You MUST be born again

Checkpoint · Post by **Checkpoint** » Tue Nov 10, 2020 3:22 am

You MUST be born again".

That is a very emphatic statement, made to Nicodemus, a Jewish teacher.

Here now is the whole passage, from John 3:

1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.
2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.
6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit b gives birth to spirit.

7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?
11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.
12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?

An interesting exchange, and an interesting subject.

How do you understand what Jesus taught in these verses?

What do you say being born again, or being born of the Spirit, actually is?

Is this for every follower of Jesus, or only for some believers?

Does it take place in this life, or in the one to come, or both?

Why is it so important?

Could it be similar to, or the result of, repentance and/or saving faith?

How would you explain verse 8?

Post by **otseng** » Fri Mar 12, 2021 4:35 am

Checkpoint wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 7:07 pm Such questions illustrate a foolish mindset.

Moderator Comment

Please avoid making any comments of a personal nature.

Please review the Rules.

______________

Moderator comments do not count as a strike against any posters. They only serve as an acknowledgment that a post report has been received, but has not been judged to warrant a moderator warning against a particular poster. Any challenges or replies to moderator postings should be made via Private Message to avoid derailing topics.

tam · Post by **tam** » Fri Mar 12, 2021 4:27 pm

Peace to you all!

Checkpoint wrote: ↑Fri Mar 12, 2021 2:39 am [Replying to tam in post #445]

What we have now, if we have received it, is the token/deposit/guarantee of things to come: holy spirit (the breath, blood, seed of JAH).
Yes, if we have that now, it confirms we have been born again. That is, born of God, who is Spirit.

Grace and peace to you, and to all.

Not quite yet, dear Checkpoint (re: being born again).

I must thank my dear Lord Jaheshua for giving me understanding (and the word that explains what we are now if we have received holy spirit) so that I can share this with you all.

If we receive holy spirit (the breath, blood, and seed of JAH), then we are CONCEIVED. Children are conceived by their fathers by means of his seed. In the case of JAH, that seed is holy spirit (the breath, blood, and seed of JAH). An embryo is a child of his father (just as we who have received holy spirit are children of our Father), but an embryo has not yet been born.

None of us have yet been born (again). We have been born once (in the flesh) in the image of the earthly man (Adam). But we have YET to be born (a second time) in the image of the heavenly man (Christ). We will not be born (again) until Christ returns and we are changed (into the spirit body, the white robe). Christ - the firstfruits - has already been born (again). The rest of us have been born once, we are conceived (begotten) as children of God when/if we receive holy spirit (the breath, blood, seed of JAH), but we (embryos) have not yet been born (again).

We (who are children of God) will (all of us) be born (again) in a single day (Isaiah 66:8), at the same time, in an instant (1 Corinthians 15:52).

May anyone who wishes them be given ears to hear, to get a sense of these things from the TRUTH (Christ Jaheshua) and also to hear as the Spirit (Christ) and the Bride say to you, "Come!" May anyone who wishes and anyone who thirsts, "Come! Take the FREE gift of the water of Life!"

(which water is holy spirit, the breath/blood/seed of JAH, which is poured out from Christ, which the Father gives to Him without end)

Peace again to you,
your servant and a slave of Christ,
tammy

Checkpoint · Post by **Checkpoint** » Sat Mar 13, 2021 3:08 am

[Replying to tam in post #452]

If we receive holy spirit (the breath, blood, and seed of JAH), then we are CONCEIVED. Children are conceived by their fathers by means of his seed. In the case of JAH, that seed is holy spirit (the breath, blood, and seed of JAH). An embryo is a child of his father (just as we who have received holy spirit are children of our Father), but an embryo has not yet been born.

None of us have yet been born (again). We have been born once (in the flesh) in the image of the earthly man (Adam). But we have YET to be born (a second time) in the image of the heavenly man (Christ). We will not be born (again) until Christ returns and we are changed (into the spirit body, the white robe). Christ - the firstfruits - has already been born (again). The rest of us have been born once, we are conceived (begotten) as children of God when/if we receive holy spirit (the breath, blood, seed of JAH), but we (embryos) have not yet been born (again).

We (who are children of God) will (all of us) be born (again) in a single day (Isaiah 66:8), at the same time, in an instant (1 Corinthians 15:52).

So, believers are begotten again embryo's, and remain so until they are born again with the spirit body?

I don't think so, and I don't think that was what Jesus was telling Nicodemus.

To me, the New Testament paints a different picture.

Briefly and simply, this is what I see now:

We become believers when we receive the Lord. We become connected, spirit to Spirit. We have in this way passed from death to life, and been begotten/born again into God's family.

We have thus become a child of God, with all that means, in this present age, and will mean in eternity.

Firstly, as with all new life, we grow, from babyhood to adulthood, and some of us reach maturity.

Secondly, as children we have become an heir to whatever our Father promises and guarantees us.

Thirdly, when Jesus returns, what and who we are will be revealed by our resurrection in a body that belongs in God's eternal kingdom.

That is not being born again, but being one of God's many children inheriting all things.

Peace and grace to you, Tammy.

Revelations won · Post by **Revelations won** » Sun Mar 14, 2021 9:04 am

You must be Born Again

It is interesting to see not only Nicodemus, but many in our day struggling to grasp the full meaning of Christ’s words to Nicodemus.

5 Jesus answered, “[b]Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.[/b]

Jesus in his answer to Nicodemus is teaching him the first principles of the gospel I.e.

We believe that the first principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ are first faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, second repentance, third baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, fourth the laying on of hands to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

People may have a mere belief in a principle, but take no action in following that belief.

Faith is not a dormant posture. Faith is a principle of action.

Therefore one would thus be moved to act upon that faith by repenting of ones sins.

Only after these first two steps, would one be prepared to forsake their sins and become ready to covenant with God to be baptized for the remission of those sins.

The fourth step is to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands by one in authority. This opens the door to become partakers of one or more of the gifts of the spirit.

1 Peter 3:
18
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
19
By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
20
Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
21
The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
22
Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

Perhaps the best answer to the OP topic was given by John the Baptist in the following:

John 1:
24
And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.
25
And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
26
John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;
27
He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
28
These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
30
This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.
31
And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
32
And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
33
And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

Indeed no one can enter into the kingdom of God except these first principles are complied with.

Kind regards,
RW

Checkpoint · Post by **Checkpoint** » Mon Mar 15, 2021 9:23 pm

[Replying to myth-one.com in post #435]

Just for you, here are some answers to some questions.

But you claim to have already been born again of the Spirit.

1) Describe that process.

2) Since that which is born of the spirit is spirit, what happened to your earthly physical body?
=========================================

You have "seen" the Kingdom of God.

3) Describe it to me.

1) Being born again is not a process, as such. It is the connecting of our spirit with God's Spirit, when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

We now have the Holy Spirit. God is Spirit, and His presence engenders and maintains our new spiritual life as yet another of His many children.

2) Our human mortal body becomes another dwelling place of God in His temple, in this present age.

3) The kingdom of God is not physically seen, but seen in spiritual perception. Matthew 13:11-17.

The kingdom is evidenced by the manifestation of its spiritual fruit, such as the righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, of those who have entered.

myth-one.com · Post by **myth-one.com** » Mon Mar 15, 2021 10:07 pm

JehovahsWitness wrote: ↑Fri Mar 12, 2021 12:49 am
myth-one.com wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 5:11 pm There we will be like the angels which live forever.
Are you suggesting living forever equates to immortality? If so why?

Yes, because immortal beings live forever.

JehovahsWitness" wrote:Immortality is never mentioned in scripture as being intrinsic to ALL spirit all life.

All spiritual bodied beings live forever.

myth-one.com · Post by **myth-one.com** » Mon Mar 15, 2021 10:31 pm

In Post #452, Tam wrote:
Christ - the firstfruits - has already been born (again).

Christ was the first to be RESURRECTED -- not the first to be born again of the Spirit.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. (I Corinthians 15:22-23)

No human has been born again of the Spirit to date.

tam · Post by **tam** » Mon Mar 15, 2021 10:34 pm

Peace again to you!

[Replying to Checkpoint in post #454]

Did you look up Isaiah 66:8, Checkpoint?

myth-one.com · Post by **myth-one.com** » Mon Mar 15, 2021 10:36 pm

Checkpoint wrote: ↑Mon Mar 15, 2021 9:23 pm [Replying to myth-one.com in post #435]

Being born again is not a process, as such. It is the connecting of our spirit with God's Spirit, when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

No, being born again of the Spirit is an actual birth.

Checkpoint · Post by **Checkpoint** » Mon Mar 15, 2021 11:51 pm

myth-one.com wrote: ↑Mon Mar 15, 2021 10:36 pm
Checkpoint wrote: ↑Mon Mar 15, 2021 9:23 pm [Replying to myth-one.com in post #435]

Being born again is not a process, as such. It is the connecting of our spirit with God's Spirit, when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
No, being born again of the Spirit is an actual birth.

Inded it is an actual birth.

That is very clearly laid out in John 1.

A spiritual birth, not a physival one. A supernatural birth, not a natural one.

Debating Christianity and Religion