Yes "poor teaching" is why most cannot explain what born again actually is, including a lot of Pastors.
In my youth, I had a Lutheran Pastor that I asked what
born again was, and the only answer I got was "It is a work of the Holy Spirit, and it is not something you can do." Other questions about what verses meant by what they said, were met with his standard response, "I can tell you what the Bible says, but I am not permitted to tell you what it means by what it says." I was looking for serious explanations to my questions, and that is all I got. IN ALL FAIRNESS to LUTHERANS, he was an exception to the rule. He was an elderly pastor, that was not gifted to exposit the Word of God, and did not really try, (maybe he slept through theology classes). I certainly have met some Lutheran Pastors that are Excellent Bible Expositors. Later in life another Lutheran Pastor commented when I told him what Baptist friend of mine said about "receiving Jesus as LORD", he just snapped, "THAT'S WORKS RIGHTEOUSNESS".
After I was Born Again, after a third attempt at suicide, I started searching for a Church that was comfortable with actually TEACHING the Word of God, but since I had seen enough Denominational Bigotry to last a lifetime, I gravitated towards Non-Denominational Bible Teaching Churches.
I have grown spiritually to have a very good understanding of what Born Again is, and why only those who are born again are Saved. I understand that some have no idea what happened to them and why they are different afterwards, than they were before the Holy Spirit came into their hearts. Again, that is a result of how poorly the Churches have been teaching Born Again.
John 3:3-7 (NKJV)
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3 [/SUP] Jesus answered and said to him,
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
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4 [/SUP] Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
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5 [/SUP] Jesus answered,
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
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6 [/SUP]
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
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7 [/SUP]
Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'
Jesus said, that we MUST BE
born again, or we cannot see the kingdom of God. That makes teaching born again, critically important, and yet it has been my experience, through a lot of Church Hopping in my younger years, right after I was born again; that Pastors seem to shy away from teaching what born again is. Plus among those who do try to teach it, there seems to be a great deal of confusion, and false beliefs mixed in.
It is not Tongues Speaking, It is not our walk of Obedience (though it will produce that life style after we are born again), it is not Sabbath Keeping, nor is it Christian Water Baptism. It really is easy to understand, especially when you look at all the verses pertaining to when the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts, and then teach it as simply as possible.
Colossians 2:13 (NIV)
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13 [/SUP] When you
were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of
your sinful nature, God
made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
Which part of you was once DEAD, but made alive with Christ?
The Body has always been alive since before natural birth.
The Soul which the Greek Word itself defines, is Psyche: cognitive abilities, reasoning, thoughts memories, emotions, feelings, the ability to discern right from wrong, etc.; all are part of Soul, and all are invisible, and functioning within the human brain from before natural child birth on. So it has never been dead either.
Thus it is the Human Spirit that was once DEAD in our sins, and that term does not mean NON-FUNCTIONING. It means was not in tune with the Will of GOD, and was only in tune with our Sinful Nature from natural child birth on to when we became born again. So it is our Human Spirit that must be born again, by the Holy Spirit the moment HE enters our hearts. THUS, "
that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
How much "
alive" does our Human Spirit become, when the Holy Spirit enters?
John 5:24 (ISV)
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24 [/SUP]
"Truly, truly I tell you, the one who hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.
We know this body will die, so it is obvious that HE IS TALKING ABOUT THE HUMAN SPIRIT IN PAST TENSE TERMS AS ALREADY HAVING ETERNAL LIFE.
NOTE: It is NOT ETERNAL if you can Lose It.
Now here is a TRUTH about what happens when one becomes Born Again that MOST CHRISTIANS MISS, and it explains why receiving Jesus as LORD is NOT A WORK.
Romans 5:5 (ISV)
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5 [/SUP] This hope does not disappoint us,
because God's love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
That kind of love is Agape Love, and it CANNOT BE GENERATED BY THE HUMAN MIND. It is part of the free gift of Faith. Remember the Parable of the Sower? What was the Holy Spirit looking for in the hearts of human beings? Correct, fertile soil. NOW the Word of GOD is the seed, "faith comes by hearing with spiritual understanding the Word of GOD"; AND THIS
God's love is the LIVING WATER, that will cause that seed to sprout in our hearts and produce an abundant harvest.
The Word of GOD sown in our hearts and God's love watering it, produces geniune FAITH.
God's love in our hearts produces: Believing GOD.
God's love in our hearts produces: Hunger to understand His Word.
God's love in our hearts produces: A desire to Confess and Repent of Sin.
God's love in our hearts produces: A desire to Surrender to and Receive Jesus Christ as LORD, meaning Master.
God's love in our hearts produces: A desire to please HIM, Love HIM, and OBEY HIM.
God's love in our hearts produces: A desire to tell others about Jesus Christ.
God's love in our hearts produces: A longing to go HOME, to Heaven to be with our LORD.
ALL OF THAT are the things that spawn out of being born again, because of God's love having been POURED into our hearts. NONE OF IT IS BECAUSE OF OUR WORKS, it is all a part of the WORKS that Holy Spirit did in our hearts.
GOD gets all of the glory!
It is not a hard subject to teach, and it is so critically important, but you are right, it truly is poorly taught more often than not is this day and age.