What Does It Mean to Be Born Again?

The short answer: Being born again means God brings your spirit to life. Everyone is born once physically with a spirit that is dead toward God. When you trust Jesus as Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to live in you and makes your spirit alive. That second birth is required for heaven.

Why do Christians talk about being "born again"?

Because the first birth isn't enough. Our April 21, 2024 sermon explained that when Adam and Eve sinned, they lost spiritual life. Their spirit died, and all that was left was soul and body. The human race has been born that way ever since.

"We were born the first time when we were born physically. But unless you're born the second time, you're not going to heaven. I don't care how good you are."

How does the new birth happen?

It happens when the Holy Spirit comes to live in a believer. After Jesus died on the cross and rose again, the Holy Spirit came, and everyone who had accepted Christ became a possessor of the Spirit of God. As the sermon described it, the Spirit "came and birthed in us, resurrected in us, our dead spirit."

The Bible says this new birth comes from God, not from family or effort:

"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." (John 1:12-13, KJV)

What changes after you are born again?

You can respond to spiritual things. Before salvation, a person is "just flesh" and follows every whim of the world. After the new birth, "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27) gives a new nature. Born-again believers can understand the Bible, be convicted by it, and want to please God.

The old nature is still there. Every believer has to keep saying no to the old man and yes to the Spirit of God.

Can good deeds make a person born again?

No. The sermon was clear: "I don't care how many wonderful deeds you've done. You have to be born again." It is God's work in you, received by trusting Jesus as your Savior.