What does it mean to be "born again?"

[Webers.Home]

.
• Rev 20:6-9 . . Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be
priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And
when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his
prison,

. . . and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of
the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of
whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the
earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city:
and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

FAQ: That is a very interesting prediction. The thing is: nobody is supposed
to be in the kingdom of God lest they first undergo the regeneration spoken
of by Jesus at John 3:3-8. So who are these rebels the Bible speaks of?

REPLY: They are posterity born to tribulation survivors, viz: life goes on as
usual in the millennial phase of the kingdom of God where the citizenry will
be an amalgam of saved and unsaved, of pious and impious, and of God's
children and the world's children.

* It's remarkable to me that folks born into an era of unprecedented peace
and prosperity will want Jesus deposed and an administration of their own
choosing installed; effectively biting the hand that feeds them: like feral dogs.
I suspect that's when we are going to see the 2nd Psalm come to pass; and it
won't be pretty.
_

 

[Mem]

That is which is born of flesh is flesh. For we are shapen in iniquity; and in sin did our mothers conceive us. We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Because by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. But God who is rich in mercy hath made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

This is why we who are christians are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.

And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. This is what happens when people are baptized with the Holy Ghost. They are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. This is how they have put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

And how did they do all of this? Thus: Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

As it is written, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Did John the Baptist baptize in the name of Jesus Christ?
Matthew 11:13-14
For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.…

Doesn't this suggest John is counted among the Prophets and the Law that prophesied? Indeed, John is him come to 'make way' for Him whom it was prophesied as to come.

And when He did come, John said of Jesus and himself in John 3:30
He must increase; I must decrease.

that is, there is need for John once we have Jesus

Jesus said in John 4:14
"But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
And John 6:35
Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst.

 

[Pray_without_ceasing]

Did John the Baptist baptize in the name of Jesus Christ?

No, neighbour. Because John was sent to go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God. John was preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. God said in the prophets, behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. And when he was manifest in the flesh, he said again, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Because Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers.

 

[Magenta]

According to 1John 3:9, neither God, nor a direct descendant of God, can
sin. Whether that's true or not is for everyone to decide for themselves.
_

You don't make a compelling case

Neither is it helpful to compare God to a tyrant

 

[Magenta]

I do use a little bit of formatting in my signature line, but it's typically far less than it is where I'm posting.

Perhaps centering it would help, and evening the lines up to align better? Keeping the verse
numbers with the book/chapter citation helps the verses read more smoothly, also Like so:

Matthew 5:16
Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may
see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 7:12
However you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

1 Corinthians 13
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have
become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 4 Love is patient, love is kind........

Ephesians 4:29
Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for
edification according to the need of the moment,that it may give grace to those who hear.

James 1:19-20
Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;
for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

1 Peter 3:15
Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who
asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.

 

[Deuteronomy]

Hello @Magenta, I was thinking about this problem last night (including how often all of our regular members have to scroll past all of my verses/passages to get to the next post, so I am changing my signature line to a single verse. What does it look like on your end and do you think this was a good or a bad idea?

Thank you

~Deuteronomy

 

[Magenta]

Hello @Magenta, I was thinking about this problem last night (including how
often all of our regular members have to scroll past all of my verses/passages
to get to the next post, so I am changing my signature line to a single verse.
What does it look like on your end and do you think this was a good or a bad idea?

Thank you

~Deuteronomy

Hello Mister/brother Deuteronomy I can still see the whole of your previous siggy

I do think it a good idea to change it

Which single verse would you choose?

And you are welcome!

 

[Deuteronomy]

Hello Mister/brother Deuteronomy I can still see the whole of your previous siggy

I do think it a good idea to change it

I hadn't saved it when I wrote my last post to you, but I've changed it now. Thoughts

 

[Magenta]

I hadn't saved it when I wrote my last post to you, but I've changed it now. Thoughts

Could you remove the italics? Otherwise, it looks great!

Perhaps bolding the whole thing would be a good idea also

Or putting the verse citation ahead of the verse, with just it bolded...

That would help separate it from the rest of your post (aside from the itty bitty line )

 

[PennEd]

Do we retain free will? That is a loaded question frought with misunderstandings, arguments, and tempers!

But suffice it to say it this way: Every person created by God is created in His image and does not lose that when He is born again. God never did make man a robot and that has never changed.

Hey Chester.
All people may be created in some aspects of God, but all humans, except Jesus, are born in Adam’s fallen spiritual image.
That’s why Jesus had to come and die and be resurrected in the first place.

Genesis 5:3

New King James Version

3 And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.

 

[Deuteronomy]

Everything God does is right in His own eyes. Some of the things He does may not be right in our eyes; but tough luck; who's to stop Him?

Hello Websters.Home, I'm don't disagree that God can do whatever He wants, but if He (for instance) ever chose to not do what He had previously told us/promised us that He would do, what reason would we have to continue to trust Him, with either our lives on this side of the grave, and with the eternity that is before us in the age to come

Thanks!

~Deut

 

[Blik]

We are born into the kingdom of the world. It is a temporary kingdom the ends in our dearth. The thoughts and goals of this kingdom are material, like houses, cars, travel, worldly knowledge.
When we enter the kingdom of God (born again) everything changes. We give up payments on that fancy car and help the homeless. Spiritual things now take over our thoughts and goals.

 

[Magenta]

Thoughts

Matthew 7:12

 

[Angela53510]

Hi Magenta, thanks I could remove my signature. Do you believe that would fix the problem?

I do use a little bit of formatting in my signature line, but it's typically far less than it is where I'm posting.

Before I do so, do my posts seem pretty readable to you, or are they annoyingly sloppy looking instead (like Resident Alien says that they look on his end)?

Thanks Sister

~Deut

Your posts are perfectly aligned, well set up and very reasonable. I see nothing at all wrong with the format of your posts.

Perhaps Resident Alien is having issues on his end? So far no one has seen a thing wrong with your posts except RA!

 

[Angela53510]

When this happens does a person lose their free will?

Find me the two words "free will" together in the Bible. The words nor the concept are there.

 

[Webers.Home]

.

Find me the two words "free will" together in the Bible.

In order for a will to be truly free, it would have to be immune to
consequences and powerful enough to get whatever it wants.

For sure God has a free will because nobody is capable of holding his feet
to the fire or stopping Him from whatever He wants.

All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases
with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold
back His hand or say to him: What have you done? (Daniel 4:35)

• Isa 13:9 . . Behold, the day of The Lord comes-- cruel; with both wrath
and fierce anger

The Hebrew word for "wrath" in that statement indicates an outburst of
passion. In other words: the wrath of God won't be weeping big wet
crocodile tears while it's slamming the dead at the Great White Throne event
depicted at Rev 20:11-15; no, they will be terminated with extreme
prejudice. (cf. Isa 63:1-6, Rev 19:15)

Webster's defines "fierce" as a behavior exhibited by humans and animals
that inspires terror because of the wild and menacing aspect of fury in
attack. Ferocity is an aspect commonly seen among predators savagely
attacking prey. There's neither sportsmanship nor sympathy in ferocity; only
sheer terror, brutality, and blood lust.

"cruel" is defined as: disposed to inflict pain or suffering; viz: devoid of
humane feelings

• Heb 10:27 . . A certain fearful expectation of . . . fiery indignation

"fiery indignation" is quite a bit more severe than ordinary indignation. It
speaks of someone who is seriously ticked off; and so angry that they're
actually red in the face.

There are people out there warming pews all around the world who have
been so coddled by sappy versions of Christianity that they have no concept
of the magnitude of the lethal tsunami of rage and violence coming their
way to get them.
_

 

[Pray_without_ceasing]

Find me the two words "free will" together in the Bible. The words nor the concept are there.

He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.

 

[karen0123]

Hello @ResidentAlien, I believe that being "born again" means that we are quickened/regenerated/made alive by God, "spiritually". IOW, we were dead (spiritually) in our trespasses and sins, and by nature, children of wrath, even as the rest, but God causes us to be "born again"/"makes us alive" (spiritually) in Christ .. e.g. Ephesians 2:1-5, so that we can finally know Him and come to saving faith in Him.

What God does to cause us to be "born again" is described in the OT .. e.g. Ezekiel 36:26-27. Also, we must be "born again" to begin to know, understand and accept the things of God, from His "spiritual" POV, that is .. 1 Corinthians 2:12-16, because as unbelievers or "natural" men and women, we are incapable of doing so. (I believe that the passage from Ezekiel above was one of the ones that the Lord had in mind when He told Nicodemus that He was surprised that He, as "the teacher of Israel", did not already understand all of this .. John 3:10).

We also need to be born again to "see" (much less "enter into") the kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5)

God bless you!!

~Deut

Amen brother.

 

[CorrectiveLens]

.



According to 1John 3:9, neither God, nor a direct descendant of God, can
sin. Whether that's true or not is for everyone to decide for themselves.
_

God judges the motivation of the heart. If the motivation is self-interest, then the heart is sinful. The seed of God is His Holy Spirit which is in Jesus Christ and in us. It is the Holy Spirit that perfects us by filling our hearts with the divine love necessary for every thought and action to be motivated by Love. That is what is meant to be born of God. 1 Cor 13: 1-13 makes it clear that it is not what you do that matters, but the reason why you do it. When your motivation is love, you are obeying the Spirit of the Law ( Christ's commandments to love God totally and everyone else as yourself) and can not sin.
1 John 3: 10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
As Christ is the Father's Son and is filled with the Father's Spirit, we who have the Father's Spirit through Jesus Christ, become part of the body of Christ and are in Christ. As such, the Father considers us as His adopted children. You can tell who they are by the love that they manifest.

 

[Angela53510]

He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.

Well, you forgot to put the address - book, chapter & verse, so I searched and it came up as Ezra 7:13. This is the book where Nehemiah and the people in Babylon receive permission to go back and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.

Unfortunately, the KJV. Is full of obsolete and archaic words. Certainly "freewill" as one word qualifies as archaic!

So I referenced it to modem, more clear translations and this is what I found!

"13 I have now issued a decree that anyone in my kingdom from the people of Israel—even the priests and Levites—who wishes to do so may go up with you to Jerusalem." NET

"I have now issued a decree[a] that anyone in my kingdom from the people of Israel—even the priests and Levites—who wishes to do so may go up with you to Jerusalem." ESV

"I have issued a decree that any of the people of Israel and their priests and the Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go to Jerusalem, may go with you." NASB

"13 Now I decree that any of the Israelites in my kingdom, including priests and Levites, who volunteer to go to Jerusalem with you, may go." NIV

I like the word "volunteer" in the NIV, which means basically that anyone with free time may go to Jerusalem to help rebuild the temple. So not "free will" in the sense of the philosophy that people can choose their own path in life, freely, and without input and direction from the Holy Spirit. Instead, it is actually a message from God through Ezra, who delivers the message to the exiles in Babylon with 2 choices:

1. Choose to move back to Israel to rebuild the temple
2. Choose not to move back to Jerusalem!

So not free will at all, but rather God did not conscript or force anyone up go back to Jerusalem, but there are 2 options, neither one more right than the others.

But this quote you gave from the KJV did make me think about the use of "freewill!" Because of the different language, vocabulary and grammar, uneducated people have always come up with wrong and misguided theology. One of the rules of hermeneutics, or Bible interpretation is you can never make a doctrine of one verse. In truth, this word is only found one place in 1 translation- the KJV! I'm not saying the translators were wrong, because 400 years ago. It could have meant something very different. For modern readers, freewill does not convey the idea that God is offering 2 choices, not that people see free to choose whatever they want. Wishes, volunteer, are a much better choice to convey what this verse is saying.

Thanks for posting this! It made me dig a bit! (I'm traveling and don't have any a Greek or Hebrew tools with me.) Sorry about that!