Born Again
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Water baptism is one thing, the new birth another...
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (Joh 1:12-13)
If water baptism caused a new birth then it would be a matter of man's will. "Hey, I think I'll head down to the local church and get baptized so I can get born again". LOL
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (Joh 1:12-13)
If water baptism caused a new birth then it would be a matter of man's will. "Hey, I think I'll head down to the local church and get baptized so I can get born again". LOL
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The man who has been born again, by the Spirit. That's who will see the kingdom of God.
Not the man born according to the flesh. That's the man born as a result of the fleshly effort of the old covenant (see Galatians 4:22-23).
The effort of the law births fleshly men--men who won't see or enter into the kingdom of God. While those born of the Spirit, through faith in Christ, are spiritual men and they will see and enter into the kingdom of God.
6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. - John 3:6
Not the man born according to the flesh. That's the man born as a result of the fleshly effort of the old covenant (see Galatians 4:22-23).
The effort of the law births fleshly men--men who won't see or enter into the kingdom of God. While those born of the Spirit, through faith in Christ, are spiritual men and they will see and enter into the kingdom of God.
6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. - John 3:6
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Guess I’ll jump in here, 🙋♂️ Hello everyone. I would agree with some here that say Nicodemus came at night for secrecy. But why? I think he believed.
Maybe not fully in John 3 but we see him defend Jesus in John 7 and in John 19 it is Nicodemus that accompanies Joseph to retrieve the body of Christ with 100lbs of myrrh and aloes for the burial. If you look at parallel passages you’ll notice the absence of any other man at the burial or prep. Just Mary and Mary with Joseph and Nicodemus handling the battered body of Christ and placing Him in the sepulcher. Must have been an emotional time. As for Nicodemus, this surely didn’t go over well among his peers. In fact there are some historical writings that suggest he believed and was persecuted for his testimony.
Also, it is believed that Nicodemus was the younger brother of Josephus, yep that Josephus, the famous Jewish historian/Pharisee non believer. This probably made for some heated debates around the dinner table during family gatherings.
Maybe not fully in John 3 but we see him defend Jesus in John 7 and in John 19 it is Nicodemus that accompanies Joseph to retrieve the body of Christ with 100lbs of myrrh and aloes for the burial. If you look at parallel passages you’ll notice the absence of any other man at the burial or prep. Just Mary and Mary with Joseph and Nicodemus handling the battered body of Christ and placing Him in the sepulcher. Must have been an emotional time. As for Nicodemus, this surely didn’t go over well among his peers. In fact there are some historical writings that suggest he believed and was persecuted for his testimony.
Also, it is believed that Nicodemus was the younger brother of Josephus, yep that Josephus, the famous Jewish historian/Pharisee non believer. This probably made for some heated debates around the dinner table during family gatherings.
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This applies to all of us. None of us are born being "Born Again". It is a choice we all must make. This rules out the idea that some are born predestined to go to Heaven. Choosing to be born again and following Jesus is the only way. There is no special group of people that was born elected, and there is no special group of people that was born without the opportunity to come to Jesus. This why Jesus told His followers to go out and tell everyone.
Matthew 22
22:1 And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
22:2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
22:3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
22:4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and [my] fatlings [are] killed, and all things [are] ready: come unto the marriage.
22:5 But they made light of [it], and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
22:6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated [them] spitefully, and slew [them].
22:7 But when the king heard [thereof], he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
22:8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
22:9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
22:10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
It should be noted that there are many false teachers everywhere who try to trick people into believing falsehood and lies. The Bible told us that it would be this way. Do not be deceived or discouraged, my brothers.
Matthew 22
22:1 And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
22:2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
22:3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
22:4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and [my] fatlings [are] killed, and all things [are] ready: come unto the marriage.
22:5 But they made light of [it], and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
22:6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated [them] spitefully, and slew [them].
22:7 But when the king heard [thereof], he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
22:8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
22:9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
22:10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
It should be noted that there are many false teachers everywhere who try to trick people into believing falsehood and lies. The Bible told us that it would be this way. Do not be deceived or discouraged, my brothers.
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It's more than that..man is born spiritually dead as Ephesians 2, Romans 5 teaches.
Until man is united by faith to Jesus Christ, they are spiritually dead and can produce no good works.
They have hearts of stone, and need a heart of flesh to respond to God.
And, despite what dispensationalists say, this is true for all, not just ancient Israel.
Jesus had these verses in mind:
Ezekiel 36:25-28
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
(ESV)
Notice that water and spirit are both mentioned in the John 3 account as well.
Again, we get into the false teachings of free-willers. They will clasp their hands over their eyes and REFUSE to see the correlation of these Scriptures to John 3. Why? Because if they accepted it, it would be contradictory to their belief system. And, dispensationalists can be just as bad, because they don't believe such references are speaking to the Church, but only to Israel.
'
Free-willers teach that a man, with his heart of stone, must respond in faith and repentance, so that God can give him a heart of flesh.
Wrong.
The reality is that God gives the man a heart of flesh, which causes him to respond in faith and repentance.
John 3 and the Nicodemus account is ALL ABOUT this.
By the way, the explanation that the water is the mother's amniotic fluid is defective. God relates it to the regenerative, cleansing power of the Holy Spirit here.
So, I ask any honest person to carefully compare these verses to what Jesus says, and relate them...there's too many points of correlation to dismiss them.
But, that's exactly what free-willers will do. They cannot see that God himself is the Actor here, and not the person themselves. It is God who changes the sinner, the sinner doesn't change himself. The sinner does respond in faith and repentance, yes, but it is because God has given him a new heart.
These sorts of teachings are why I totally reject free-willer theology.
By the way, I do not deny that the man has limited free will. But his free will is under bondage to sin and Satan until God acts. Read Romans 6, John 8 in this regard. Because he is a sinner by nature, he will reject God and embrace sin until God acts to change his nature, which is regeneration. God takes the person from spiritual death to spiritual life so he can be freed to respond.
See Ephesians 2:1-10.
But, if you're a free-willer, clasp your hands over your eyes as hard as you can or your worldview might fall apart.
Until man is united by faith to Jesus Christ, they are spiritually dead and can produce no good works.
They have hearts of stone, and need a heart of flesh to respond to God.
And, despite what dispensationalists say, this is true for all, not just ancient Israel.
Jesus had these verses in mind:
Ezekiel 36:25-28
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
(ESV)
Notice that water and spirit are both mentioned in the John 3 account as well.
Again, we get into the false teachings of free-willers. They will clasp their hands over their eyes and REFUSE to see the correlation of these Scriptures to John 3. Why? Because if they accepted it, it would be contradictory to their belief system. And, dispensationalists can be just as bad, because they don't believe such references are speaking to the Church, but only to Israel.
'
Free-willers teach that a man, with his heart of stone, must respond in faith and repentance, so that God can give him a heart of flesh.
Wrong.
The reality is that God gives the man a heart of flesh, which causes him to respond in faith and repentance.
John 3 and the Nicodemus account is ALL ABOUT this.
By the way, the explanation that the water is the mother's amniotic fluid is defective. God relates it to the regenerative, cleansing power of the Holy Spirit here.
So, I ask any honest person to carefully compare these verses to what Jesus says, and relate them...there's too many points of correlation to dismiss them.
But, that's exactly what free-willers will do. They cannot see that God himself is the Actor here, and not the person themselves. It is God who changes the sinner, the sinner doesn't change himself. The sinner does respond in faith and repentance, yes, but it is because God has given him a new heart.
These sorts of teachings are why I totally reject free-willer theology.
By the way, I do not deny that the man has limited free will. But his free will is under bondage to sin and Satan until God acts. Read Romans 6, John 8 in this regard. Because he is a sinner by nature, he will reject God and embrace sin until God acts to change his nature, which is regeneration. God takes the person from spiritual death to spiritual life so he can be freed to respond.
See Ephesians 2:1-10.
But, if you're a free-willer, clasp your hands over your eyes as hard as you can or your worldview might fall apart.
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Notice the free-willer mantra.
How many babies chose to be born?
LOL
There is a reason why Jesus used the figurative speech of being "born again".
And, notice the tacit denial of election and predestination, which is clearly a biblical concept.
Like I said, folks like this will tightly clasp their hands over their eyes and continue to repeat their tradition no matter what.
How many babies chose to be born?
LOL
There is a reason why Jesus used the figurative speech of being "born again".
And, notice the tacit denial of election and predestination, which is clearly a biblical concept.
Like I said, folks like this will tightly clasp their hands over their eyes and continue to repeat their tradition no matter what.
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By the way..the view that you cause yourself to be born again is called "decisional regeneration".
And, it IS the most popular teaching in evangelicalism today because about 80 percent of Christians are free-willers of varying degrees.
Reformed theology teaches that God takes away the heart of stone, giving them a heart of flesh that wants to please and obey God. A fruit of this heart of flesh is faith and repentance. The giving of this heart of flesh is, in essence, regeneration or being born-again.
Free-willer theology teaches that man must produce faith and repentance from his stony heart, in order to receive a heart of flesh.
Unfortunately free-willer theology has dominated the American scene due to the Wesley brothers and Charles Finney. Most people just assume it.
Why is this dangerous? It is dangerous because believers are strutting around in prideful boasting about their contribution rather than giving the LORD all the glory for their salvation. They cannot say Soli Deo Gloria because their contribution was really the deciding factor.
And, it IS the most popular teaching in evangelicalism today because about 80 percent of Christians are free-willers of varying degrees.
Reformed theology teaches that God takes away the heart of stone, giving them a heart of flesh that wants to please and obey God. A fruit of this heart of flesh is faith and repentance. The giving of this heart of flesh is, in essence, regeneration or being born-again.
Free-willer theology teaches that man must produce faith and repentance from his stony heart, in order to receive a heart of flesh.
Unfortunately free-willer theology has dominated the American scene due to the Wesley brothers and Charles Finney. Most people just assume it.
Why is this dangerous? It is dangerous because believers are strutting around in prideful boasting about their contribution rather than giving the LORD all the glory for their salvation. They cannot say Soli Deo Gloria because their contribution was really the deciding factor.
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All are potential brides and hear of the groom, what he wants then if interested they become willing .. The good groom has a criteria of what he wants in a bride, he finds a suitable potential bride then proposes to her .. The ball is then in her court .. She willfully accepts or rejects ..
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What you are saying is that those who are saved ultimately have positive qualities, and it's not totally by grace.
Besides that, the bride (Jesus) cleanses those that he saves..they are not cleaned already. He is in the process of cleansing his church.
And, the metaphor being used is "birth" in this set of Scriptures.
By the way, this is ultimately what many free-willers are claiming..they are claiming that their personal characteristics caused God to be able to bring them to faith, while others were not because they fell short.
And this is boasting.
Besides that, the bride (Jesus) cleanses those that he saves..they are not cleaned already. He is in the process of cleansing his church.
And, the metaphor being used is "birth" in this set of Scriptures.
By the way, this is ultimately what many free-willers are claiming..they are claiming that their personal characteristics caused God to be able to bring them to faith, while others were not because they fell short.
And this is boasting.
I'm saying God changes the nature of the person through regeneration (being born again), and this produces the fruit of faith and repentance.
God removes the stony heart, giving them a heart of flesh (the new nature) and this heart produces the fruit of faith and repentance.
The other view is decisional regeneration..that you need to produce faith and repentance from a stony heart, in order to receive a heart of flesh.
That is the dominant view that has been taught by evangelicals since the church was overwhelmed by free-willers. And, this is a result of Charles Finney and others like him, that focus on decisional regeneration.
Do I believe their is a "choice"? Yes..and the man with a heart of stone always chooses to reject God and embrace a life of sin. The man with the heart of flesh, given to him by God, always chooses to embrace God and reject his life of sin.
It is God who gives the heart of flesh to those he is saving.
God removes the stony heart, giving them a heart of flesh (the new nature) and this heart produces the fruit of faith and repentance.
The other view is decisional regeneration..that you need to produce faith and repentance from a stony heart, in order to receive a heart of flesh.
That is the dominant view that has been taught by evangelicals since the church was overwhelmed by free-willers. And, this is a result of Charles Finney and others like him, that focus on decisional regeneration.
Do I believe their is a "choice"? Yes..and the man with a heart of stone always chooses to reject God and embrace a life of sin. The man with the heart of flesh, given to him by God, always chooses to embrace God and reject his life of sin.
It is God who gives the heart of flesh to those he is saving.
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