WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE BORN AGAIN?
It must be pretty important because Jesus said that no one could enter into the kingdom of God unless he is born again. (see John, chapter 3)
2 Corinthians, chapter 5, also explains what happens when someone accepts Christ as their Savior – “And he (Jesus) died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again…..Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:15,17)
This Scripture, along with John 3, is saying that those who believe in Christ will become “changed” people, living “new” lives, by the power of the Holy Spirit. And whenever the “Holy” Spirit is present, sin is not welcome.
So, if someone says he is a Christian, but his life has not changed one little bit, then it appears that something is wrong. I am NOT saying that Christians NEVER sin, because that is not true in my life and neither does the Scripture say that (see I John 1:8-10). As long as we live in this house of flesh and bones, we will have a tendency to slip up now and then, in one way or another. However, if a person is truly born again, there will be a new attitude, where sin, and the ways of sin, will now become the intruder, instead of the welcomed friend that it once was.
“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ “ – John 3:3 New King James Version
