Before I began reading the bible, I thought “Born Again” was a man-made term, used in an almost pejorative way to describe Bible Bashers.
However, I discovered the the term “born again” is not a cliché, it is a direct quote from Jesus Christ himself. It is probably the most important instruction He will give you, it goes like this:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 3:3
So what does it mean? For a little more context we should expand the quote to include what Jesus said either side of this reference to being born again:
“Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 3:1-3
In a nutshell, what Jesus is saying is that we need to be born twice in order to be guaranteed eternal life and salvation. The first time we are born it is our natural birth from a mother’s womb. Our second birth, when we are “born again”, is when we are born spiritually for the first time. This is when we reach an age of reason and recognise that our Heavenly Father is the one true God, and that his son Jesus Christ has been delegated with all of His authority on Earth, to reveal all there is to know about the Father in Heaven.
We should not confuse this to think there is more than one God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God, but this one God has three distinct personalities. Much in the same way that a man might be a husband, father, and employee. One man, but three distinct stations in life; this is a crude analogy but it is the best I can do to describe the mystery of the Trinity with the limitations of English language.
When Nicodemus, the guy quoted in the Scripture above, heard Jesus tell him that he must be “born again”, he was a little confused to say the least, he was looking at a spiritual truth through his physical or carnal eyes and mind. He responded:
“Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?’ Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water [the womb] and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God’.”
~John 3:4-5
Are you persuaded even a little? What then must you do to be saved?
What’s the deal with Infant Baptism? I heard a priest say “that was when I was Born Again” (Coming soon).
NOTE: The word “Trinity” is not in the bible, it is simply a word used to describe the mystery of the “God Head” and His different personalities.