What does it mean to be "born again?"

Jesus told Nicodemus "you must be born again." How do you understand what it means to be born again? I'm not asking with a preconceived idea of my own. I just want to know what you think happens to a person when they're born again.

I'd really like to hear well-though-out ideas based on scripture. Please don't post long, wordy posts and walls of scripture. Keep it as simple as possible without being too vague.

My best attempt at answering going by John 3: 3-18
-no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
This causes Nic to think of being begotten by man and born of woman and Jesus corrects him saying,

-Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit.
does this suggest that water or the Spirit likened to a womb? or is water representative of the word, or seed?

-The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
We can't tell who's born of the Spirit except for the sound

-No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.
-so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life
-For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.
because He is the only one that has ascended, we can only ascend through Him. does this necessarily mean we will actually ascend physically? or only by the Spirit? because

-Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
whoever believes in Him is not condemned, to eternal death, considering that 'everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life" though those that have not believed have already been condemned to it and so cannot enter the kingdom of God, having not been born of the Spirit into the presence of the Father by the Spirit through the Son.

The told the thief on the cross, "today, you will be with me in paradise." Aren't we with Him presently also? Today? or is He just with us? and is there a difference, really? I mean, if He's with us, then aren't we with Him?

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

While walking towards Smith Music Hall on my campus in 1969, the Holy Spirit entered into me. In tht instant everything turned to light, and then appeared new to me, as I was renewed.
What non-believers would call coincidences began to occur.
Previous to this experience , during my 24 years in this age, I could not make head nor tales of the Bible when I attempted to read it putting it down immediately.
With this advent of the Holy Spirit, I was taken to a Bible not knowing what it was for it was blue and face down in a room I was led to by the Holy Spirit or Ghost, for both are the same to those who believe.
I picked it up and began to read for it was opened face down on a table. Immediately I began to proclaim to the Father, "Wow, this is true, and Wow, this is wonderful.:. Looking to the top of the page I read Isaiah. On the cover it read, Oxford Study Bible.
The Father led me right to Jesus Yeshua, and that was that, and still is that.

Since that moment, of the Holy Spirit entering into me, I believe the bummper sticker I read once whic declared, "God said it, I believe it, so that settles it!" The Word is in my heart since. Blessed be our Savior Jesus Yeshua, so be it.

I think when you are believe and are baptized and you receive the Holy Spirit. That your old man is put to death and buried and you are born new through the water and through the Spirit resurrected a new man. This is born again.

Thanks for your thoughtful response. After baptism we still are capable of sin, so on one level we aren't made totally new. I guess I'm thinking more on a metaphysical level. What happens within us, if anything, that many call the born again again experience?

Yeah this flesh still hangs on us and oppresses us, but we are internally (spiritually) inclined toward God. Thus the war with in that Paul spoke of in Romans. Only the born again have this war within our members.

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Re: What does it mean to be "born again?"

Well; I can tell one thing that born-again Christians are not, and that's God's
progeny. He has only one direct descendant, and all the rest of God's
children were placed in His home, i.e. adopted.
_

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2:7‬ ‭KJV‬‬

from this comes pro creation man and woman would have children they would be born into the world God created

death then came by sin to all mankind

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:12‬ ‭KJV‬‬

if this is the conclusion mankind is dead

“for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭3:23‬ ‭

“Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭18:4‬ ‭KJV‬‬

man is lost and must die by Gods word what can possibly save them ? Gods word has to be fulfilled he’s the creator so man must surely die now

what if God provided a man to fulfill the word of death for man so his word of death is fulfilled for every man ? A propitiation that pays the death price for a man’s soul ?

now you have a world of men who should rightly be dead but you’ve spared them through a propitiation

now you are needing a new start a fresh and clean start after your sins have been remitted

what if the New Testament is what gives us a new birth ? A new beginning with God as if we have died and we’re raised up to life again and we’re given a word that won’t condemn us and place us under a death sentance like before , what if the new word promises to give us life everlasting ?

When you come to Jesus and start believing it’s like a re education for your mind everything we thought we knew about God independent from
Christ we find out was an illusion and the reality of meeting Jesus changes us from the born sinner with a natire craving sin to a new born child of God who’s hearing and learning from his abba the ways of this new life he’s been given

he’s learning as a child from his daddy bout how to avoid death and how to live a fruitful and productive life on earth

when you are born again you have been seen by God to have died with Christ already form your sins and now you’ve come home to the gospel where your learning in abbas arms how to grow up and live the new life of Gods son rather then the old Life of the sinner

Hello ResidentAlien, God speaks to this directly (in large part anyway) in the following passage (I believe that I mentioned this passage in my last post, but I thought that it might also be worthwhile to include the passage itself in this thread, so here it is). God changes us and quickens us by causing us, the spiritually dead, to be quickened to spiritual life (so that we can finally know/understand and respond to Gospel in saving faith, believing in Him).


~Deut

Sounds good. Does that mean as long as we hold firm our faith in Christ we have life? In other words, if we renounce Christ and deny the faith, are we still good to go since we once said a prayer and were "born again?"

I believe that those who truly/completely "renounce" Christ after claiming to have become a Christian at some point in their lives are actually/were always CINO (Christian In Name Only), never true believers. They ~never~ knew Him, and He ~never~ knew them .. e.g. John 17:3; Matthew 7:22-23.

Those who the Father draws and gives to His Son will be preserved by Him and persevere in the faith . . e.g. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; Jude 24-25. So I believe that all (of these/all true believers) will be saved/none will ever perish or be lost .. e.g. John 3:16, 5:24, 6:37-40, 44; 10:26-28; Hebrews 7:25 cf 1 John 2:19.

~Deut

Yes. Also, Philippians 1:6...Being confident of this very thing, that he which has done a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

are you asking this because you dont know yourself? or as an answer to a bible exam or something.

Think back to your born again experience..what happened? If you didnt have one, then you probably dont know.

Deuteronomy, I think we're done here. Your font and formatting are extremely annoying and sloppy. Nothing personal, I just hate sloppiness. Not to mention your case is entirely unconvincing.

Hello @ResidentAlien, I told you what I believe and why (at least in part), and you told me that you don’t agree with me, and that’s fine (this topic has been and continues to be quite controversial for a reason, yes ).

So I agree, we’re done (for now anyway), and that’s fine too. However, if you have another point to make that you think is important/that you think I may have missed somehow, please don’t hesitate to make it or ask me a question about it (and if it’s ok with you?, I will do the same, in this thread or elsewhere).

God bless you!!

~Deut
p.s. - I’m very sorry to know that what I’ve written shows up as sloppy on your end. It looks pretty readable to me on my end, I wonder if there is anyway to fix that (w/o using a .pdf or something similar)

The heart of man is the unique consciousness that each unique physical body possesses. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, all of us are born with this knowledge and is called our conscience. Where there is no law there is no transgression. Because of this knowledge we are all born under the law of conscienceness and are cursed because of it and are all condemned because of our sinful nature. God demands perfection in His kingdom. If He condemns everyone, then He would be merciless. If He saves everyone, then there would be lawlessness in Heaven without consequences and He would not be in control. His only choice to show His mercy is to save a few. Since God knows the past, present, and future, these few are predetermined by Him throughout the history of man. John 1: 13 Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God. In order to be born again you first have to be chosen by the Father who grants the repentance that is needed for the person to turn to Him for forgiveness. You have to be baptized in the name of the Father.
2 Cor 7: 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of; but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
Then the person will put there belief and trust on the Father's plan for the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ which happens when He is baptized in the name of the Son and occurs through preaching of the Gospel. God will not allow sinful, lawless people to enter heaven even though their sins have been erased. Sin is not just disobeying a set of rules or laws. It is disobeying God. When God judges the heart of man, He is judging their motivation, not their action.The sinful heart puts himself above God and others. The commandments given to Moses reflected how man should behave towards God and his fellow man. In order for a person to enter heaven, there has to be a change in his heart. This happens when the person gets filled with the Holy Spirit of the Father and Son who change his motivation for all thoughts and actions from self to love for God and man. That is when a person is born again, when he is baptized in the name of the Holy Spirit and becomes able to obey the Spirit of the Law which is to love God totally and everyone else as himself. The person is perfected in love and may then be able to enter heaven.

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Re: What does it mean to be "born again?"

• John 3:3 . . Jesus declared: I tell you the truth; no one can see the
kingdom of God unless he is born again.

The Greek word translated "born" is somewhat ambiguous. It can mean
either procreation or regeneration. And the word "again" is from a Greek
word meaning from above.

Well; God has only one direct descendant, so I think it's safe to assume that
the birth spoken of refers to regeneration; which is somewhat different than
starting all over again from scratch.

Also, "from above" indicates that this particular regeneration is an act of
God, i.e. a supernatural process.

It's likely that folks who don't believe in miracles won't believe it when we
tell them this process is the handiwork of a supreme being.
_

It means to receive salvation. We were born under sin the first time (flesh and water of the womb). We must then be born spiritually to be washed with the blood of Jesus. That encompasses coming to Jesus and giving our lives over to Him. It really is that simple.

John 3:6
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”