Born Again

My take on this.
It does not matter if you have ever been in a church or not. What matters is this: Did you have a personal relationship with Jesus? If you accepted him, say as a child or young teen, that time would have been the moment of your "re-birth". I know people who were raised in the church and been "saved" all their lives. Others like me were born again later in life. You posed the question "but if my spirituality remained on an even keel". Would this imply that you did not truly believe in Jesus with your whole heart? That you were just simply going through the motions, hoping that your good deeds and church service would get you into heaven? If so, my answer to that is this, we can never be "good enough" by our actions and deeds to "earn" our way into heaven. I think alot of people make that mistake. The only way is through Jesus Christ and your "re-birth" would still await you if that was the case.

 

I see. So there is a difference between being saved and being born again. I guess my question was if you can earn a place in heaven without being born again. Being born again has nothing to do with religion then. It's just a term used by Christians to express their relationship with Christ.

Now, what is being saved?

Also, the ultimate decision is God's whether a person's soul enters heaven, is thrown into the abyss with Satan, or gets resurrected in the physical body after Armageddon. So a person believing they are saved or born again is inconsequential. The only thing it guides is the person's actions while still on Earth.

 

Okay. Would you agree that you partake in these activities because of association? Since you are born again, you want to be around like-minded people and teach those coming in. It would equate to a person interested in joining a band hanging out with musicians. Your interest in doing these things is proportional to your relationship with God and you only do these things because you have been born again.

 

I think what Hasbeens posted above applies to your question.

"The Christian principle of being born again is the idea that whomever commits to following Jesus as Lord and accepts His offer of salvation by grace is given a brand new spirit -- a new part of the soul that reconnects people back to fellowship with God."

The "brand new spirit" is the key. Its what allows us to have fellowship with God. Not everyone will call it being born again. I think there are Christians in every denomination who fit the bill. Its making Jesus Lord of your life and allowing this new spirit a say in what you do and how you act.

 

For me the analogy is more like a person with no interest in music and disdain for musicians suddenly deciding to join the band and hang out with musicians. I do not particularly enjoy the things I listed above (leading bible studies, etc.) Always there was some fear involved initially. I think God likes to use us in areas where we are weaker. I partake in them because I get a great deal of inner peace and satisfaction from them. Often times they make my life more difficult.

 

That's a contradiction.

 

Not really. Kids are similar. They are a boatload of work, but there is a unrestrained joy and proudness you feel when you see them accomplish something that makes all the work worth it.

 

Not really. For example the bible studies I run for the swim team take place after practice on Saturdays when we don't have a meet. Its an extra two hours of my time away from the family on days when I am in town and home. That's significant when you consider that many months I am out of town 3 weekends. The preparation takes some time as well plus I am only now beginning to feel comfortable speaking on this subject in front of them after 3 years. My life was much less hectic before accepting Christ.

 

But the thing you have to do is examine whether or not the religion in question was to blame. The Crusades, which is the most popular example given in favor of that axiom was not about the Bible at all. It was about politics and power. The men behind them just used the Christian religion as an excuse. I'm beginning to think it's the same situation with these terrorists and Islam, or at least the Qur'an. Learning how to make those distinctions is part of what this forum is about.

 

Just my $.02, because my experience is similar to Rob's...

Being 'born again' isn't so much becoming a 'better' person as it is becoming a different person. I use this analogy in one of the classes I teach: if your life was a car, being born again doesn't mean you're giving your old car a detail job. It means you're trading it in for an upgrade. It's more powerful, more fun, and it has lots of cool new features without as many breakdowns.

That may be oversimplifying it a bit, but I think the principle remains true.