Are you a born again Christian?
For the second time in my life I will have the honor of watching another life being added to this world, as of today my wife is 6 days passed her due date. We are sitting and waiting anxiously as this baby is trying to make an epic entrance. Just a few weeks ago, this kid decided to play a joke on us, my wife went into false labor and even thought her water broke…upon the arrival to the hospital we learned quickly that this was false labor and had all the signs of being real labor except it was the body playing tricks. Many of us think we are born again but we have manifested false Spiritual labor.
This incident really made me think deeply about being born…and further more, being born again. I am reminded of a very interesting story in the Bible about a man named Nicodemus.
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 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?”5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:1-21)
What does it truly mean to be born again. Jesus made it very clear that you must be born again to inherit the kingdom.
I have been asked this question many many times. There are a ton of different ideas in this world about what it means to be born again. I will definitely tell you what it is not. We live in a world where we are surrounded by a ton of false teachings and people start believing in a false spiritual labor that happens. They see certain signs that happen in their life and they think that they are born again.
I see it being referred to in many different ways; conversion, transformation, repentance, commitment, being saved…..these are all referring to the same thing. But how do you reach this point? How does one even know he is saved?
Well first and foremost, the very first step is acknowledging you are a sinner. Acknowledging you are nothing without Christ. And lastly repenting. What is repentance? Well, this is a very important step in many peoples life. Some people repent at the alter others repent at home at their bedside, others in front of a pastor. There is no one right way, so dont let anyone tell you otherwise.
Im a firm believer that when you are born again, in that moment God gives you the power of the Holy Spirit. This is crucial to your walk in Christ. In fact, without the Holy Spirit we are incapable of being Christ-like. It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit are we granted the ability to over come sin.
So I have heard this many times from many people. And I always tell them the same thing, please examine yourselves.
How do we know we are born again? This question also literally means how do we know we have the Holy Spirit?
Well lets start with what it doesnt mean to be born again? It does not mean speaking in tongues. I have heard that statement made numerous times by many people. “I know I am saved because I speak in tongues.” I am sorry to disappoint you, but that statement is FALSE. I have heard this more specifically in the charismatic and Pentecostal denominations. This cannot be more far from the truth. Although many signs can accompany the gift of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues and having the Holy Spirit is NOT the same thing.
Being born again also does not mean to have said a prayer at one point in your life or being manipulated into coming out towards the front during an emotional song being played, many churches are calling this the prayer of repentance. Although this may be the first step towards an ongoing relationship with Christ, this does not guarantee your salvation. We are called to take the cross daily! We are called to repent daily! Just because you repented at one point in your life does not give you a free pass. The Bible actually never even mentions about this magical prayer that many mega churches refer too.
So if you are a person that was raised to believe this, please revisit the verses of the Bible and figure out why you may have been taught this. It is not Biblical and in fact, the Bible never uses Holy Spirit and tongues interchangeably. This was created by a movement several decades ago.
So how do you know you are born again? Well, after you repent, you will find a great desire to know God.
I heard this comparison many years ago, a preacher once said, “if you were crossing the street and a dump truck hit you? Would you know it?” Well imagine the Holy Spirit being 50 dump trucks rolled into one. You will know it when it happens – BELIEVE ME!
This means you will desire to hear Gods word, you will crave his word. You will want to be in his presence ALL THE TIME! You will thirst for his message! You will want to get to know him. You will want to know everything about him. How is it many of us become obsessed about a boy or a girl in our life when we meet them, but cannot acknowledge we are in love with God? Well thats the point, if you truly loved God and were born again you would pursue him, even more so than just a crush in your life. You would do anything for that encounter. You would go out of your way to tell everyone how amazing your God is.
The second big sign of having the Holy Spirit in your life is actually being able to conquer sin! This is HUGE! When Christ died on the cross, he didnt just die for you to be forgiven but he died so you can have power over the sin. You can now over power the sin through the power of the Holy Spirit. This isnt taught in big churches. They say we are all sinners and its okay, come just as you are…..yes, come just as you are, but leave just as Jesus was, cleansed and filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.
The third sign of the Holy Spirit is the actual fruits of the Spirit.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”(Galatians 5:22-23)
Yet, like physical fruit needs time to grow, the fruit of the Spirit will not ripen in our lives overnight. Like a successful gardener must battle against weeds to enjoy the sweet fruit they desire, we must constantly work to rid our lives of the “weeds” of our old sin natures that want to choke out the work of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit gives us the power we need to reject those old sinful desires. We can say “no” to sin and accept the “way out” God faithfully provides (1 Corinthians 10:13) by following the Holy Spirit’s leading.
So as you are reading through this Spiritual checklist? Where do you land? Have you encountered Gods presence in your heart? Have you left your sin in your past life and are focusing on your new life? or are you too distracted by this world? Do you have power over that sin in your life? Or does Satan? Do you see the fruits of the Spirit being manifested in your life? Or are you infected with the seven deadly sins….Lust, Pride, Wrath, envy, Greed, gluttony, laziness? These seven sins are the counter opposites of the 9 fruits of the Spirit…..
If you are being convicted now, that is the Holy Spirit talking to you. That is the power of Christ talking to your heart. Only through the power of Christ and his Word are we free! Repent and follow Christ and he will make you whole!
