man of the Pharisees,
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 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. 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. 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? 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. That which is born of the
flesh is flesh; and that which is born of
the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I
said unto thee, Ye must be born again."

John 3:1-7

********************

To understand this Biblical term, it
is necessary to understand that there are
two seperate births. The first birth is
the physical birth, when you were born
into this world from your mother and
father. When the Bible speaks of being
"born of water," it is speaking about
the physical birth (NOT BAPTISM). The
second birth is a spiritual birth, which
means to be born of the "Spirit"
(God's Holy Spirit). This raises a couple
of questions: Why does a person need to be
born spiritually?...and, What is a
spiritual birth?

Gods word (the Holy Bible) teaches that man
is created in the image of God. God
manifests Himself to mankind in three
Persons, God the Father,the Son of God and
the Holy Ghost. Likewise, mankind is
composed of a body, soul and spirit. Our
body is the tent, you could say, of the soul
and spirit (the body is a temporary
dwelling place).Our soul is composed of the
heart(to feel), the mind (to think), and
the will (to decide).Our spirit is dead in
sin when we are physically born; that is, we
are born void of God. No person is ever
born with God. The only exceptions are John
the Baptist who was "filled with the Holy
Ghost even from his mothers womb"
(Luke 1:15) and this was to serve Gods
purpose for John as the messenger of Christ
(who later confesses that he himself as a
man needed to receive baptism of the Holy
Ghost from the Lord Jesus).The second is
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself Who came as
God in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16).Our spirit
is dead in trespasses and sin the Bible
says

"And you hath He quickened, who were dead
in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past
ye walked according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power
of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience:"

Ephesians 2:1-2

******************

The unsaved person cannot understand God.

"But the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God: for they
are foolishness unto him: neither can he
know them, because they are
spiritually discerned."

1Corinthians 2:14

*******************

The reason why you need to be spiritually
born is because you have never been
spiritually born to begin with. So when
the Bible speaks of being born again,
it actually means born for the second time.
You were born physically into this world,
but you were born without the Spirit of God
in your soul (spiritually dead). Yes,
God created you, but He gave you a freewill
to decide for yourself where you will
spend eternity. God never forces anyone
to accept Jesus as their Saviour. He
simply offers a warm invitation to anyone
who wants to have their sins forgiven and
go to Heaven. Salvation is a free gift
(Romans 5:15), paid for by the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
(1Peter 1:18,19). We must accept God's gift
of eternal life or it will be forever
forfeited when we leave this world (die).

God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat of
the forbidden fruit in the Garden of
Eden. Genesis 2:17, "But of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat of it: for in the day that thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
Notice, God said they would die “the day
that thou eatest thereof.” Interestingly,
Adam and Eve didn't die physically the the
day they ate the fruit and disobeyed
God's command. The reason is because they
died SPIRITUALLY. Sin had entered the
human race. The Bible teaches that from
Adam until present time, mankind has been
born spiritually dead, inherited down
from Adam's sin. This is why humanity MUST
be born-again. This is only possible
through the Holy Spirit of God, which makes
us alive again (quickeneth the Bible says)
by faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and
Savior.

To be spiritually born means that God's
Holy Spirit “quickens” (or makes alive) our
dead spirit. When a sinner believes on the
Lord Jesus as the Christ, trusting Him alone
to forgive all sins—then God the Father and
His Son come into one's heart through the
Holy Spirit (John 14:23). The “Holy
Ghost” is “God within us.”

I have God living in my body in the form of
the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:9 tells us that
the Spirit of Christ dwells within
every believer. I am not God, but I have
God's Spirit living in my body. The
Godhead indwells every believer. The Holy
Spirit of God guides me, comforts me,
teaches me, rebukes me, chastises me,
convicts me, encourages me, empowers me,
loves me, strengthens me, and so much more.
The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to do
these things. This is why it is
critically important for every believer to
live in their Bible (and make sure you have
the Holy Bible— the King James Authorized).
A person cannot understand the Bible without
the presence of the Author, and God is
the Author. When you become born-again (or
born for the second time), God's Holy
Spirit comes into your body (1Corinthians
3:16), never to leave (Hebrews 13:5),
and you will understand many new things
for the first time in your life.

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a
new creature: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are become
new."

2Corinthians 5:17

It is ONLY through the Precious Word of God
that anyone can be born-again. Surely, no
one can be born into this world
again physically, there is no turning back
the hands of time. However, you most
certainly can be born again, spiritually,
into God's family through the Spirit of
Christ

"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the
Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you. Now if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his"

Romans 8:9

*******************

The way we become "born again" is found
in the Word of God

"Being born again, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible, by the word of God,
which liveth and abideth for ever."

1Peter 1:23

******************

We are born again by the Word of God. Jesus
is the Word of God (John 1:1,14:
Revelation 19:13).
If you don't receive Jesus Christ and become
a born again Christian, then you will sadly
burn in Hellfire for all eternity
(John 3:18, 36; Revelation 20:15; 21:8).

The GOOD NEWS (the Gospel) is that it is
very EASY to have the second birth, a
spiritual birth. God came down to this
earth 2,000 years ago and took upon Himself
the form of a man. That man was the Lord
Jesus Christ (John 1:1,14; 1Timothy
3:16). Literally, the GODHEAD became
incarnate (Colossians 2:9). The Lord Jesus
was born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). The
Lord Jesus never sinned once (2nd
Corinthians 5:21). The Lord Jesus died,
was buried and rose again after three
days (1Corinthians 15:1-4). The Lord Jesus
shed His blood to pay for all our
sins (Colossians 1:14; 1st Peter 1:18,19),
and applied that blood to the Mercy Seat
in Heaven (Hebrews 9:24-26).

There are a few things you must acknowledge
to be saved:

You are a sinner under the condemnation of
God's Law (Romans 3:10,23).

You are GUILTY, and deserve to go to Hellfire
as punishment for your sins (Romans 3:19;
6:23; Revelation 21:8).

Jesus Christ, God in the flesh (God's Son),
died upon the cross to pay for your sins
(John 3:16-18; Romans 5:8). It is the
Lord Jesus' blood that takes our sins away
(1st John 1:7).
Jesus is the Saviour (the Christ) who paid
for your sins. If you realize that you're
a guilty sinner (and thus need a Saviour),
then you simply need to believe upon the
Lord Jesus to have your sins
forgiven.

“Testifying both to the Jews, and also to
the Greeks, repentance toward God, and
faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Acts 20:21

Repentance and faith are inseparable.
Repentance is simply a change of mind
that involves turning to the Lord Jesus
Christ to be forgiven of one's sins. It is
only when we repent, by owning to God that
we are as vile a sinner as He has declared
us to be in His Holy Scripture, and place
our faith in the blood sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ to wash away our
sins, believing that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God, that we are born-again
anew.

“To him give all the prophets witness,
that through his name whosoever believeth
in him shall receive remission of sins.”

Acts 10:43

********************

You may pray if you'd like, but you don't
have to. Salvation is of the heart
(Romans 10:10). If you'd like to pray,
simply ask the Lord Jesus to forgive your
sins and tell Him that you're trusting Him
as your Saviour. It matters not exactly what
you pray, just as long as you realize these
two main truths:

You are a guilty sinner under the
condemnation of God's
Law!
Jesus is the Lord and Saviour who shed His
blood to take away your
sins!
You might pray something like
this...

'Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a
Hell-deserving sinner. I believe that Thou
art the Son of God, the Saviour, who shed
Thy precious blood to pay for my sins. I
now believe upon Thee as my personal
Saviour, and ask Thee to please forgive
me of all my sins. Please save me and
keep me for Heaven to be with Thee,
Amen.'

Salvation is NOT a prayer, although you
may prayer a sinner's pray to express
your heart's faith in the Lord Jesus. We
are saved by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS,the
righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ
which is charged to our account at the
time of salvation. This is the
imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ.

“But to him that worketh not, but believeth
on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith
is counted for righteousness.”

We are saved by God's grace through faith
in Christ Jesus, because of the blood that
He shed onthe Cross for our sins. Our part
is only to repent and believe the Gospel.

Salvation is not a matter of praying
some special words. The publican merely
cried out, “God be merciful to me a sinner.
” The thief on the cross simply asked the
Lord Jesus to "remember" him, and the Lord
Jesus most certainly did. It was their faith
in Christ and not their words, that
received salvation. Both men acknowledged
their guilt of sin and turned to the Lord
Jesus Christ for forgiveness. There is nothing magic
about the words you pray, it is your
faith (trust) upon the Lord Jesus Christ
that brings salvation. It is your faith
that causes you to call upon the Lord Jesus
to forgive your sins and sit you in the Heavenly's.
God wants to save you more than
you could ever want to be saved (2Peter
3:9).

Salvation is very simple, we are sinners
and the Lord Jesus is the Saviour. Anyone
who believes on the name of the Lord Jesus
for salvation becomes a part of God's
family (Romans 10:13; Galatians 3:26).
Eternal life is a free gift freely given
and freely received. Salvation is receiving;
not giving. Our part is to acknowledge our
guilt of sin and believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ to be forgiven.

You see friend, there is no religion
involved here, ONLY the Lord Jesus Christ
and Him crucified and on the third day rose
from the dead. The big issue is that we are
all sinners, and that sin MUST be dealt
with. The word of God indicts all of us
as guilty sinners. The Lord Jesus wants to
be our Attorney and set us free. You must
accept God's plea-agreement in Christ Jesus,
or stand trial at The Great White Throne
of Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15).

Salvation is NOT found in a religion, but
in the Person of The LORD JESUS CHRIST.

To Him be all the glory now and forever,
Amen