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Hey this is a video called the Gods story, for some reason I wasn't able to post it directly as a video.
You can also find other languages available on their site.
Transitions - moving from religious thinking to relational thinking
What does it mean to be born again?
The first reference to the phrase I know of is found in John 3. here is the context the word and the meaning are going to be underlined.
1 Now there was among the Pharisees a man named Nicodemus, who was one of the rulers of the Jews.
2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we are certain that you have come from God as a teacher, because no man would be able to do these signs which you do if God was not with him.
3 Jesus said to him, Truly, I say to you, Without a new birth no man is able to see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus said to him, How is it possible for a man to be given birth when he is old? Is he able to go into his mother’s body a second time and come to birth again?
5 Jesus said in answer, Truly, I say to you, If a man’s birth is not from water and from the Spirit, it is not possible for him to go into the kingdom of God.
6 That which has birth from the flesh is flesh, and that which has birth from the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not be surprised that I say to you, It is necessary for you to have a second birth.
Why do we need to be born again?
John 3:15-21
15 So that whoever has faith may have in him eternal life.
16 For God had such love for the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever has faith in him may not come to destruction but have eternal life.
17 God did not send his Son into the world to be judge of the world; he sent him so that the world might have salvation through him.
18 The man who has faith in him is not condemned; but he who has no faith in him has been judged even now, because he has no faith in the name of the only Son of God.
19 And this is the test by which men are judged: the light (Jesus Christ) has come into the world and men have more love for the dark than for the light, because their acts are evil.
20 The light is hated by everyone whose acts are evil and he does not come to the light for fear that his acts will be seen.
21 But he whose life is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his acts have been done by the help of God.
Romans 3:23-28,31
23 For all have done wrong and are far from the glory of God;
24 And they may have righteousness put to their credit, freely, by his grace, through the salvation which is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God has put forward as the sign of his mercy, through faith, by his blood, to make clear his righteousness when, in his pity, God let the sins of earlier times go without punishment;
26 And to make clear his righteousness now, so that he might himself be upright, and give righteousness to him who has faith in Jesus.
27 What reason, then, is there for pride? It is shut out. By what sort of law? of works? No, but by a law of faith.
28 For this reason, then, a man may get righteousness by faith without the works of the law.
31 Do we, then, through faith make the law of no effect? In no way: but we make it clear that the law is important.
Romans 6:3-23
3 Or are you without the knowledge that all we who had baptism into Christ Jesus, had baptism into his death?
4 We have been placed with him among the dead through baptism into death: so that as Christ came again from the dead by the glory of the Father, we, in the same way, might be living in new life.
5 For, if we have been made like him in his death, we will, in the same way, be like him in his coming to life again;
6 Being conscious that our old man was put to death on the cross with him, so that the body of sin might be put away, and we might no longer be servants to sin.
7 Because he who is dead is free from sin.
8 But if we are dead with Christ, we have faith that we will be living with him;
9 Having knowledge that because Christ has come back from the dead, he will never again go down to the dead; death has no more power over him.
10 For his death was a death to sin, but his life now is a life which he is living to God.
11 Even so see yourselves as dead to sin, but living to God in Christ Jesus.
12 For this cause do not let sin be ruling in your body which is under the power of death, so that you give way to its desires;
13 And do not give your bodies to sin as the instruments of wrongdoing, but give yourselves to God, as those who are living from the dead, and your bodies as instruments of righteousness to God.
14 For sin may not have rule over you: because you are not under law, but under grace.
According to the above text to be born again is to die in Christ through baptism and to rise again with Christ in a new life of righteousness.
Before dying man is a servant of sin, doing what ever it pleases. Have you ever noticed that sin rules you, you cannot help but look at a woman or man and lust, you cannot help but lie if it means you get out of a sticky situation, you cannot help but hate someone who hurts you.
After you are baptised you live a new life, your flesh is weak but now Christ lives in you and he is sinless. So you no longer sin. That does not mean that you do not fail sometimes, but it is one thing to fall, and rise up (repent and reject sin) and a totally different thing to live consciously in sin. It is not your ability to keep yourself out of sin (no man is able to keep himself from sin) the only way is Jesus, Jesus is holy and makes you holy through a learning process. For this reason you cannot boast of your holiness but His, as Jesus sets you free from sin.
15 What then? are we to go on in sin because we are not under law but under grace? Let it not be so.
16 Are you not conscious that you are the servants of him to whom you give yourselves to do his desire? if to sin, the end being death, or if to do the desire of God, the end being righteousness.
17 But praise be to God that though you were the servants of sin, you have now given yourselves freely to that form of teaching under which you were placed;
18 And being made free from sin you have been made the servants of righteousness.
19 I am using words in the way of men, because your flesh is feeble: as you gave your bodies as servants to what is unclean, and to evil to do evil, so now give them as servants to righteousness to do what is holy.
20 When you were servants of sin you were free from righteousness.
21 What fruit had you at that time in the things which are now a shame to you? for the end of such things is death.
22 But now, being free from sin, and having been made servants to God, you have your fruit in that which is holy, and the end is eternal life.
23 For the reward of sin is death; but what God freely gives is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.
What is baptism and how does one become born again?
When the apostles were baptised with the Holy spirit in Acts 2. Peter stood up to preach. Then the men who heard him asked this (Acts 2:37,38):
37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
38 Then Peter said unto them, 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.
To repent means to change your heart. It means to change your view, before repenting you accept sin as part of normal life, after repenting you reject sin, you hate sin.
Baptism into Christ is as mentioned earlier in the text from Romans 6, death to sin and life to Christ. You make a choice when you are baptised in water, when you go down it’s your death and when you rise up you, rise up in a new way of life, you choose to walk away from sin.
Is baptism as a baby good enough?
When you are a baby, you are not aware of what is happening, you have made no choice to die through Christ. There has been no decision from your part. You are not saved through baptism; you are saved through belief in Christ’s death and resurrection and repenting, and then being baptised. If you do not repent you are not justified before God and that is simply why baptism as a baby changes nothing, because the heart is not changed and the children grow up and make their own decisions either they choose to live for Christ or choose to live in sin.
Turn to Christ today. Repent and be baptised.
