Gospel

What Does Being Born Again Mean?

by John Clark 
01/18/16
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You often hear Christians use the phrase, "born again." It is part of religious jargon that is not clearly defined. Sometimes you non-Christians laugh at things like this, and justifiably so. This article is written to you non-believers to help you understand what Christians mean by this term. 

     The phrase is used in the Bible. In John 3:1-4 there is a dialogue between Jesus and a religious leader named Nickodemus. In response to a question Jesus says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." Nickodemus asks another question in return. "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and born again, can he?"

     When a person makes a conscious and willfull decision to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit enters their life. Christians believe in the Trinity:God, the Father in heaven; Jesus, who came to earth(as God manifested in human flesh); and the Holy Spirit, the third person of God in the form of a spirit that indwells human lives. 

     Ezekiel 36:26 says, "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you...I will put my spirit within you," and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinaces" This does not mean that life will become a list of "dos and don'ts."With a new heart will come new attitudes, motives, desires, thoughts, and actions (including a new world view). You will begin to see things as God sees them. The spiritual blinders produced by Satan are lifted, because up until the time a person accepts Jesus "the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of Christ, who is the image of God."

     Being born again results in hope, and a peace that cannot be explained on a human level, but "which surpasses all comprehension...(Philippians 4:7). You have power over addictions and bad habits. It means your past, and your sins, are forgiven.  You live life with purpose and meaning. And you have the assurance of eternal salvation in heaven with God.

     So, you see, it is like being born again. But you will never know what it is truly like until you make that decision to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. Then you will be able to make the words of II Corinthians 5:17 your own. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature, the old things passed away, behold, new things have come."

    Would you like to be born again right now? You can be. Bow your head and humbly admit that you are a sinner. Ask Jesus to forgive you because of his shed blood on the cross 2,000 years ago. Thank him for dying for you, and rising from the dead literally and physically, that you might have eternal life. Ask him to be your savior and Lord. Thank him that his Holy Spirit now lives within you and has given you a new heart and character.