You must be "born again" to receive the spirit and 'kingdom within' or..... you 'must' be born again to go to heaven?
I want to hear others opinions.
W.
I want to hear others opinions.
W.
You "must" be born again??
- Thread starter myloveisforchrist
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Anna the Seeker
Junior Member
I think it means two things.
The first has a lot to do with repenting. The moment you truly repent of your sins and do your best to learn of your mistakes, you will think of yourself as a new person, and that point as a new beginning. "That person was not me, even if I knew him/her well. I am someone else and I have other principles and priorities which I hope will be of Lord's liking."
The other is the literal rebirth in Rapture. When it happens to you, you will truly know that Lord believes that your repentance was true, and thus you are given a new immortal, pure and wise life full of joy, truth and profound peace.
The first has a lot to do with repenting. The moment you truly repent of your sins and do your best to learn of your mistakes, you will think of yourself as a new person, and that point as a new beginning. "That person was not me, even if I knew him/her well. I am someone else and I have other principles and priorities which I hope will be of Lord's liking."
The other is the literal rebirth in Rapture. When it happens to you, you will truly know that Lord believes that your repentance was true, and thus you are given a new immortal, pure and wise life full of joy, truth and profound peace.
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Just as we are in Adam by birth, so we are in Christ by birth. The one is a physical birth, the other a spiritual birth. The one a child of the darkness, the other a child of the light. That is our spiritual regeneration, where the divine life of God is brought into being again within the spirit of we who have received Jesus Christ. The only way to receive that life is to be born into it.
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I believe Jesus taught both. You must be born again to receive the kingdom, and to enter the kingdom/go to heaven.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
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From what I understand, being born again is to be born of water and of the Spirit. Christ is the seed, whose word is spirit and it is life. God sends it into our hearts, both the word and the Spirit, and new life in the image of the divine, immortal and incorruptible, is born.
It makes us part of the kingdom of God, children of the kingdom with the kingdom in us, and heirs to the kingdom with Christ.
As we live the word, enduring all it takes, we will be counted worthy of the kingdom when Christ returns, and thereby obtain an entrance in to it.
So, you need to have the kingdom in you, in order to enter in to it.
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We were created in the image of God. We have a soul, spirit, and an ability to have a body suitable for whatever physical plane of existence for which we exist (earth.) We had all of this housed in this vessel like concentric spheres: body, spirit and soul (our identity.)
God didn't lie to Adam. When Adam sinned, his spirit died - rather, left him. He could no longer contain the perfection of the spark of holiness from God - like Him, if any of His holiness is in the presence of sin it destroys it by consequence. And, when the spirit left, the flesh began deterioration because of lack of perfection. THEN, Adam had kids.
So, Adam and all of his progeny were fallen by consequence - not out of punishment. Imperfection does not breed perfection.
And, since heaven requires holiness in spirit, and sinlessness, no one can enter Heaven unless they have a perfected Holy spirit. Angels can go back after visiting humans because they are holy. Fallen angels are in chains/prison. Dead humans, especially before Christ, remained in "hell."
So, to [re]gain heaven, you have to be perfect. This means perfection in all ways - no corruption. How is this accomplished?
1. Corruption has to die in all forms. For this reason, it is appointed man die once, then judgment.
2. When corruption dies (i.e. when we die,) we will need a spirit of holiness to gain Heaven and the Kingdom. This is done by faith in Christ, grace and righteousness. You will literally need another spirit of holiness raised by faith, righteousness and Grace. You will also have to choose this. (The Patriarchs made the choice to accept Christ in "hell.")
3. If you are going to be perfect on some physical plane of existence (earth, again,) then you need a resurrection of the body. You can't get to #3 if you don't get #2 - being born again.
So, being born again literally means that. Your spirit died; you need another one born of God (not an empty spirit from sin like we have now. We are being comforted by the Holy Spirit distributed over the spread of believers now, but when we are judged worthy or unworthy, we will be made completely whole again.
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yeshuaslavejeff
simple truth, martyr, disciple of Yahshua
why? do you want to know what Scripture(Torah) says? or what the world says ?
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You're born again when you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. At the moment you believe you receive the Holy Spirit, who comes to indwell believers and transform them into new people:
Ephesians 1:13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
Romans 10:9
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
Titus 3:5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Believing the gospel and receiving the Holy Spirit is how we are born again, and we cannot get into Heaven without being regenerated by the Holy Spirit:
1 Peter 1:23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
Romans 8:9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
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College Boy
Who Dares, Wins
Salvation is readily accessible to all, I've always believed that. I've also always believed that the concept of "born again" as most evangelicals market it is oversimplified. I'm not convinced that it's a one-off experience where you mutter some formulaic prayer and "that's it!" Indeed, it is acknowledging Christ as your savior, but it's also bringing your life into harmony with the shalom of creation, aligning yourself with how God intended things to be.
So it's internal first and foremost: our confession and proclamation of faith (Rom 10v9). It's also external: the transformation of our lifestyle (Rom 12v2), the ways that God shows us what he's already been doing in this world that he's called good from the very beginning (Gen 1 & 2). Realizing that the implications of the resurrection ripple throughout the cosmos, that there's a new creation bursting forth right here in the midst of the old one and that God is reconciling all things to himself (Col 1v20). So following Christ then begs the question: how can I be a part of the restoration of all things?
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