You Must Be Born Again
It is not optional.
Jesus said, "No one can see the kingdom of God [Heaven] unless they are born again." Being "born again" is not optional; it is essential, required - You must be born again to enter heaven. It is not some church's words; these are the words of Jesus.
It is not baptism, confirmation or some other religious rite.
It is not some religious rite like baptism or confirmation. In John 3:8, Jesus said, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." Everyone knows when and where a baptism or a confirmation will take place, or no one else would show up. Jesus said it is not like this when being born again. It is a spontaneous work of God.
We become a new creation.
It says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" When we are born again, we become a new creation, a new creature. It is a powerful experience in our heart, like the metamorphosis of a butterfly. It is a divine heart change where God give us new desires, His desires. There is a noticeable change in your character. We begin to really love what God loves, and hate what God hates. God hates sin.
Some evidence that you are a new creation:
What is our part in being Born Again?
Turn away from sin and turn to God in faith for salvation. (See Enter the Narrow Gate.)
Final Encouragement
Don't let someone else tell you that being "born again" is baptism or some other religious rite. It is a divine heart change and experience that only comes from God. Don't let them steal your fire, don't let them steal your drive to get this from God.
In the Bible, Jacob literally wrestled with a physical appearance of God. (Genesis 32:22-32) The point of the physical conflict was to teach a spiritual truth: We must wrestle with the truth, "wrestle with God". In the story, Jacob would not let go of God until He blessed him.
Be a pit bull on God's leg: "God, I have got to have You or I will die!" God is more than happy to answer this prayer.
Some other Bible references to being born again:
(When the Bible says, born again, born from above, born of God, and born of the Spirit, they are all referring to the same thing.)
Jesus said, "No one can see the kingdom of God [Heaven] unless they are born again." Being "born again" is not optional; it is essential, required - You must be born again to enter heaven. It is not some church's words; these are the words of Jesus.
It is not baptism, confirmation or some other religious rite.
It is not some religious rite like baptism or confirmation. In John 3:8, Jesus said, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." Everyone knows when and where a baptism or a confirmation will take place, or no one else would show up. Jesus said it is not like this when being born again. It is a spontaneous work of God.
We become a new creation.
It says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" When we are born again, we become a new creation, a new creature. It is a powerful experience in our heart, like the metamorphosis of a butterfly. It is a divine heart change where God give us new desires, His desires. There is a noticeable change in your character. We begin to really love what God loves, and hate what God hates. God hates sin.
Some evidence that you are a new creation:
- You want to talk with God, to pray.
- You want to read the Bible, and it starts to "come alive" and make sense in ways that it never did before.
- You want to get together with other Christians to learn about God, to talk about God, and to pray.
- You begin to think in terms of what pleases God - what He wants you to do, what He's teaching you, what He wants you to change.
- You want to tell other people about Jesus and how to get to heaven.
- You begin to have a conviction about sin that you never had. Sin that never bothered you before, bothers you now.
- You begin to refer to Jesus as your Lord. It comes from your heart. (Anyone can say these words or repeat them in a Church prayer.) It becomes a normal natural expression. (If addressing Jesus as Lord is awkward for you, something is wrong.)
What is our part in being Born Again?
Turn away from sin and turn to God in faith for salvation. (See Enter the Narrow Gate.)
Final Encouragement
Don't let someone else tell you that being "born again" is baptism or some other religious rite. It is a divine heart change and experience that only comes from God. Don't let them steal your fire, don't let them steal your drive to get this from God.
In the Bible, Jacob literally wrestled with a physical appearance of God. (Genesis 32:22-32) The point of the physical conflict was to teach a spiritual truth: We must wrestle with the truth, "wrestle with God". In the story, Jacob would not let go of God until He blessed him.
Be a pit bull on God's leg: "God, I have got to have You or I will die!" God is more than happy to answer this prayer.
Some other Bible references to being born again:
(When the Bible says, born again, born from above, born of God, and born of the Spirit, they are all referring to the same thing.)
- Born Again/Born From Above - John 3:3, John 3:7
- Born of the Spirit - John 3:5, John 3:8
- Born of God - John 1:12-13, 1 John 5:1, 1 John 2:29, 1 John 3:9; 1 John 4:7; 1 John 5:4, and 1 John 5:18.
John 3:1-21 NIV
1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
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