Dead Again?

Question

I'm indebted to another questioner for inspiring this admittedly-daft thought.

If you become Born Again as a Christian, and you do that through the symbolism of baptism in water...if you later lose your faith, do you become a Dead Again Christian? And is there some ritual involving throwing soil over yourself? I know of course there isn't, but I was just stuck with the fact that there probably should be. Newtonian principles and all that - equal and opposite reactions etc. The 'dead again' part of the question stands though - is that how it feels?

Apologies lookn2cjc, you're right, I phrased that part of my question badly. I know it's not the act of baptism that brings the transformation, merely, as you say, that it's an outward sign of that transofrmation.

Interested in the answers that say once saved, always saved. So it doesn't matter what you do after that, you can lose your faith and rant against it, break its laws etc - once saved, always saved? Interesting. Thank you everyone for ebtter answers than the question actually deserves. Peace.

Answer 1

I was Born into the Christian faith...my father was a minister, a carpenter, and we traveled all over the U.S. preaching "the word" (how's that for following in the footsteps of "The Man?"). Since I grew up in it, my brainwashing...er, indoctrination was complete by the time I decided, at the age of 5, that I wanted to be "Born Again," of course, I was just doing that for some extra attention, and had not a clue what I was really pledging. I went to a lot of Christian schools growing up, and if my Grandfather (bless him) hadn't introduced me to books and the value of learning things on my own, I would probably be a Minister right now...never once questioning what I was taught, or what I believed.

Around the age of 15 or 16, after I spent a few years challenging my religious leaders with questions they couldn't answer, I rejected my upbringing, Christianity and was "Born Again" into my current state of sanity, logic, and science. So I've been "born again" at least twice that I'm aware of...so with any luck they have canceled each other out and when I'm dead...I'll just be dead, thank you very much.

Answer 2

This is a really interesting question, nice to see someone asking a worthwhile question on here!! Heres my story, maybe itll help answer.

I was brought up in a Christian home, went to church every Sunday and chose to be baptised at 11 years old. I carried on going to church until I moved out at age 20 (I was also a Sunday school teacher for 2 years) to live with my boyfriend (now my hubby). I stopped teaching because I felt it was hypocritical of me to be reading the Bible and teaching and supposed to be setting an example, when I was doing the whole sex before marriage / nights on the lash thing (generally not acting in the way youd expect a Christian to act).

Now, its only at Christmas and some Easters when youll find me in a church, guess Ive just got out of the routine of early Sunday mornings. However, even though I no longer go to church, I havent lost my faith.

By no means am I a good example of a practicing Christian, for a start I have a foul mouth on me, however my faith has not disappeared. I wouldnt class myself as a 'Dead again Christian', although this is an interesting idea, I would say Im a Passive Christian.

Hope this answers, and thanks for giving me the chance to use my brain lol, I dont have to do that much at work to be honest!! Take care, Bxx

Answer 3

In short, (yes, Monitor, I can be concise on occasion) it is true that once saved, always saved. But people can still denounce God and Christ as their savior. In doing so, I've actually seen people burn their bibles. I suppose the contrast of fire and water does indeed fit with the Newtonian principles yet again.

Answer 4

Being born again means that your spiritual eyes have been opened and you can see the truth. There’s no such thing as being saved and then going through the rest of your life living however you want to live because you’ve got your ticket to heaven. Once a person who has been blinded can see again, they can still trip over things and bump into things, they can still "not see something coming." Once the spiritually blind can see then they can be deceived just like anyone else can by the deceitfulness of sin, among other things. We walk the straight and narrow path to keep from falling into sin and ending up the same as we were before we had the eyes of our understanding enlightened. Then repentance is the way back onto the straight and narrow way and if it's not availed of then the same thing awaits as before.

Answer 5

One of the hardest things for me to do in my entire life was to die again, to have enough faith to say that enough is enough. That god does not answer prayer and that if he does then I will believe in him. When I died again, I made a commitment to understand whatever I could understand and to give up whatever would not bear the test of proof.

In a kind of convoluted way, I guess I could say that I had enough faith in god to believe that he was not sending people to hell because they couldn't believe.

Sorry, I haven't thought about it for awhile and this explanation may be inadequate. I hope you get the point.

And blah blah blah.

Later: I do have to take exception with you in saying that this is a daft thought. It is not daft at all.

Answer 6

There is no ritual for losing your faith. The term most use for that is "Backsliding" There is no ritual for turning your back on God, only that you condemn yourself to eternal separation from the one who loved you enough to die for you. If you read the book of Hebrews you will find that many Jewish Christians were tempted to go back to their old way of life, but Paul told them that there was no way that they could go to heaven from where they were before if they turned back.
It wasn't that they couldn't be saved it was just that if they walked away from the truth of Jesus that there wasn't any other way to God. When Jesus bridged the gap, he became the final sacrifce that would ever be required for our salvation. Being born again is a spiritual term. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward work of grace.
I hope that you really don't believe in poking fun at the gift of Jesus and if you truly have lost your faith that you find it again. God loves you and wants you to be his friend. Read His word and get to know Him. I promise that if you open yourself up to the Bible and to God, He will give you more than you give him.
Have a good day and may God watch over you!

Answer 7

No you don't die again. You pass into enlightenment and realize the beauty that is you. For a time you miss the religious babble but it gets better.After the denial and self questioning you begin to feel real and free. You discover truth and you begin to think of teaching those priests how to behave properly with the use of stocks and incredibly large carrots.

Answer 8

I would say the equivalent of 'Dead Again Christian' could be 'Born again thinker' assuming one hasn't opted to follow another infantile mythology like perhaps Islam or Judaism.

Answer 9

You're WRONG. You don't become born again through baptism. It's through faith and trust in the death, burial and resurrection in the Lord Jesus Christ, and trusting in Him for the remittance of your sins.

Baptism is an outward sign of an inward transformation that has taken place. Nothing more.

Answer 10

Once saved, always saved. Nobody can pluck you from his hand. You can't undo a birth of a baby. Being a born again christian is the same way. And I mean as a baby already born, not aborted.