Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
How are We Born Again?
Christians love to preach how one must be Born Again in order to go to heaven. But do they truly understand what it means to be Born Again? First let's take a look at where this phrase is first mentioned.
John 3:1-7 (NASB)
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 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.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 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?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
So Jesus explains to Nicodemus what it is to be Born Again when he says "“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
The mistake many Christians make here is to assume that Jesus is speaking of being baptized by water and the Holy Spirit. It is a reasonable mistake. Especially when you consider many churches make the same mistake. Let's take a closer look at what Jesus is really talking about.
Ephesians 1:13 (NASB)
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
The very moment you believe in your heart, God sends the Holy Spirit to seal you with the promise. What promise could that possibly be other than the promise of salvation. This is truly what Baptism of the Spirit is. The moment you believe in your heart, you receive the Holy Spirit.
Now there is some confusion with Acts chapter 19 when Paul lays hands on some disciples for them to receive the Holy Spirit. Because of that scripture, many churches preach that one needs to be prayed over to receive the Holy Spirit. However, they are not fully understanding what is happening in chapter 19.
First off, it states that Paul came across some disciples. It does not clarify that these are disciples of Jesus. In fact, Paul asks them what they were baptized into and they answered the baptism of John. They state they had not even heard there was a Holy Spirit. Though they did believe Jesus was Lord, they had no understanding of what the Holy Spirit was or anything. Not to mention that the scripture says the Holy Spirit came on to them. It does not say the Holy Spirit entered them.
Basically what happened there was that when they believed, the Holy Spirit entered them, but did not manifest Himself yet until Paul taught them there was a Holy Spirit and laid hands on them. Imagine if you had no knowledge of the Holy Spirit at all and you just suddenly started speaking in tongues. That would probably have freaked them out.
So now we know from John 3:1-7 that the moment we truly believe in our hearts, we automatically receive the Holy Spirit. We learn that is a little different from the Holy Spirit manifesting Himself in you. Now ask yourself one question. If Jesus says we must be born of water and spirit to be saved, how can John 3 say the Holy Spirit seals us with the promise upon believing? There seems to be a glaring contradiction here. At least there does if you believe Jesus was speaking of water baptism.
You might find this scripture familiar...
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NASB)
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
Many Christians use this scripture to prove that sin sends us all to hell. The problem is they love to leave off the most important verse of this scripture.
1 Corinthians 6:11 (NASB)
11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
That scripture is not telling us what sins will send us to hell. It is telling us that all of those types of sinners will go to hell. Though we once were those types of sinners, we are no longer. We have been what? Washed clean!
Many will argue that this is speaking of water baptism as well, but the truth is it is not. There are 19 primary verses in the Bible that tell us how we are saved. All 19 say it is through faith or believing. Not one of them mentions water baptism. In fact, there is a scripture that plainly states that our salvation is not a result of works. Anything one does intentionally is a work of some type. Being baptized by water would fit into that category. So it is impossible according to scripture that we are saved because of water baptism. If you want to learn more on the Salvation verses click here. If you wish to learn more about what a Primary Verse is click here.
In order to explain the truth of how we are washed clean, I need to change subjects. Unfortunately this other subject is Predestination and many churches teach this wrong as well. I will just give a quick rundown of how it works in this article. If you want the scriptures backing it up, you will need to read my article on Predestination here.
We are naturally evil. We are not even able to choose God. In order for us to be able to choose God, He must first change our spirit to desire Him. Only after He changes us, are we able to choose whether we want to follow Jesus or not. This is how God changes us...
Ezekiel 36:25 (NASB)
25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Now in the light of transparency, I will clarify that in Ezekiel, God is speaking of His people. However, quite often in scriptures, they can be intentionally meant for multiple purposes. I believe this is also telling us just what it is God does to us to change us to be able to choose Him. In fact, I believe this scripture describes just how we are born of water and spirit.
He first washes us with clean water. At that moment we are born of water. Then immediately upon believing in our hearts that Jesus is Lord, God sends the Holy Spirit to enter us and seals us with the promise of Salvation. That is being born of Spirit.
We do not need to be prayed over or water baptized to be saved. We only need to be born of water and of Spirit to be saved. Both of those have already happened the very moment you believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord. That is why Paul tells us this...
Romans 10:9 (NASB)
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
John 3:1-7 (NASB)
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 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.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 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?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
So Jesus explains to Nicodemus what it is to be Born Again when he says "“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
The mistake many Christians make here is to assume that Jesus is speaking of being baptized by water and the Holy Spirit. It is a reasonable mistake. Especially when you consider many churches make the same mistake. Let's take a closer look at what Jesus is really talking about.
Ephesians 1:13 (NASB)
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
The very moment you believe in your heart, God sends the Holy Spirit to seal you with the promise. What promise could that possibly be other than the promise of salvation. This is truly what Baptism of the Spirit is. The moment you believe in your heart, you receive the Holy Spirit.
Now there is some confusion with Acts chapter 19 when Paul lays hands on some disciples for them to receive the Holy Spirit. Because of that scripture, many churches preach that one needs to be prayed over to receive the Holy Spirit. However, they are not fully understanding what is happening in chapter 19.
First off, it states that Paul came across some disciples. It does not clarify that these are disciples of Jesus. In fact, Paul asks them what they were baptized into and they answered the baptism of John. They state they had not even heard there was a Holy Spirit. Though they did believe Jesus was Lord, they had no understanding of what the Holy Spirit was or anything. Not to mention that the scripture says the Holy Spirit came on to them. It does not say the Holy Spirit entered them.
Basically what happened there was that when they believed, the Holy Spirit entered them, but did not manifest Himself yet until Paul taught them there was a Holy Spirit and laid hands on them. Imagine if you had no knowledge of the Holy Spirit at all and you just suddenly started speaking in tongues. That would probably have freaked them out.
So now we know from John 3:1-7 that the moment we truly believe in our hearts, we automatically receive the Holy Spirit. We learn that is a little different from the Holy Spirit manifesting Himself in you. Now ask yourself one question. If Jesus says we must be born of water and spirit to be saved, how can John 3 say the Holy Spirit seals us with the promise upon believing? There seems to be a glaring contradiction here. At least there does if you believe Jesus was speaking of water baptism.
You might find this scripture familiar...
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NASB)
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
Many Christians use this scripture to prove that sin sends us all to hell. The problem is they love to leave off the most important verse of this scripture.
1 Corinthians 6:11 (NASB)
11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
That scripture is not telling us what sins will send us to hell. It is telling us that all of those types of sinners will go to hell. Though we once were those types of sinners, we are no longer. We have been what? Washed clean!
Many will argue that this is speaking of water baptism as well, but the truth is it is not. There are 19 primary verses in the Bible that tell us how we are saved. All 19 say it is through faith or believing. Not one of them mentions water baptism. In fact, there is a scripture that plainly states that our salvation is not a result of works. Anything one does intentionally is a work of some type. Being baptized by water would fit into that category. So it is impossible according to scripture that we are saved because of water baptism. If you want to learn more on the Salvation verses click here. If you wish to learn more about what a Primary Verse is click here.
In order to explain the truth of how we are washed clean, I need to change subjects. Unfortunately this other subject is Predestination and many churches teach this wrong as well. I will just give a quick rundown of how it works in this article. If you want the scriptures backing it up, you will need to read my article on Predestination here.
We are naturally evil. We are not even able to choose God. In order for us to be able to choose God, He must first change our spirit to desire Him. Only after He changes us, are we able to choose whether we want to follow Jesus or not. This is how God changes us...
Ezekiel 36:25 (NASB)
25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Now in the light of transparency, I will clarify that in Ezekiel, God is speaking of His people. However, quite often in scriptures, they can be intentionally meant for multiple purposes. I believe this is also telling us just what it is God does to us to change us to be able to choose Him. In fact, I believe this scripture describes just how we are born of water and spirit.
He first washes us with clean water. At that moment we are born of water. Then immediately upon believing in our hearts that Jesus is Lord, God sends the Holy Spirit to enter us and seals us with the promise of Salvation. That is being born of Spirit.
We do not need to be prayed over or water baptized to be saved. We only need to be born of water and of Spirit to be saved. Both of those have already happened the very moment you believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord. That is why Paul tells us this...
Romans 10:9 (NASB)
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
