Born Again - Enter the Kingdom
54By water, you've entered the kingdom of man. By spirit, you'll enter the Kingdom of God.
Jesus said that to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, you must be born again. He goes on to say that flesh gives birth to flesh, and spirit gives birth to spirit.
Before you are born, you do not exist. Before your spirit is born, it does not exist. Before you are born again, you are all flesh, and no spirit. When your spirit is born entirely, you become all spirit, and you enter what Jesus called the Kingdom of Heaven. I love that Jesus used this particular imagery. It is one small statement that does a million statements worth of clarification. There are so many false doctrines that can be disproved with this one tiny sentence. But unless you experience spiritual birth, understanding what Jesus meant by being born again is impossible. Just as impossible as physical birth is to understand for an unborn child. Jesus didn’t use the word “like.” Entering is not LIKE being born again; you must BE born again to enter. Birth is not an act of will.Physical birth doesn’t happen instantly, and neither does spiritual birth. Physical birth is extremely terrifying; so is spiritual birth. I know from experience that entering the Kingdom of Heaven is a long, painful, terrifying process. It does not happen in the span of a single prayer. It is not as convenient and comfortable as simply saying the words “I believe” and meaning them. You had no choice being born the first time, and you have no choice being born the second time. The first time you were born, you were ripped out of everything you knew and took comfort in. You were thrust kicking and screaming, against your will, into a foreign world where everything was unknown. The second birth is only different in that it is more extreme. You had only nine months worth of attachments to break the first time; you’ll have much more than that to break the second time. I take comfort in this choice of words Jesus used. It lets me know that the pain and fear I’m going through are leading to something glorious. I’m being born of spirit. I’m entering the Kingdom of Heaven. I think I can actually peek out and start to see it now. Flesh gives birth to flesh. Before you were born of flesh, you were inside a flesh that was larger than you. I imagine that as birth drew nearer, you started to notice this flesh that contained you. You are now inside, or part of, a larger spirit. The closer you come to full spiritual birth, the more you start to notice the all-encompassing spirit that surrounds you; the more you come to know God. Spirit gives birth to spirit.
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The only problem I have with this Hub is this statement >>( you have no choice being born the second time.) I beg to disagree. I would like to ask you to go to this link for an explanation of my comment >>
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries
I believe we were all born with a spirit that has fallen under the curse of sin. That spirit can be renewed only if we as individuals will it to be.
Aside from this one statement I think you have a good hub. Thank you.
secondsamuel: Jesus used the imagery of birth so as to clarify that we have no choice. Why would he call it being born again if that's not what it is? Many people think otherwise. That's ok.
Thanks for the comment
Nyasha: Nice comparison. One thing I believe you misunderstood, though, is that I'm not talking about accepting Christ as your personal savior. I'm talking about entering the Kingdom of Heaven. Those are two different things. Jesus did not say that in order to accept Him we must accept him as a child. He said that in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, we must accept it as a child. He never calls Himself the Kingdom. He only calls Himself the way to the Kingdom. Accepting Him as the way is not the same thing as entering.
Matthew 18:2-4 (Amplified Bible)2And He called a little child to Himself and put him in the midst of them,
3And said, Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all].
4Whoever will humble himself therefore and become like this little child [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving] is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Our Lord set a little child before them, solemnly assuring them, that unless they were converted and made like little children, they could not enter his kingdom. Children, when very young, do not desire authority, do not regard outward
distinctions, are free from malice, are teachable, and willingly dependent on their parents. It is true that they soon begin to show other dispositions, and other ideas are taught them at an early age; but these are marks of childhood, and render them proper emblems of the lowly minds of true Christians. Surely we need to be daily renewed in the spirit of our minds, that we may become simple and humble, as little children, and willing to be the least of all. Let us daily study this subject, and examine our own spirits.
Matthew 18:2-4 (The Message)
2-5For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom. What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me
A kingdom by its nature requires a king and Jesus Christ is the King of the kingdom He is refering to
secondsamuel: I know these aren't your words. You copied and pasted this from another site.
The scripture, however, is accurate. Are you giving me this as an argument against my statement that we have no choice about our second birth? I'm not sure that you are because nothing in the scripture or commentary you sent refutes my statement.
John 6:44
"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 15:16
"You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
Thank you for reminding me about my previous comment. I copied it from bible gateway, from a commentary by Mathew Henry.
I guess none of us has to worry about going to heaven because we have no choice in the matter, we're going whether we like it or not. So whats the point in trying to live as God would have us live? It doesn't matter how we live, Halleluah! we're all going to heaven. I'll see-ya-there.
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that [‘that faith’] not of yourselves [NOT of your own faith or will] it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are HIS workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:8-10).
No, we don't have to worry! I'll say it again - We don't have to worry! Jesus came so that we don't have to worry anymore about being good, living right, etc etc. The burden of salvation is NOT ON US. It's ON HIM. It is by nothing WE DO that we are saved. It is by grace, through faith that is GIVEN to us from above.
Now, show me where in the Bible jesus talks about the after life. I don't think it's there. He uses the words Kingdom of Heaven and Kingdom of God many times, but never does that indicate the afterlife. He said "the kingdom of God is AT HAND." That means RIGHT HERE.
Matthew 10:32-33 (Amplified Bible)32 Therefore, everyone who ACKNOWLEDGES Me before men and CONFESSES Me [out of a state of oneness with Me], I will also acknowledge him before My Father Who is in heaven and confess [that I am abiding in] him.
33 But whoever DENIES and disowns Me before men, I also will deny and disown him before My Father Who is in heaven.
Romans 10:9-10 (Amplified Bible)
9 Because if you acknowledge and CONFESS with your LIPS that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation
Ephesians 2:8-10 (Amplified Bible)
8 For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [YOUR] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;
9 Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law's demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]
10 For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].
I think you have a typing error [NOT of your own faith or will] the faith he is referring to is an individuals own faith.
Also you say we have to do nothing, but scripture makes it very clear that we have to do something and that is the word "confess" mentioned in the scriptures above. Confessing is an act of ones will. So I beg to differ with you that we have to do nothing. It's true; there is nothing we as individuals can do (works) to be saved but there are requirements for recieving the gift of salvation. That requirement is (confession).
confession is something we do within our hearts and God requires us to confess with our lips (publicly).
THE AFTER LIFE John 14 (Amplified Bible) 1DO NOT let your hearts be troubled (distressed, agitated). You believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely on God; believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely also on Me.
2In My Father's house there are many dwelling places (homes). If it were not so, I would have told you; for I am going away to prepare a place for you.
3And when (if) I go and make ready a place for you, I will come back again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also.
So if you don't believe in an after life, how do you explain the scriptures above.
Ephesians 5:14 (Amplified Bible) 14Therefore He says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine (make day dawn) upon you and give you light
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 (Amplified Bible)15For this we declare to you by the Lord's [own] word, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall in no way precede [into His presence] or have any advantage at all over those who have previously fallen asleep [in Him [a]in death].
16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first.
17Then we, the living ones who remain [on the earth], shall simultaneously be caught up along with [the resurrected dead] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so always (through the eternity of the eternities) we shall be with the Lord!
Now I don't know about you but I see this as an after-life
secondsamuel: I'm glad you showed me this.
All I can tell you for now is that the words of Christ Himself go before the words of any of his apostles. And everything Jesus spoke, he spoke in parables.
Matthew 13:34:
All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable.
Secondsamuel: I appreciate your involvement here. Could you do me a favor and limit the length of your comments. This is just a personal preference. Thank you.
I have to agree with secondsamuel. Your differetiation between the words of Jesus, and the words of the other NT writers, is in effect, dismissing them as NOT being the Word Of God. Jesus said that he spoke to the crowds in parables, but He explained things very clearly to His disciples.
Being born again is most deffinitely an act of our free will. (Albeit that God foreknew us, and predestined us). I remember,vividly, how my life changed, the day that I received Him as Lord and Saviour. You may not call that born again, but it sure describes the event accurately. I haven't been the same since.
AKA DJ: You make a good point. It is all the Word of God. I didn't mean to say it wasn't. What I mean is that the Word of God should be taken as a whole in order to understand the structure of it. Some parts of it are more foundational to others. Jesus' words are the most foundational. The rest of the Bible should be interpreted with His words as a primary consideration.
I'm sure you did have a life changing experience. I'm happy for you. I know what that's like. It's wonderful
I have some scripture to find to show you that Jesus also spoke to his apostles in symbolic language and parables. But right now I have to pack and go somewhere. Thanks for your comment!
All of the words in the entire bible are the words of Jesus. If He didn't speak them directly then they were enspired by His spirit. For those of you that don't know...........Jesus Christ is God. He always has been and always will be and all the words in the whole universe, written or spoken from the flesh will ever change the fact that Jesus Christ is God......And what is cool about it is that we don't have to believe it if we don't want to because God gave us all a FREE WILL.
What puzzles me is that just a few days or maybe weeks ago you professed on the hub-pages that you were an athiest.(of course you deleted the evidence) Now all of-a-sudden you acknowledge God by some perception of your own. Maybe you have seen a light which you precieve to be God. But you need to be carefull because satan tricks people by creating the illusion of light, in fact he is refered to as an angel of light. satan knows the scriptures from beginning to end and he even uses scripture to decieve people through the activities of the very people he has under his deceptive control.
I beg you to please stop these acts of heresy.
secondsamuel: You speak the truth. Jesus is God. And since all things come from God, all words in the Bible are His. But then, in that light, all words in existence are His as well. This is a a coclusion reached by logic - not necessarily scripture (or at least I haven't found it yet). You're right about us not having to believe in Jesus being God. We surely don't. But no matter what we believe, it isn't our will but God's will that we believe it. All things come from God.
Isaiah 45:7 (NIV)
I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.
Yes, my theism is a recent development. But my relationship with God is as old as I am. Even though I had a bond with God, I rejected calling it that because I had been so embittered by the distorted image of God that is so prevalent in our current world. But now I can freely call God by what He is becaue He has opened my eyes to the truth. He has finally given me peace and understanding after so many years of mental anguish.
I am not a heretic. I speak the truth.
I have the same problem as SecondSamuel with this hub. Being born of the spirit is done willingly. The spiritual birth is done by the Holy Ghost, but only upon a willing person or vessel.
Joh 15:26 And when the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, that One will witness concerning Me.
Act 2:4 And they were all filled of the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave ability to them to speak. The lost cannot recieve the Holy Ghost nor can they even receive the truth.
Joh 14:17 the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him nor know Him. But you know Him, for He abides with you and shall be in you.
Sirdent: you completely misquoted Acts 2:4 I checked five different translations. You added on the last sentence. So the part that is unscriptural is this:
The lost cannot receive the Holy Ghost nor can they even receive the truth.
Why did you do that? That totally invalidates anything else you say. That's totally screwed up man.
Other than that, the rest of the scriptural references you gave have another meaning than you imply here.
Thenb last part of that was my words not scripture. It just didn't format right. As for eveything else, it is your choice.
Man's Will = Bound to sin. Sin = wrongdoing. Wrongdoing + bondage = inability to will to do otherwise.
It's a simple equation. It's actually quite easy to imagine God changing us first before we know we're being changed. Thje biggest nuisance to me is the concept that man has free will. I know for certain my redemption happened -- not because of me or anything I wanted, trust me, the last thing I wanted was God -- but because He wanted me.
Maestro, whether or not we agree on everything, you've hit the nail on the head here. While we can make choices, we cannot choose righteousness without the change within happening first -- aka, rebirth.
'Nother equation:
Rebirth = new life. New life + changed will = redemption. Redemption /=/ Free will.
The Bible itself says [paraphrase] :
No man comes to me unless granted of Him by the Father.
Pretty simple to me, as it seems to you.
tkeeley. Thanks. It's nice to get your support. Especially in this matter of free will. Nice equations.
Yes, that verse says it all in a nutshell.
SirDent: you use the term "the lost" who are you referring to? Does the Bible use that term? If it does, can you show me where?
Also, on that last verse - John 14:17 - Jesus is talking to people who love Him. That's it. Yes, in the narrative He's talking to His apostles, but to humanity, he's talking to anyone who loves Him. When God draws us to Him and we fall in love with Him, we become aware of the Holy Spirit. But until that time that God draws us, we are unaware of it.
Total unawareness of the Spirit.
SirDent's use of "lost" means the unredeemed. The Bible does mention those, and I'm sure one of the translations uses lost specifically somewhere.
There's an interesting facet o the new covenant most Christians have not learned about. It's the fact that children born under the covenant, aka children of Christian parents, are redeemed from birth and only express that faith later in life--in other words, the Spirit of God is evident from as early as the child can blink, yet it's not expressed until the child comes to knowledge of the saving grace, aka predestination. It makes excellent sense when you consider there arte NO accounts in the OT about any children of Abraham (his lineage, the israelites) actually "praying a prayer" of salvation, even though we know OT believers were saved also by Grace. Hebrews 12 talks of it fully.
It's a great theology I hope to hear more about in the future. It's the reason that sovereign grace makes sense! Outside of the covenant you'll see people drawn to Christ, but inside it there's simply grace abounding thru a covenant that is passed by spiritual "genes". It doesn't mean everyone is a Christian their entire life, because some will reject it (you'd have to 'reject' something you'd been gifted with since birth).
Good discussions and comments. But it all goes to show that words and phrases are important. One incorrect word can change an entire statement.
My only other comment is that He is the only way and on that we all seem to agree! Only through Him and acceptance of Him as our Lord and Savior can we spend eternity with Him! PTL!
tkeeley: You bring up a perspective that I have never before seen or thought of. I'd like to look more into that. Thanks.
RGraf: I love your comment. Yes, let's all focus on what we have in common instead of what divides us. Jesus is my Savior as well as yours, as well as those who don't believe. He's the Savior of the entire world.
It's an interesting perspective. It's one John Calvin sort of wrote about and argued about 500 yars ago. It still holds true in a lot of circles, motly european. It's interesting to me that we've ignored sucha poignant issue that seriously commands respect and study, especially since the Bible seems to scream it!
1) no record in the Bible of children being baptised, or converted for that matter
2) Only adults NOT already in a family of believers were shown to have been converted, otherwise we're left to assume OT Jews were believers regardless of a confessional statement on their part! (See King Saul and the fact that he had the spirit one day, sort of screwed up, then lost it the next--doesn't mean he didn't inherit the covenant blessing of God though!)
3) All baptisms in the NT were either before Christ, preparing the way (different baptism than the one in the new covenant) or after Christ, where the baptism of adults was predominantly Gentile in nature OR adults joining the new covenant thru baptism! Major, major issues arise when we try to say children were involved then too...because they weren't. Children of redeemed parents were assumed "covered" in the veil of the new covenant and would express those views later in life. It makes sense, especially looking back at my life and realising I battled the views of my parents and didn't come to express them fully til my twenties-- BUT I STILL CALLED CHRIST LORD FOR MOST OF MY LIFE AND KNEW WHO I WAS SERVING.
Debate that one if you want, but the argument is enticing.
tkeeley: I do not wish to debate with you or anyone. I've finally seen the glaringly futile nature of belief-based debates. My forum about free will got to a point of being just a hostile boxing match. I lost interest and bowed out.
Honestly, I find your line of thinking to be very intriguing. I've seen nothing about it so far that strikes me as illogical or unfounded. It truly interests me. Perhaps you can give me a link to some more in-depth writing about it.
It's nice that you bring good, thought-provoking content to the discussion rather than worn-out, tiresome evangelism, which seems to be so dominant in the religious threads here on Hubpages.
Well, let me argue this way:
Your parents, as far as I know, are converted christians. You were born then into the new covenant, whether you like it or not. As a result, you have the opportunity to express such faith in your life upon what many consider the "age of understanding." OR you might NOT. Only God truly knows for certain anyway. The good end of this means is salvation is sure and founded for those blessed in the enw covenant.
That's why I am part of a church that baptises infants.
I can send you authors of subjects similar to this, but I cannot promise there are links online about it. Old reformation Christians like Calvin and Luther have excellent works on the matter, and there are considerable presbyterian writers of today that have opinions and Biblical support for it to.
My statement including the word "debate" wasn't towards you, since I figure we won't debate on the topic much if at all. I do know, however, a bunch of chidish comments could ensue with strong disagreement to my opinion, that's all. I was merely covering my arse :)
Calvin and Luther were blind heretics who have alot of blood on their hands. Physical water does nothing for spiritual baptism.
jaimelinus0316 says:
14 months ago
Hmm...I guess now I know why you were so cranky this morning - you were writing at 2 or 3 am!
It's interesting how one word can change a whole sentence. There's so many Christians that don't slow down and take the time to read the most commonly used and famous verses. "Born again" is one of those coin phrases that's constantly used in Christianity, which makes it one of the most confusing phrases.
But you hit it right on the head. :-)