What Does It Mean to be Born Again?

Anytime Jesus starts a sentence with verily, verily, He is stressing a point and saying this is extremely important so listen up.  I researched the word “born” in the original language and the Greek and the definition is: to procreate or reproduce by the Father to bring forth one of its own kind.  It also means “to be delivered”.  The word “again” comes from the Greek word anothen which means “from above or from the top”.   The bible was translated from the Greek into English. 

So John 3:3 translated means:  LISTEN AND PAY CLOSE ATTENTION, EXCEPT a person is reproduced by the FATHER FROM ABOVE WHERE HE BRINGS FORTH ONE OF HIS OWN KIND, He shall not see the Kingdom of God.  That is pretty clear when you get down to the translation and one is not “born again” if He is not replicating or appearing like the Father from above.  So, how saved or “born again” are we if we do not look like the Father in heaven and represent Him accurately? Jesus told people that if they have seen Him, they have seen the Father, which was evidence of who His Father was.  We have to ask that question in a church age that has people “asking Jesus into their heart” in order to be born again or saved and asking Jesus into your heart is nowhere in the bible.  What kind of fruit does a person who is truly “born again” produce?  It will produce fruit that is of the Father or of His kind.  The Father is Holy and light in a dark world.  He hates sin so much that He sent His son to die in order to do away with it.  That is pretty extreme, so if you are practicing sin, you have to question who your Father is.  John 3:18-21 tells us in this same chapter on being born again, and if we want to have true, born again believers we need to know how one gets that way and not be deceived.  This is the foundation of the whole church and again, if the foundation is not accurate, the whole house is unstable and susceptible to deception so LISTEN AND PAY CLOSE ATTENTION (Verily, Verily) as we explore this truth. 

John 3:18-21  He that believeth on him (Jesus) is not condemned (judged), but he that believeth not is condemned (judged) already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation (judgment), that light is come into the world and men LOVED DARKNESS RATHER THAN LIGHT, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, that his deeds may be reproved.  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

How does one who loves darkness rather than light cover their sin when it is exposed or reproved and have it remain in darkness when the cloak that covers their sin is removed and they are reproved.  The word “reproved” means to expose and show strong hatred for.  They deny, explain, minimize, give their intent, justify, call evil good and so on so that the sin or behavior remains in darkness.  They may even attack the accuser and turn on you like the bible says a pig will do.  They will hate the person who removes the cloak that covers their sin, like Jesus said they hated Him for doing this.  Jesus also said that when you do this or hate the person who exposes your sin and shows strong hatred for it, this is referred to as hating your brother without a cause and you are in danger of judgment.   Someone who is truly born again will want to know that they have displeased the Father and want to repent and make the correction and walk as the Father walks.  You won’t find them covering their sin or attacking the person who calls them to repentance.

You have to be born of water, which is water baptism and of the Holy Spirit in order for one to be born again as 3:5 states and Jesus started that sentence with Verily, Verily or LISTEN AND PAY CLOSE ATTENTION.  Water baptism isn’t optional.  Jesus did it, the Father requires it and the purpose of it is for the remission or sending away of past sin that were confessed in order to receive the Holy Spirit or born of the spirit part of the new birth process.  The Holy Spirit is Holy and will not reside in someone not wanting to be Holy so if you love darkness rather than light, you can be sure the Holy Spirit is not residing there and the person is not “born again”.  Grace isn’t the license to sin but the empowerment not to and this is the purpose for the baptism in the Holy Spirit which Jesus provided with His blood and sacrifice and could not be sent until His resurrection at Pentecost.  Jesus even said that He didn’t do away with the law but fulfilled it.  The law was to show you couldn’t keep it in your own ability and you need this empowerment or Spirit birth by being Baptized in the Holy Spirit.  So water baptism is the being born of water part because it sends away or remits past sins once the person has repented  which sweeps the person clean.  Then the Spirit birth takes place to empower the person not to sin and no longer practice it.  This is filling the person up with the Holy Spirit.  Your freedom in Christ comes from no longer being a slave to sin.  It is not freedom to do as you like because you said your little prayer and the blood of Jesus has all your past sins and future sins covered.  Jesus didn’t die to cover sins but remove them and the bible states this was why He came.  When the Israelites went through the sea when God parted it, this was their water baptism and the pillar of fire was the Holy Spirit’s presence as they left Egypt, which symbolizes the world and things of it.  If you love Egypt or things of this world and don’t want to give them up, you can’t be delivered or be born again so this must be repented of.  

People will object and go to John 3:16 which is ironically the same chapter where it states a person must be born of water and the spirit:  For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVETH in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  I highlighted and underlined the word Believe because I wanted to go into the definition from the Greek because, again, you have to know what this word means in order to know if you are, so as not to perish.  This isn’t something we can take lightly as your eternal destiny depends on this.  It comes from the Greek words pisteuo and pistia which means “to respect, commit yourself to, give credit to (not take the glory) or to entrust one’s well being to, even in times of trouble.  To be fully persuaded, pledge fidelity and be constant in that persuasion as exemplified by how one lives.  Being a doer of the word”.

So tell me, is merely giving mental assent and believing the same thing the devil does about Jesus the definition of BELIEVE that would cause one not to perish and avoid everlasting judgment.  That is what the church is spooning out to people to convince them that cheap grace requires them to give mental assent to Jesus and thus they are “born again” and they are true “believers” where there is therefore “no condemnation” or judgment as they practice sin that Jesus died to remove.

Then the bible in John 3 states that you can’t see the kingdom of God if you are not born of water and of the spirit.  I looked up the word “see” in the Greek which is “eido” and it means to perceive, understand, be aware of the presence of, comprehend and tell.  Okay, now let’s get down to the whole broken down meaning in English of what it means to be “born again” in order to test the spirits teaching in the church today and make sure we aren’t judged and perish because we believe lies.

John 3:3 THIS IS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT SO LISTEN CAREFULLY.  Except a man (person or humankind) is procreated or reproduced by the Father above who brings forth one of His own kind, He shall not perceive, understand, be aware of the presence of, comprehend and tell about the Kingdom of God.

John 3:5 THIS IS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT SO LISTEN CAREFULLY.  Except a man be procreated or reproduced by the Father above who brings forth one of His own kind through water baptism that sends away past sins through repentance and confession sweeping the old man clean and of being endued with power from on High or empowered or fully immersed in the Holy Spirit afterward, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

John 3:16 For the Father so loved the world that He gave His only fleshly birthed Son so that whosoever respects, commits himself to, gives credit to, entrusts, pledges fidelity to, is fully persuaded and is constant in that persuasion as exemplified by how he lives his life in being a doer of the word, should not perish or be damned, but will live forever in the Kingdom of God. 

John 3:17 For God did not send His son into the world to see people perish and be judged.  He sent His son to reproduce, replicate, deliver and bring forth His own kind by showing them how the Father looks which is Holy and righteous. The Son, Jesus, took the punishment for their sins on himself and removed them because the Father is Holy and righteous and must condemn and judge sin.   In respecting, committing yourself to, giving credit to, entrusting your well being to, even in times of trouble and being fully persuaded by pledging fidelity and being constant in that persuasion as exemplified by how you live and being a doer of the word” as empowered by the Holy Spirit to do so the world would be saved.

John 3:18  He that doesn’t give respect, commit himself to, giving credit to, entrust his well being to, even in times of trouble and being fully persuaded by pledging fidelity and being constant in that persuasion as exemplified by how he lives and being a doer of the word as empowered by the Holy Spirit to do so is perishing already.

John 3:19 and this is how you can tell those that are perishing.  They love their sin and make excuses for it by justifying, explaining, minimizing, denying and giving their intent.  They attack those that expose their sin and bring it to light and refuse to call it what the Father calls it.

John 3:20 Those evil people hate it when their sin is exposed and strong hatred is shown toward it.  They are not the ones who confessed, repented, were baptized in water to send their sins away in order to receive the empowerment from the Holy Spirit to remain sin free.  They love their sin and don’t want to give it up.

John 3:21 But those that are born of water and of the spirit, and allow me to live in them, love truth and want their wrong doings to be brought to light to see if they are in deception or produced by the Father’s hand.

So that in a nutshell is what it means to be saved or born again which requires repentance, confession, water baptism and empowerment to walk as Jesus walked and being fully persuaded and constant in that persuasion to exemplify it by how you live your life.  Is that what the church is teaching and looking like?  So tell me, HOW SAVED ARE WE?

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