Born Again.

[Churinga]

What does it mean to be converted and born again
The term "born again" has become popular in some Christian circles over recent years. Charles Colson, Nixon's "hatchet man", who went to prison for his part in Watergate, became a Christian through that experience. Today he is president of Prison Fellowship which has a Christian ministry to prison inmates around the world. He entitled his biography Born Again. Billy Graham has written a best seller, How To Be Born Again. The term has even crept into secular usage. Someone who has found a new lease of life may describe themselves as "born again". In some Christian circles the word is often associated with a more enthusiastic brand of Christianity. Thus, in popular thinking, we have some Christians who are "born again" and some who are not. **link removed**
The term "conversion" has been around for a lot longer, and in its Christian usage describes that experience whereby a person changes from not being a Christian to being an active believer, whatever one may understand by that process.
The purpose of this booklet is to clear away some of the fog associated with the use of these terms. I will look first at the use of the terms in the New Testament. After all, if we believe that the Bible is a revelation of God and his purposes for us, it will be good to find out what he thinks about the matter. Then I will look at human experiences of conversion in order to clarify some of the misunderstandings that exist about it.

Conversion in the New Testament
The old Authorized Version of the Bible translates Jesus' words in Matthew 18:3 as follows:

• "except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

The word in the original Greek of the New Testament that is here translated "be converted" simply means to "turn around". It is the word used when Jesus turned around in the crowd. It is used 39 times in the New Testament. In 18 of those instances it is used in the sense of turning from sin to God. It implies a turning away from something and turning to something. For instance Paul, writing to the Christians in Thessalonica, says, "you turned to God from idols" (I Thessalonians 1:9). We could say that conversion in the New Testament means turning away from those things that are inconsistent with a relationship with God, and turning to God, giving him his rightful place in our lives.
This word is always used in the active sense ("to turn") and never in the passive ("to be turned"). The expression "be converted", in the above text from Matthew, is a bad translation. A good modern translation, the New International Version, reads: "unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Conversion, turning, or changing our ways, is what we have to do in the process of becoming Christians. It is very similar in meaning to the word "repent" in the Bible.

Being "born again" in the New Testament
Being "born again" in the New Testament refers to something God does when we turn to him with repentance and faith. The expressions "born again", "born of the Spirit", or "born of God" are used about 15 times in the New Testament of becoming, or being, a Christian. It is one of John's favourite ways of describing a Christian, but Peter uses it twice and Paul once.* John tells us how a Jewish religious leader, Nicodemus, came to Jesus at night. He probably came at night because it would be unseemly for one in his position to be seen associating with Jesus, who was considered to be a stirrer by the authorities. In the discussion that followed, Jesus said to him, "I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). The Greek word translated "born again" could equally well be translated "born from above". What did he mean?
*John 1:13; 3:3, 5,6,7,8. Galatians 4:29. 1 Peter 1:3, 23. 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1; 4, 18.

"It is not the turning over of a new leaf, but the receiving of a new life - not just a new start, but a new heart"

The Bible emphasizes two things that God will do for us when we submit our lives to Jesus. The first thing he will do is to forgive our wrongdoing. Paul is fond of using the word "justify", which is a legal term meaning that we are acquitted of all the charges against us - declared innocent. "Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). Jesus paid for our sins on the cross and now credits to us his own perfect righteousness. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). A wonderful transaction!
The second thing that God does is to come in the person of the Holy Spirit to literally live within us, his Spirit uniting with our human spirit. This experience of receiving the Holy Spirit is what Jesus is talking about when he says we are to be "born again". In fact he went on to call it being "born of the Spirit" (John 3:5,8). This experience is also spoken of as a resurrection, "God...made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions" (Ephesians 2:4); as receiving eternal life, "God has given us eternal life" (1 John 5:11); or as being recreated, "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Before we receive the Holy Spirit there is a gulf between us and God. We are "dead in... transgressions and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). After we receive him we are united with him in an intimate relationship. We are "born" into his family - we have spiritual life - a new relationship with God, who is now "Father", and a new relationship with other believers who are our "brothers and sisters". We also have a new spiritual home which is "heaven".
It is interesting that, whereas John and Peter use the metaphor of being born into God's family for this experience of becoming a Christian, Paul prefers the idea of adoption. "You received the Spirit of adoption. And by him we cry...Father" (Romans 8:15 - literal translation). The first metaphor emphasizes our union with God, sharing his nature by his Spirit within us. The metaphor of adoption puts the emphasis on our legal standing, with all the rights and privileges we share as children of God.
This experience of reconciliation with God and transformation, through spiritual birth, is made possible for us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. It was foretold 600 years before those events by the prophet Ezekiel, to whom God declared, "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities...I will give you a new heart...I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees" (Ezekiel 36:25-27). It is not the turning over of a new leaf, but the receiving of a new life - not just a new start, but a new heart.
**link removed**
As the American evangelist, Billy Sunday, put it, "A lot of people think a man needs a new grandfather, sanitation, and a new shirt, when he needs a new heart." It is not necessarily a change in our temperament, or our abilities. These come to us largely through our physical birth. Neither is it the addition of some new attribute. Rather it is an inner transformation springing from a new relationship with the living God. Its chief effect is on our motivation, goals and values. Ultimately, as we grow in that relationship, it can transform every area of our lives.
If you have found religion hard work, a bore, uninteresting, or merely a duty you feel you ought to do something about, then maybe you need to go back to the beginning. Plutarch told the story of a man who attempted to make a dead body stand upright. He tried various schemes of balancing, and experimented with different postures. Finally, he gave up, saying, "There's something missing on the inside." For the relationship with God to come alive, as Jesus said, "You must be born again" (John 3:7). The life must be given to us by God; we cannot generate it ourselves. **link removed**

 

[ac28]

John 3:3
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.
1Cor 15:50
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Considering these 2 verses together, wouldn't you say that, to be born again, you would have to be resurrected?

Also, it would satisfy that one must be born of water and spirit. Water the first time and spirit the second time.

If so, only Christ has been born again.

 

[Churinga]

The Necessity of Being Born Again
You will notice that in his discussion with Nicodemus, Jesus stressed the fact that if we would "enter" or "see" God's kingdom, we could only do it through experiencing this new spiritual birth. This is not a popular view, as it goes against man's natural pride. We would prefer to do something for God rather than receive something from God. However, the Bible is clear that we can do nothing to earn a place in God's kingdom. It is totally undeserved.
The story is told of a man in gaol condemned to die. The day before he was due to be executed, the governor handed him a pardon from the Queen. "You are free," he declared. Opening his prison clothes and exposing his chest, he replied, "Look, I have got cancer. It will take me away in a few days or weeks at the most. If the Queen could take away my cancer as well as give me a pardon, then I would cheer up. I need both." You and I are under the sentence of condemnation, as we have all broken God's laws. "There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). We are also suffering from a fatal disease with a nature that is infected by sin: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). There is only one cure. God offers both forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit - a rebirth into his family.
The evangelist D. L. Moody, who had a very effective ministry both in Britain and in the United States, on one occasion addressed a group of church workers. After the meeting he was confronted by an angry woman who said, "Mr. Moody, do you mean to tell me that I, an educated woman, taught from childhood in good ways and all my life interested in the church and doing good, must enter heaven the same way as the worst criminal of our day?" "No, madam," said Moody. "I don't. God does. He says everyone who would enter heaven, no matter how good they think they are, or how well educated, or zealous in good works, must be born again”.
Tom Skinner, converted gang leader, in his book Words of Revolution, put it like this:

• You don't need Jesus Christ because you are a drunkard. You don't need Jesus Christ because you take drugs. You don't need Jesus Christ because you lie. You don't need Jesus Christ because you cheat on your income tax. No. You don't need Jesus Christ because you do bad things... Whether you have done any of these things is irrelevant. You need Jesus Christ because you were born without the life of God. That makes you a sinner. You don't have God's life in you.

Of course, the idea that we are sinners, separated from God, and needing reconciliation to him is in marked contradiction to the Hindu, Buddhist and New Age ideas that we are all part of "God" and that all we need is to become more fully aware of that. The Bible diagnoses our position as being somewhat worse than that and beyond our own capabilities of doing anything about. However, this offer of spiritual life is available to all who want to be part of God's family through what Jesus has done on our behalf. and
A delightful story comes from Billy Graham's Crusade in Ohio in 1977. A doctor, who was trained as one of the counselors, spoke to a 12-year-old boy who invited Jesus into his life at the end of the meeting. The boy's name sounded familiar to him, and when his mother came over, he knew why. He had brought the lad into the world 12 years before. The smiling doctor said, "God has allowed me to be present at both births." Jesus said, "You must be born again" (John 3:7) {TOP OF PAGE}
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[p_rehbein]

John 3:3
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.
1Cor 15:50
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Considering these 2 verses together, wouldn't you say that, to be born again, you would have to be resurrected?

Also, it would satisfy that one must be born of water and spirit. Water the first time and spirit the second time.

If so, only Christ has been born again.

um...............er....................um..............no............

I don't think you got that quite right..........Spiritual rebirth occurs at the time of Salvation...........That is a whole 'nuder thing from the Resurrection........but, hey, good try

 

[ac28]

um...............er....................um..............no............

I don't think you got that quite right..........Spiritual rebirth occurs at the time of Salvation...........That is a whole 'nuder thing from the Resurrection........but, hey, good try

But where does it say that spiritual rebirth is called "born again"?

 

[Wansvic]

But where does it say that spiritual rebirth is called "born again"?

"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.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." John 2:5-8

 

[ac28]

"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.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." John 2:5-8

My error. I didn't express that as I should have. The only way that one will get total spiritual rebirth, is to be totally reborn of the spirit and that comes through resurrection. One must be born again to enter the kingdom and flesh and blood can NEVER enter the Kingdom. The only ticket to the kingdom is resurrection. This certainly applies to the all-Gentile Kingdom in the Highest Heaven, that I will be part of, and also the all-Israel earthly Kingdom.

In this life, there is never total rebirth. We are still in the flesh and the "old man" is always present. Only resurrection will correct this.

 

[Churinga]

How Are We Born Again?
How are we born again? In Acts, chapter nine, we read of the dramatic conversion of Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor of the early Christians. This encounter with the risen Jesus transformed him into Paul the apostle, one of the most effective Christian teachers and evangelists of all time. Michael Green, Anglican clergyman, evangelist and adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury, says of this experience:
While much of the paraphernalia of Paul's conversion was unique, four elements stand out which are present in every authentic conversion.

• It touched his conscience. He knew he was kicking against the goads [sticks used for prodding animals pulling a plough].
  It touched his understanding. He realised that the Jesus he was persecuting was the risen Messiah and Son of God.
  It touched his will. He came to the point of giving in to Jesus and beginning to follow him.
  It changed his whole life - his ambitions, his character, his relationships, his whole perspective on life.

No conversion can claim to be real unless it embodies these four elements.
Conversion, or spiritual rebirth, must begin with an awareness of your need for forgiveness and for reconciliation with God. John Stott, renowned Anglican clergyman and writer, once conducted a questionnaire in his church in London. Amongst other things, he asked his parishioners what it was that led them to put their faith in Christ. Some admitted that it was not so much a sense of sin as that "life was a great burden and pointless", or "purposeless", or that they felt "unloved and unwanted." But in answer to the question, "At the time of your conversion, what was your understanding of sin and guilt?" seventy-five out of one-hundred-and-five claimed to have been fairly clear. Here are a few examples: "I was fully aware that I was leading a corrupt life," "I knew I was guilty before God," "I was fully conscious of my sin and guilt," "I had an acute sense of sin that sometimes led me to despair," "I hated my shortcomings, which drove me to Christ."
It is not necessary to believe that you are a terribly awful person! You may not be at all. However, it is necessary to accept the fact that you have come short of God's requirements. (See ) If you don't believe that, read through Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel, chapters five, six and seven! One person who had attended church for forty years - had sung in the choir, taught classes, given time and money, and visited the sick - told in a letter to Decision magazine how she had become aware that her heart was not right with God. She wrote,

• I fell onto my knees and prayed, 'Dear God, I'm lost. Please show me the way. Forgive me of my many sins. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.' You see, I had never admitted I was lost. When I did, and asked God to forgive me, Christ came into my heart...My battle was won.
  

"The crisis of self-surrender has always been, and must always be, regarded as the vital turning point of the religious life" W.James

Secondly, there needs to be some understanding of who Jesus is. He is the crucified and risen Lord. He died for your sins and mine and now reigns in heaven until he will appear again to judge the world.
Thirdly, there needs to be a willingness to submit to Jesus as Lord of your life. However much your awareness of the need for reconciliation, and however much or little understanding you may have, the most important aspect of conversion, or spiritual rebirth, is the will. Are you willing to accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord of your life. It means giving up the right to live our lives just as we please. We were created for partnership with the living God. However, he is the senior partner in the relationship, and without submission and obedience we cannot experience and enjoy his love. William James said, "The crisis of self-surrender has always been, and must always be, regarded as the vital turning point of the religious life."
Some personal examples
The importance of this final point could perhaps be underlined by giving personal examples from the lives of several prominent Christians. Keith Millar, author of a number of significant books on Christian living, tells of his conversion as he sat in his car in the pinewoods country of East Texas in complete despair. He had been through training for Christian ministry in seminary, but had never known God personally. He says:

• As I sat there I began to weep like a little boy, which I suddenly realized I was inside. I looked up towards the sky. There was nothing I wanted to do with my life, and I said, "God, if there is anything you want in this stinking soul, take it."...There wasn't any ringing of bells or flashing of lights or vision; but it was a deep intuitive realization of what it is God wants from a man which I had never known before, and the peace which came with this understanding was not an experience in itself. It was rather a cessation of the conflict of a lifetime. I realized then that God does not want a man's money, nor does he primarily want his time, even the whole lifetime of it a young Seminarian is ready to give him. God, I realized, doesn't want your time, he wants your will; and if you give him your will, he will begin to show you life as you have never seen it before.

"God does not want a man's money, nor does he primarily want his time...he wants your will"
Keith Millar
Eric Delve, prominent British evangelist and now Anglican clergyman, tells how before his conversion his church life was "trotting along." He was reading some religious books. He says:

• It didn't help much. I started to say, "Lord. You've got to help me!" But I became aware that God was saying, "No, I won't." God was telling me, "I want you! I don't want to do an emergency operation."

Kenneth Strachan, who headed the pioneering Latin American Mission, and whose ministry changed the lives of countless people, came to faith in Christ during his junior year at college. At a Swedish church, he had stayed after the service and knelt with a group of friends, first with the intention of sneering at their earnestness, and then capitulating to the urgent plea to surrender. Next day he wrote to his mother:

• I have meant to keep still about this bit of news but feel too glad about it to shut up. Last night (Nov. 30th - you can mark the date) R. K. Strachan gave up a losing fight and surrendered to Christ. The Bible seems new to me and God is with me to help me. I think I've never really been converted before.

Similarly, Arthur Glasser, missionary to China with the China Inland Mission and later Home Director of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship, describes his conversion at a student conference in New Jersey in 1932:

• “My conversion experience at Keswick was quite overwhelming, with the issue of the Lordship of Christ crucial to my understanding of what it meant to be among his followers. My manner of life was completely transformed because of the awareness that I was no longer my own: I had been "bought with a price".

Whether our finding a real faith is as definite and dateable as those experiences described above, the issue is the same. We each have to face the question of whether our basic motivation in life is to live for Christ or for ourselves. The respected US Senator, Mark Hatfield, puts the issues clearly when he says:

• “I saw that for thirty-one years I had lived for self and decided I wanted to live the rest of my life only for Jesus Christ. I asked God to forgive my self-centered life and to make my life his own. Following Christ has been an experience of increasing challenge, adventure and happiness. Living a committed Christian life is truly satisfying because it has given me true purpose and direction by serving not myself but Jesus Christ.

I will let C. S. Lewis have the last word on this aspect of conversion with a quote from his book Beyond Personality:

• Christ says, "Give me all. I don't want so much of your money and so much of your work - I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there. I want to have the whole tree down. I don't want to drill the tooth or crown it or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked...the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact I will give you myself. My own will shall become yours."
  {TOP OF PAGE}
  

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[Waggles]

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
2 Elect [chosen] according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

22 Seeing 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 heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides for ever.
1Peter 1:

True worshippers are born from above [new creation, new life] by partaking both symbolically in the death, burial and resurrection
of Jesus through full immersion water baptism for the forgiveness of our past sins. Romans 6 and elsewhere …
Putting our repentance into action.
And just as the Holy Spirit (the Father) raised up Jesus from death and gave him a new body we too are raised up from the death
of sin and given the power to walk in the light by the indwelling Spirit of Christ Jesus.
Only we must wait until that last trumpet that shall herald the return of Christ Jesus in power and glory to gather the elect and then
to transform us from mortality to immortality and to be forever with our Lord and God.
The true Spirit-filled sons and daughters of God the Father shall receive our new resurrection bodies when Jesus returns and we
are transformed in the twinkling of an eye and rise to meet him in the air - the marriage feast.

 

[jameen]

If you're a Christian, you're a born Again. A Christian is a new creature. it means from being sinful, he is a saint and meek as a sheep.

A Christian was changed for the better through God's words and by baptism of course

Ephesians 5:26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,

So it is wrong to say Born Again Christian because Christian and Born Again are synonymous.

 

[Zmouth]

John 3:3
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.
1Cor 15:50
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Considering these 2 verses together, wouldn't you say that, to be born again, you would have to be resurrected?

One might consider that born again is a reference to being quickened.

Understanding that the doctrine of Christ teaches the precept to "believeth all things" that if one trangresses and abides not in the doctrine of Christ has not God since it is written "...for he that cometh to God must believe he is..." And in Mark 9:23 it is written "Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."

Thus, it is becomes evident that someone who believes he is has no more knowledge of God's existence than someone has that believes that God does not exist has. However, if a person can not see the kingdom of God then as the scripture Wansvic noted "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."

So in Matthew 18:9 and Mark 9:47, can you perceive why it is written, "it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:" As written in Luke 11:34 "...when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light;" So then what color is the bow of invisible light?

He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet. 2 Sam 22:10
He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. Ps 18:9

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
Eccl 3:21

All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. Gen 7:22

Both wind and spirit are pnuema, 4151.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. John 3:8

 

[Waggles]

ROMANS 8: (ESV)
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons,
by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

 

[Waggles]

So it is wrong to say Born Again Christian because Christian and Born Again are synonymous.

No way hose …
there is a really really big difference between mainstream traditional Christians such as Orthodox, Protestant and Roman Catholic
Christians and a Spirit-filled Pentecostal Christian who walks in and with the real power of God daily.
To receive the indwelling Holy Spirit is both a revelation of truth and a conversion from this worldly kingdom to the Kingdom of
God.

 

[garee]

No way hose …
there is a really really big difference between mainstream traditional Christians such as Orthodox, Protestant and Roman Catholic
Christians and a Spirit-filled Pentecostal Christian who walks in and with the real power of God daily.
To receive the indwelling Holy Spirit is both a revelation of truth and a conversion from this worldly kingdom to the Kingdom of
God.

Pentecostal Christian who walks in and with the real power of God daily.

Real power for Pentecostal Christians. What kind of power for those who do not seek after signs. Lo power or no power?

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

“10 Wherefore the rather, Brethren, give diligence to make your Calling and Election sure (this is what Jesus was speaking of when He told us to deny ourselves and take up the Cross daily and follow Him [Lk. 9:23]; every day, the Believer must make certain His Faith is anchored in the Cross and the Cross alone; only then can we realize the tremendous benefits afforded by the Sacrifice of Christ): for if you do these things, you shall never fall (presents the key to Eternal Security, but with the Promise being conditional):

11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the Everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (The entrance into the Kingdom is solely on the basis of Faith evidenced in Christ and the Cross [Eph. 2:13-18; Jn. 3:16].)” 2 Peter 1:10-11

JSM

 

[louis]

What does it mean to be converted and born again
The term "born again" has become popular in some Christian circles over recent years. Charles Colson, Nixon's "hatchet man", who went to prison for his part in Watergate, became a Christian through that experience. Today he is president of Prison Fellowship which has a Christian ministry to prison inmates around the world. He entitled his biography Born Again. Billy Graham has written a best seller, How To Be Born Again. The term has even crept into secular usage. Someone who has found a new lease of life may describe themselves as "born again". In some Christian circles the word is often associated with a more enthusiastic brand of Christianity. Thus, in popular thinking, we have some Christians who are "born again" and some who are not. **link removed**
The term "conversion" has been around for a lot longer, and in its Christian usage describes that experience whereby a person changes from not being a Christian to being an active believer, whatever one may understand by that process.
The purpose of this booklet is to clear away some of the fog associated with the use of these terms. I will look first at the use of the terms in the New Testament. After all, if we believe that the Bible is a revelation of God and his purposes for us, it will be good to find out what he thinks about the matter. Then I will look at human experiences of conversion in order to clarify some of the misunderstandings that exist about it.

Conversion in the New Testament
The old Authorized Version of the Bible translates Jesus' words in Matthew 18:3 as follows:

• "except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

The word in the original Greek of the New Testament that is here translated "be converted" simply means to "turn around". It is the word used when Jesus turned around in the crowd. It is used 39 times in the New Testament. In 18 of those instances it is used in the sense of turning from sin to God. It implies a turning away from something and turning to something. For instance Paul, writing to the Christians in Thessalonica, says, "you turned to God from idols" (I Thessalonians 1:9). We could say that conversion in the New Testament means turning away from those things that are inconsistent with a relationship with God, and turning to God, giving him his rightful place in our lives.
This word is always used in the active sense ("to turn") and never in the passive ("to be turned"). The expression "be converted", in the above text from Matthew, is a bad translation. A good modern translation, the New International Version, reads: "unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Conversion, turning, or changing our ways, is what we have to do in the process of becoming Christians. It is very similar in meaning to the word "repent" in the Bible.

Being "born again" in the New Testament
Being "born again" in the New Testament refers to something God does when we turn to him with repentance and faith. The expressions "born again", "born of the Spirit", or "born of God" are used about 15 times in the New Testament of becoming, or being, a Christian. It is one of John's favourite ways of describing a Christian, but Peter uses it twice and Paul once.* John tells us how a Jewish religious leader, Nicodemus, came to Jesus at night. He probably came at night because it would be unseemly for one in his position to be seen associating with Jesus, who was considered to be a stirrer by the authorities. In the discussion that followed, Jesus said to him, "I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). The Greek word translated "born again" could equally well be translated "born from above". What did he mean?
*John 1:13; 3:3, 5,6,7,8. Galatians 4:29. 1 Peter 1:3, 23. 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1; 4, 18.

"It is not the turning over of a new leaf, but the receiving of a new life - not just a new start, but a new heart"

The Bible emphasizes two things that God will do for us when we submit our lives to Jesus. The first thing he will do is to forgive our wrongdoing. Paul is fond of using the word "justify", which is a legal term meaning that we are acquitted of all the charges against us - declared innocent. "Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). Jesus paid for our sins on the cross and now credits to us his own perfect righteousness. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). A wonderful transaction!
The second thing that God does is to come in the person of the Holy Spirit to literally live within us, his Spirit uniting with our human spirit. This experience of receiving the Holy Spirit is what Jesus is talking about when he says we are to be "born again". In fact he went on to call it being "born of the Spirit" (John 3:5,8). This experience is also spoken of as a resurrection, "God...made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions" (Ephesians 2:4); as receiving eternal life, "God has given us eternal life" (1 John 5:11); or as being recreated, "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Before we receive the Holy Spirit there is a gulf between us and God. We are "dead in... transgressions and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). After we receive him we are united with him in an intimate relationship. We are "born" into his family - we have spiritual life - a new relationship with God, who is now "Father", and a new relationship with other believers who are our "brothers and sisters". We also have a new spiritual home which is "heaven".
It is interesting that, whereas John and Peter use the metaphor of being born into God's family for this experience of becoming a Christian, Paul prefers the idea of adoption. "You received the Spirit of adoption. And by him we cry...Father" (Romans 8:15 - literal translation). The first metaphor emphasizes our union with God, sharing his nature by his Spirit within us. The metaphor of adoption puts the emphasis on our legal standing, with all the rights and privileges we share as children of God.
This experience of reconciliation with God and transformation, through spiritual birth, is made possible for us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. It was foretold 600 years before those events by the prophet Ezekiel, to whom God declared, "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities...I will give you a new heart...I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees" (Ezekiel 36:25-27). It is not the turning over of a new leaf, but the receiving of a new life - not just a new start, but a new heart.
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As the American evangelist, Billy Sunday, put it, "A lot of people think a man needs a new grandfather, sanitation, and a new shirt, when he needs a new heart." It is not necessarily a change in our temperament, or our abilities. These come to us largely through our physical birth. Neither is it the addition of some new attribute. Rather it is an inner transformation springing from a new relationship with the living God. Its chief effect is on our motivation, goals and values. Ultimately, as we grow in that relationship, it can transform every area of our lives.
If you have found religion hard work, a bore, uninteresting, or merely a duty you feel you ought to do something about, then maybe you need to go back to the beginning. Plutarch told the story of a man who attempted to make a dead body stand upright. He tried various schemes of balancing, and experimented with different postures. Finally, he gave up, saying, "There's something missing on the inside." For the relationship with God to come alive, as Jesus said, "You must be born again" (John 3:7). The life must be given to us by God; we cannot generate it ourselves. **link removed**

Scripture clearly tells us that they who are born again of God are incapable of sinning (1 John 3:9).
Many here claim they are born again, while they also acknowledge they continue to sin.
They will give many excuses for their contradictory stance, but basically, these individuals do not believe Gods Word by denying the scripture. I on the other hand recognize that I continue to sin, and I therefore do not claim to having been born again.
This is truth, and the truth shall set me free, whereas individuals who claim to be born again, but are not, live in a lie, and shall never be free of their fantasy while they do.

1 John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

To answer your question: to be born again has to follow being singularly minded and not also serving Mammon, which I and I believe everyone probably on this forum is guilty of. I acknowledge this truth also.