Do you know what being "born again" means?

Yes, I do know. I was re-born again and I'm in fact I am a newborn in Jesus Christ since I was called by the Lord a few months ago and I decided to serve Him.

William I, there is only one definition of "born again."

Baptims is an act of obedience.

Yes, you can also be baptised in the Holy Spirit.

Confirmation is more of a ritual of consolidation into a church.

Declaring Jesus Christ as your saviour and accepting Him in your heart is the ticket to salvation. Everything else we Christians do after accepting Jesus is out of love and because it's a huge blessing to serve the Lord.

Being born again implies much more:

Not only do you declare Jesus Christ as your saviour and accepting Him in your heart, baptise to obey God's will, but being born again is like getting a new heart replacement. A new heart obeys God's Word and lives under His will. A new heart abandons its old nature. A new heart serves the Lord day and night. A new heart develops an intimate identity with God. Being born again then it's about the heart and living in the Holy Spirit.

I feel that it is during the first stages of being born again when the enemy attacks the most but that who perseveres overcomes it and it's ready to begin maturing in the Lord.

Born Again? Very good question, and not surprised that you're confused. This term comes from John chapter 3, Jesus speaking to Nicodemus: "Do not marvel when I say to you, you must be born again..." (John 3:7). A more literal translation of the Greek would be: "you all must be born from above." It has come to characterize Christians who have undergone a personal conversion experience. The question remains whether or not this new birth is something that the believer must consciously feel. Traditional Christian Churches such as the Roman Catholics, Orthodox, later the Lutheran, and Anglican (and Methodist) believed that baptism of infants was sufficient to confer the grace of salvation upon the person. Anabaptists, for example, questioned this and said that only adult believers should be baptized as an act of their own free will. Most modern day Evangelical churches follow this practice. Pentecostalism is somewhat different from both traditional Protestantism and contemporary Evangelicalism. This is because of their belief in a second Baptism--that of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes they view speaking in tongues as the "evidence" of this Baptism. This doctrine has caused more division than it ought to, but the belief in the second indwelling of Christ is something that has been uncomfortable for a lot of Christians for some time. It's possible that this experience is what the Wesleys were after. Their revivalist movement was called "Methodism" because they seemed to have a method to getting people saved and then sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit. They can be understood as precursors to the modern day Pentecostal revival that was sparked at Asuza Street in Los Angeles in the early 1900's. It was at an AME (African Methodist Episcopal) church that a preacher named William Seymour led the revivals that came to be called Pentecostalism. Your question underscores the unfortunate, but very real divide that exists in today's Evangelical Christians between the Charismatic (another term loosely meaning Pentecostal) and the Fundamental (those who are strongly Bible based but deny any miraculous powers are given to the believer). An example would be Oral Roberts (Charismatic healer) vs. Billy Graham (dynamic, but not "Charismatic," preacher). The emphasis on being born again would be more Fundamental, while the Pentecostals would urge the believer to be "filled with the Holy Spirit." An example of a strongly Fundamental but anti-Charismatic institution would be the Dallas Theological Seminary. Some people would disagree with this characterization of "Fundamental," by I think its accurate. I'd much rather preach to you the scriptures; but I remember my days of seeking answers, and I just wanted some basic information. Yours in Christ, Nick

I would say you have a very good grasp on the concept of being ''born again" since this can be a confusing term to understand. Once the Holy Spirit enters your life after you have asked for forgiveness, you have been born again, because your life with Christ has just begun. It's not after baptism or after being confirmed into a church....these things don't matter as much to God. All God wants is your heart.

Being born again is simply being born into the Kingdom of God, nothing more, nothing less.

It has no 'magical' connotations at all. The wonderful part is that God comes to reside in the one who is born of the Spirit!

John 3:5 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.

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

Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Joh 3:8 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.

Actually, "God Himself" hasn't said anything -- Unless you can produce some sort of absolutely definite (and provable) recording of His voice --

Several very human, (and therefore entirely flawed) HUMAN BEINGS *claimed* that he "said" it -- but we have only their (entirely prejudiced) word.

BTW -- if you're so certain that "you will never, ever be removed from that book" -- What are:

The Unpardonable Sin, the Second Death, or the Sin Against the Holy Ghost?

Check out the following scriptures:

Matt. 12: 31 , Mark 3: 29; Luke 12: 10; -- blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven.

Heb. 10: 26 -- sin wilfully after that we have received knowledge.

Matt. 12: 31-32 (Mark 3: 29; Luke 12: 10). "It is impossible for those who were made partakers of the Holy Ghost to renew them again unto repentance,"

Heb. 6: 4-6. "If we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,"

Heb. 10: 26. "If ye deny the Holy Ghost and know that ye deny it, this is a sin which is unpardonable,"

With all due respect, i must ask: How many other doctrines or scriptures might you be completely unaware of, that challenge your assumptions and beliefs?

Sincerely -

~Gaia

I respect your concern to teach on this subject, but those names you are using are part of a false pagan mess Satan himself cleverly crafted.

The scriptures said there is only one name under heaven whereby we must be saved, it obviously wasn't 'Jesus' as there is NO J present in the Hebrew language which The Messiah spoke when he walked this Earth. The final 3 letters of that name literally mean Pig/swine in Latin, and that is the exact animal The Messiah cast DEVILS into.

The true HEBREW name of the son of YAHUWAH our Alahym is YAHUWSHUA Ha Mashiach (The Messiah)

'God' derives from the babylonian deity 'Gad' which is associated with fortune and wishes (Magic) which involves Witchcraft, therefore calling the Creator this name is BLASPHEMY towards him as anyone who knows scripture well knows that Witchcraft is an abomination.

And I didn't see that name Lord in there but I assume you use that aswell,

Hosea2:16And it shall be at that day, saith YAHUWAH, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.

If you research you can see that Baali means MY LORD. And here we can clearly see YAHUWAH, does not accept that title, he is saying we shall call him no more Baali/My Lord.

And that word Ishi means Husband, he was the HUSBAND of Israel, he and Israel were in a metaphorically married state, in that they were united.

We can receive the Set Apart Spirit (The Ruwach HaQadosh)

By calling upon the name of YAHUWAH our Alahym and The Saviour The Mashiach YAHUWSHUA.

I HOPE the creator can open your eyes as you see these words. Shaluwm.

It is a term used by Christians who decided the older denominations did not fulfill what they wanted which was "Rapture" and people to get to heaven quickly. Many still believe that. It came to popularity in the 70's.

Yes I do know what born again means and I am - by the Grace of God. I am extremely pleased to read that you are also. I trust that your explanation will be of help to some of those who read it here.

Funny, my inner strength and sense of peace was only possible when i relinquished the idea of being "born again," because it never made a lasting difference. It was only when I realized we are all born holy and divine and have only to realize that that I was able to find God within myself, who had been there all along. I think maybe Jesus knew this, he was one of few who realized his true potential as a living being, one who IS, just like God is the great I am, we are "I am's" also, and need only to exist and breathe (pneuma is the greek word for holy spirit, literally meaning sacred breath... are you breathing?) Jesus wanted us to all attain the level of closeness with God that he had found within himself, maybe the christian church is collectively misunderstanding? and no one has the sense to forge their own more genuine path?

it would be amazing and wonderful IF true!

unfortunately no one will be considered saved until

satan is let loose after the thousand years

Revelation 20:3,7&8.