Bible Discussion Thread

what does it mean to be born again

What factor did you add to your birth into this world? Nothing. You had nothing to do with being born the first time. Therefore, you can have nothing to do with being born again. Being Born again comes from above from God. God is Sovereign. Christ opens your spirit to receive His Holy Spirit through a process of sanctification. You are elected by God from before you were ever born. You come to Christ through God. There are no surprises to Him. When you are born again, you begin slowly and steadily to be framed by God in the likeness of His Son Jesus. You desire God's Word, You desire God's will, You are deeply shamed by your past thoughts, actions and words. You seek God's Will and desire to commit to it. You come to understand (though not perfectly) Christ's Righteous covering of your unrighteousness. And HE IS FAITHFUL, BELIEVE IT! He removes your sin from Him as far as the East is from the West. ( PSALM 103:12) Now, yes we still carry the sinful body with us and we still do sin from time to time, but we know more fully of Christ's Righteousness and our faith is strongly rooted in asking His Will to become an heir of God in Heaven through the work of The Lord Jesus Christ. Being Born Again, weeds out desires for self & caring about the eternity of others. First your loved ones, then all others. You no longer hate others, but hate sin. And you don't want anyone to end up in hell. You seek to learn forgiveness, for self and for others, even those you do not know. You pray for protection from temptations within your inner man to not fall, to stay under the covert of Christ's wing. And you ask this for others as well. You pray The Holy Spirit to take thoughts of envy, jealousy, bitterness, anger, lust and hatred from you. And in every situation you encounter, your thoughts are to immediately turn to God. In thought and prayer..YOU TURN TO CHRIST FIRST. That's my experience with it.