What exactly is a "Born again" Christian?

Question

( No stupid jokes or mean quips please...) I want someone, ideally someone who is a born again Christian, to explain this to me. I hear a lot about it in this section and I don't understand what it's all about so I would really appreciate a nice answer if possible.Thanks!

By the way, I am not going to vote for a best answer or give any thumbs up or down because I don't think that would be appropriate for me to do in this case. I want to educate myself not judge you.

When you say "Saved", what do you mean?

When you say "Saved", what do you mean?

Wow! So many answers! I would like to thank everyone who took my question seriously, you are all really sweet!(sorry about the 'saved' question glitch, I pressed the button twice...)

My web name is Tigerlilly.( Tiger is cute though!)

Answer 1

One who has accepted the Gift of Salvation

this doesnt mean 'someone who goes to church' or 'someone who was baptized as an infant' or 'someone that is the certain religion that their parents chose for them'

it means that you have realized that Jesus Christ is the only way... that only thru Him and the forgiveness that He offers can we be made whole.

It means that you have confessed with your mouth to God alone that you are a sinner, and that you regret and repent the sins of your past... and you choose to turn from them and follow Jesus Christ as your example and Truth. You ask God to forgive you thru that Blood of Christ, and seek to form a relationship with God, seeking to know Him more and spend time getting to know Him by reading the bible and serving Him thru the Gifts that God can give you.

another term for 'born again' is 'saved' .... and it is something only you can do for yourself. we are not 'born again' because someone else chooses for us to be Christian.... it is a decisive moment when we turn from our own selfish ways, and seek to be more like Christ.... once receiving that Gift, and growing in our faith, the Holy Spirit comes to live within your Spirit and helps to guide you and give you strength and wisdom

hope this helps understand it a bit

Answer 2

I think everyone explained born again pretty well. Saved pretty much means the same thing as born again. Jesus has "saved" a believer from their sins, thus they are born again, the Holy Spirit has come to live in them, they are living a blessed life, with God's hand on their life and on their way to Heaven...My whole life turned around when I got "born again" or "saved"...It doesn't mean you joined a church or a religion. You pray from the heart and accept Jesus, then you are born again or saved. You will actually feel a peace and a tangible change start to take place in your life...Then, the reason people decide to go to church is to learn and grow in their relationship with God, not to earn brownie points with God(although a lot of Christians forget this)...You get the brownie points or blessings so to speak by becoming his child...Their are no prerequisites. God doesn't pick and choose. You just pray a simple prayer and he does the changing. (btw..I've been born again for 10 years. It was the best decision of my life..I don't regret one second of it..God brought me a wonderful husband right after I came to him...I was homeless, I now live in a beautiful home on the water...all through faith that God is a good God, not some mean old guy in the sky).

Answer 3

This is a spiritual arrangement that Jesus told Nicodemus about in John 3:1. 5-7. Revelation tells us that those who are 'born again, are called the first fruits adn these have had the invitation given to them by Jehovah God himself to be associates with Jesus Christ. Action is required by the one who received that invitation is necessary. REvelation 17:14 They need to preach the good news about God's Kingdom to all they meet. Peter 2:9 These born again Christians know they have this invitation because they have been anointed by Holy Spirit. Isaiah 61:1, 2; Luke 4:16-21; 2 Corinthians 1:21 This Holy Spirit bears witness with there personage that they are God's children by instilling in these Christians the heavenly hope. Romans 8:16: 1 Peter 1:3, 4 But the need to remain faithful to that calling until their death to receive the reward of eternal life.

Answer 4

Read John 3:3.Actually read the whole book of John.We are all born spiritually dead due to Adamic sin.Our body and soul are alive.But spiritual matters are confusing until we read Scripture because the spirit needs to be reborn by Jesus Christ.I was a confused Catholic for years.When I finally bought a King James Bible and read God's Word,I became a true Christian.No religion...no churches....just a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.The Holy Spirit guides you as you study the Bible.And true Christians have the gift of discernment to stay away from false teachers and preachers.Nor do they clamor for acceptance in any denomination or sect.Nor do they need qualifiers or prefixes.I am a Christian.I use the word True or Evangelical or Fundamentalist only when speaking to a truthseeker.Labels mean nothing to me."Saved" means one knows they have the gift of Salvation by faith in Christ Jesus.Read EPHESIANS 2:8-9.

Answer 5

when you sit down with another born again christian and say a prayer accepting him into your heart and knowing that Jesus died for your sins. It is really something your heart wants to do. dont just do it because you feel its right. you have to mean it and understand why you are doing it, or it just doesnt work in your life. You feel no different if you dont understand why you did it and meant it.

Born again christian is different than christian. christian is Catholic, its like being in 1st grade, new. When your a born again christian chosing Baptist, bible believing church or prodestant its like going to 12 grade or college. born again is jesus in your heart. christian is just going to church showing your face in your community, then going home doing what you want to do.

I know all this because i was originally catholic at a younger age. I now goto a bible believing church and learned soooooo much more that i didnt know as a catholic. And it feels right. I accepted Jesus in my heart when i was 16 i now am 37. I sat with my mom and my pastor and said the prayer. My mom was a christian first so she was so happy when i did that.

Being baptised doesnt make you saved. Our church does it when your older instead of a baby that way you know and understand what you are doing. and we give our speach in front of the church how and when we became saved and discuss how our life was before we were saved. the church loves to hear all that. We have a bathtub behind the pulpet that has a beautiful curtain that covers the tub and we babtise once a month and open the curtain.

Answer 6

Born again is a reference to a conversation between Christ and Nicodemus. Jesus tells Nicodumus that he 'must be born again'. Although this term may mean a variety of things to those who use it, I prefer to think that its actual meaning is more along the lines of how Christ used it. It refers to starting totally new and fresh with your life. A 'born again' Christian then would be someone who starts their life with a fresh relationship as a follower of Christ's teachings. In this case he was not speaking to someone who had 'fallen away', but to someone who needed to start following in the first place. It is for this reason that I find the term rather redundant. If you are 'born again' in this sense then you are a Christian. And if you are truly a fChristian then you are also 'born again'

Answer 7

Born again refers to spiritual rebirth that Jesus said needed to take place if you wanted to go to heaven.Being born of the Spirit. The reason for the need of spirtual rebirth is because of the sin nature we all inherited because of men sinning and taking on the nature of spirtual death. To the Christian tis is done by repenting(turning from all sin) and trusting that Jesus came to pay for the penaltyof our sins by becoming the sacrificial lamb that bore our sins. In the old testament the priests were yearly slay a lamb which had the sins of the people placed on it. This was a forshadow of what Christ was going to come and do. Which is why when John the baptist saw Jesus he said behold the lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world. John 3:16 says for God so love the world that whosoever believes on him shall not persih but have everlasting life. Saved means saved from sin.

Answer 8

Jesus teachings were that everyone was born into the world a sinner, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of god. But by grace, God sent His son to earth in human form to carry this burden for all sinners so that we would have a direct connection back to God. When Jesus died on the cross, he took this burden from us and bridged the gap between man and God. He said we were to die to our old self and take up the new life that he had given us, that we were a new creation in Him. That by doing this we would be born again, so a born again Christian is someone who has accepted the gift of Christ, repented of their sins (doesn't mean they are perfect) and follows Christ. They also share this good news that we all can be free from sin controlling our lives. There are no 3rd generation Christians as we are all born again and are first born to the Father. All you have to do is ask Him into your heart and to forgive your sins and He will reside there the rest of your days.

Answer 9

A "born again" christian is someone who has chosen to accept Christ as their savior and from this they spiritually die a death of their old self and become "born again" with a new self.

In other words, their heart has been changed. Before they found Christ that person may have lied to people and not felt guilt or stolen things with no remorse but once you've found Christ your view and outlook on things are COMPLETELY different. Your heart is different. You DESIRE to follow Christ's teachings and God's word. Your heart has basically been washed clean of all the past anger and darkness and made whole again with peace, hope and love.

And even being a "born again" christian, you still will fall occasionally but you realize it, ask for forgiveness and try harder. Your a work in progress and no, you will never be perfect but you strive to be Christ-like.

Answer 10

The Penticostal concept is you come up to the alter of the denomination you are in and ferverently accept Christ as your savior, then you are born again, After that you can be baptized if you want (some say it is necessary) The process in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as given to Joseph Smith, is that baptism by water, by imersion by one having authority, is a must to become a member of the Church.
the water represents the grave where the carnal man dies and when you come up out of the water you agree to walk in a newness of life (which is only possible with the help of the Savior; by grace are you saved) You are born again. If you sin and repent The Lord will pay for your sin but if you continue in sin you are subject to another power. The second baptism is receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands by one having authority. The idea is to overcome bad habits and endure to the end, then you will have salvation.

Answer 11

Hi tiger...I am a born again Christian, born again on August 24, 2001. You can become born again by acknowledging to Jesus in prayer that you are a sinner, that you realize that you are in need of a Savior, and ask Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of your life. Once you have done that, Jesus truly begins transforming you. You become indwelled with the Holy Spirit, who is there to guide you in living a Christian life, and convicts you of sin. Tiger, there is nothing better than being born again. Once you are, you are assured of your eternal life in Heaven with God and you are truly "born again" and a "new creation" in Christ. I'd love to tell you more about it if you are interested :)