Being born again

Its amazing how many church attenders are unclear that it’s an imperative to be born again.

In fact, some faith groups consider people who are born again to be unorthodox, or even out of some kind of cult. Somehow, it’s been announced in certain circles that those who advocate the new birth are peddling some kind of error.

The reality, though, is that the new birth is an essential to understanding the kingdom of God. This comes from the words of Jesus, and is a key doctrine in the Word of God. We must be born again.

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3:3

What does it mean, then, to be born again? In this passage, Jesus is explaining to Nicodemus, a Pharisee, what it takes to become a citizen of heaven, and how to understand the things of the kingom of God. The new birth refers to being born of God, or born of the Spirit.

Jesus explains that only those who have been born of the flesh and water qualify to be born again. It is a second birth. The first is of flesh and blood–of our parents, the second is of our heavenly Father, through the Spirit of God.

Being born again, then, is something we must do, and can only receive through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is God who gives us the grace, mercy and power to become sons and daughters of God.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 1:12-13

Being born again is being born of God. Being a church-goer or even someone who is born into a Christian family isn’t a guarantee that a person is born again. It can only come through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ, who gave His life at the cross so that we could be saved from sin and death.

To be born again we must first believe what the Bible says about the death and resurrection of Jesus, and confess Him as Lord of our lives. Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Is this your day?