Born Again

The term “born again” must be placed in its proper perspective or false doctrines will arise from it. It is so simple that a child can understand, but Satan tries to confuse everyone. The action taken to birth someone into God’s family is performed by Christ with the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It is a spiritual action by Christ and must be attained through man’s faith in God’s Word.

Being born again spiritually is the result of a marriage of the Bridegroom and the Bride. The Bridegroom says I love you, “will you marry me and become one with me”? The Bride says, “Yes, I love you too and cannot live the rest of my life without you. Yes, I will become one with you, and let you be my husband”. The Bride gives herself to the Bridegroom without any reservation. The Bridegroom promises to keep, protect, and love his wife forever. The Bride is the church (born again individuals) and the Bridegroom is Christ.

In a perfect environment (born of the spirit of God), this union can never be broken. What God has put together, let not man put asunder. In the carnal world with physical bodies, this union is often broken. With Christ the spiritual union of being born again can never be broken by either the Bride or the Bridegroom. No one, not even the Bride, can break this seal of eternal security as Christ has sealed this union. Christ is the only one that could break the seal, and he promises this will never happen.

The love is there in a marriage and both feel the intense love between the Bride and Bridegroom, but you cannot see love. You can only see the fruits of love by observing the couple’s union with each other. There is wooing and a call by the Bridegroom to the Bride. There is an acceptance by the Bride; she has complete faith in her love and the love of the Bridegroom. She has complete faith that he will keep her forever. The Bridegroom has given his promise and seals it with a ceremony and an everlasting ring of promise and ownership that the Bride belongs to him. The Bride also knows the ring means she belongs forever with him and him with her.

Being born again starts with two things, the faith of the believer and the grace of God. God has established grace that seals the deal and makes it official after the Bride accepts. Jesus, through his Holy Ghost, woos “all” of mankind to love him and join him in a union. God loved us first. A person is attracted to Jesus through hearing the preaching of the gospel of his love.

In the wooing of a woman by a man, the woman does not accept the wooing of all men. She might reject one who pursues her and accept another who pursues her. The same is true in the spiritual realm where Christ, through the Holy Ghost, woos all of mankind to accept Christ as Lord and Savior to become part of the church and the Bride of Christ. Satan also woos mankind and most choose Satan.

When a person accepts the love of Christ and loves him in return and accepts his promise of eternal life in Christ, the person is born again of the spirit of Christ and becomes one with Christ for eternity.

A person accepts this wooing and free gift of love from God and in return submits their entire being to Christ. Jesus knows the heart of everyone. He sees this person truly loves his Word (essence), and he accepts this love. In exchange, Jesus seals this love with the ring of ownership and his promise that he will never forsake this person. Jesus baptizes this person with his own spirit of love (Holy Ghost) and this person is forever sealed as his own. This person is now one with God and experiences the love of God in his heart.

The married couple has complete confidence in their love and devotion to each other, so do the born again in Jesus. Both feel the love and it is indeed real. Both communicate with each other in an aura of love and know each other intimately. The union consists of God’s action of wooing the lost to him, their acceptance by faith and love, and his free gift of salvation sealing the deal and making it eternal. It is both an act of promise by Jesus and an actual changing of the heart of the individual by Christ through the spirit.

We now go to scripture to confirm the act of being born again. First, we must remember that God extends his love and the invitation to us, and then we must confirm our love for him by our acceptance of that invitation by faith. The free gift of eternal life by Jesus is salvation and we have no part in it, other than accepting it by faith. Christ then performs the act of birthing us into the kingdom and sealing the deal for eternity.

It must be emphasized there is only one way to eternal life and that is through Jesus. He has provided the grace (act of redemption) by his death for our sins and the promise and power of resurrection of our souls from death unto eternal life through his own resurrection. We know God has provided everything, but our faith, so we access God’s grace through our act of faith.

John 14:6 Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Ephesians 2:8-9 8By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast.

There is none of man’s works involved in salvation as shown in the Ephesians passage. The phrase “it is the gift of God” does not refer back to the word “faith” in Ephesians, but to the plan of salvation. So, faith is the characteristic of man and not God. God needs no faith as he is always sure. He speaks and it happens.

Romans 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all.

All, who will be born again, must submit themselves to God’s grace by faith. Those who are trying to find God some other way will fail and spend eternity in hell. “The Just shall live by faith”. “Without faith, it is impossible to please God”. “Anything that is not of faith is sin”. Even those saved in Old Testament days were saved by faith.

Luke 12:8 I say unto you, whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the son of man also confess before the angels of God. (A person confesses Jesus as Lord and Savior by their faith and Christ secures them for eternity)

Luke 10:25, 27 25Behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 27He answering said, Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with thy entire mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.

Just as the Bride must love her husband with all of her heart and submit herself completely to him, a person must submit themselves completely to God in love. The love of God must be all consuming to their soul.

We now turn our attention to the phrase “born again”. The passage below is the key to this discussion.

John 3:3, 5-8 3Jesus said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 5Jesus answered, Verily, verily; I say unto thee, except a man is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. 8The wind blows where it lists, and you hear the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it comes, and whither it goes: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

It is emphasized by Jesus that a person must be born again. Jesus stressed the word “verily” twice (truly, truly or surely, surely) in verse 3. Adam lost his spiritual soul when he lost his faith in God. All of Adam’s descendants were then born without spiritual souls. For man to escape hell and be reunited with God, he must have a new spiritual soul.

Man is born of water in the physical body. We are surrounded in a physical sac of fluids when born. We are made of 90% water. Water birth gives us physical life, but not spiritual life. Jesus restates physical birth through water another way, “that which is born of flesh is flesh”. We must also be born of the spirit of God to inherit eternal life in Christ.

We feel the wind blowing, hear it, and see its results, but cannot see the wind. A Christian born of the spirit of God feels the presence of the Holy Ghost, we hear him spiritually speak to us, but we do not actually see the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost of Jesus is with us but not Jesus himself. We know for sure we have his presence with us, but cannot show him to you in a physical sense, other than the results of this spirit of Christ in our lives.

You see leaves move on the trees, and you see trees uprooted when the wind is strong. We observe actions of the Holy Ghost in the lives of Christians more strongly and less strongly at times, depending on our willingness for Christ to lead us, or our resistance to him due to our own egos.

We normally feel the Holy Ghost more strongly in the presence of other Christians. It is similar to loose, hot coals brought together in a pile in a stove. When the coals are close together, the fire is hotter. If you stir them, you see the fire and sparks from the coals. In a worship service where we are leaving our egos behind, we are more in his will and more pliable to the working of the Holy Ghost who is always present in us.

The spirit of Christ in each Christian is similar to the hot coals brought together to make the fire hotter. The Holy Ghost is stronger in the midst of many Christians than it is in an individual Christian in most instances. However, this is not always true. Some individuals have given themselves over to God in such devotion to his work that their own egos are almost non-existent and the power of Christ’s Spirit in them is extremely powerful.

Christians should study the Word of God and talk with God all through the day via the Holy Ghost in us. Christians live by faith through the Holy Spirit within us. We do not try to make contact with spiritual beings. The earth is filled with demonic spiritual beings wanting to contact and possess those who would be fooled by them. Christianity bypasses these demonic beings. We talk directly to God through the Holy Ghost dwelling in us by faith. We do not need to see or talk physically with any demonic beings.

John 3:14-16 14As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Those who look upon the Savior on the cross and accept his atonement for their sins and accept the resurrected Savior, as God incarnate in Jesus, has everlasting (eternal) life in Christ and will never perish.

John 3:18-21 18He that believeth on him is not condemned; he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone that does evil hates the light; neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21He that does truth comes to the light that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Verses 18-21 describe the attributes of God’s children. The lost shuns the Word of God. They cannot bear to hear about God, his Son, nor warnings to them of their wicked ways. He that is born again of God, loves to come to the light of the scriptures, loves the teachings of the Holy Ghost, loves to talk about God and his Son, and loves to worship God with their brothers in Christ.

1 Peter 1:18-19, 22-25 18Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 22Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure, fervent heart.

23we are born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides for ever. 24For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower thereof falls away: 25But the word of the Lord endures for ever. This is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

The blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. We are then born again through our faith and his grace (free gift of eternal life). We are born of the incorruptible Word of God which is eternal. Those who have accepted the preaching of the gospel (Word of God) have this spirit engrafted into their souls. This Word of God lives forever. We are born again by the act of Jesus giving us the free gift of a new spiritual soul that is eternal.

John 1:11-13 11He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Note, verse 13 states we are born of God. We become a child of God through this new birth. Also, it is stated that man cannot attain salvation through his own efforts or his own will. Anyone trying to attain perfection or salvation through his own works will wind up in the Lake of Fire.

John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. We ingest this Word of God into our very essence and it births us into a new spiritual life. We then pass from the death of the soul, which was caused by Adam, into a new creature with a new spiritual soul of eternal life.

Ephesians 1:13-14 13In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

We hear the Word of God (truth), we trust it (believe it), and it becomes our salvation as Jesus seals us with the Holy Spirit unto life eternal. We have passed from death unto eternal life through the new birth.

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, if a man loves me, he will keep my words: my Father will love him; we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Jesus first loved us, we hear the gospel of his grace and commit ourselves to his love and love him in return. We become a union with God and his Son, Jesus. We are born again of God.

I John 4:15 whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God. (We become one with God. We are in him and he is in us. We now belong to him eternally.)

Luke 17:20-21 20And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21Neither shall they say, Lo here! Or, lo there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

The kingdom of God is within every person who is born again of the Holy Spirit of God. We are already present with God. When this body dies, it decays, but we remain with God due to the new birth.

John 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. (A simple verse affirming that a believer “has” eternal life.)

Romans 5:1-2 1Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2By whom also we have access by faith unto this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Born again believers have the peace of God in our lives. Our faith and love in Jesus, and his saving grace makes us to rejoice constantly. We possess the hope of God’s glory wherewith he has promised us eternal life in heaven with him.

I John 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loves him that begat loves him also that is begotten of him.

I John 5:10-13 10He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11This is the record that God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

This passage confirms all other verses which say, “We know we have eternal life”. Jesus has shown his love to us, we have accepted that love and his free gift of salvation by faith, and our love in submitting ourselves to him. This passage confirms eternal life for Christians and confirms it cannot be lost.

I John 5:4-5 4Whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. 5Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God.

All, born again of God’s love and Spirit, are eternally secure. The born again “will” overcome the world. Our faith and God’s salvation in Jesus made us one in Christ.

Galatians 2:20-21 20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives 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. 21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness comes by the law, and then Christ is dead in vain.

As Jesus died for our sins, we die to ourselves (ego). We crucify daily our desires and place our desires in God’s care and let his will live through us. The more we crucify our own fleshly desires, the more Jesus can live through us and produce righteous fruits in us. This is the content of a happy Christian.

When a Christian fails to let the Holy Ghost lead him and live through him, God will attempt to rear the Christian in ways to allow enrichment of his life in Christ. If a Christian becomes rebellious to the Holy Ghost dwelling in him, God will chastise the Christian to help him become obedient to Christ. If he continues in his rebellion, God may remove his protection and let the person live a life of suffering in the world and/or die an early shameful death in the flesh. However, a Christian is still a child of God and will be in heaven at the end of time.

John 4:23-24 The hour cometh, and is now present, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; the Father seeks such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Since we are born again of the Spirit of God, we must worship God in spirit, and try to daily bring the flesh into submission to the spirit. A Christian’s works amounts to zero for attaining salvation. We have already been secured for eternity. Our works are the results of our faith and Jesus producing fruit through our lives.

Father Time