Christians. . .what do you think about this quote?

Question

you guys are all into that born again thing. . .we do need to be born again, since Jesus said that to a guy named Nicodemus. But if you tell me i have to be born again to enter the kingdom of God, i can tell you that you have to sell everything and give it to the poor, because Jesus said that to one guy too. . . but i guess thats why God invented highlighters, so we can highlight what we like and ignore the rest-Rich Mullens

to clear up the confusion. . the quote is the entire thing. . starts well, here it is again in quotation marks this time
"you guys are all into that born again thing. . .we do need to be born again, since Jesus said that to a guy named Nicodemus. But if you tell me i have to be born again to enter the kingdom of God, i can tell you that you have to sell everything and give it to the poor, because Jesus said that to one guy too. . . but i guess thats why God invented highlighters, so we can highlight what we like and ignore the rest-"Rich Mullens

P.S. The quote is not meant to be making Christians look bad, or to be twisting the word of God. It is merely to make you think. . .so many people think being born-again results in no characther change. . . We are supposed go give up our lives for God, and fully submit to him, which is what i think the one about selling everything is about. being born again should not simply result in slight character changes. Basically, it is Rich Mullens (the dude who wrote "Awesome God') spouting off about pop Christianity, or this Christianity that is now in America that is different than the fundamental teachings of Jesus.

Answer 1

wrong - he told everyone to be born again - he only told that one guy to sell all of his stuff- this guys stuff was more precious to him and more imporatnt to him than the kingdom of heaven. We all have things in our lives that are hard to let go of - for some it is stuff, for others it is people, others pride or a sinful nature. If this man would have had no problems giving away material possessions then Jesus would not have told him that- he was just pointing out what that man held as an idol in his life. Read it in context and see what it really says beforeyou spout ignorance.

Answer 2

a text without a context is a pretext.

Mr mullens should have known that. In the case of being born again, the issue was, "we know you are a man of God because...." Jesus cuts to the chase, "you must be born again to enter heaven. He goes on to explain, that which is spiritual is spiritual, that which is flesh is flesh. Jesus is talking about the spirit and salvation

as for the rich man who was told to sell everything, he was holding back because wealth had a hold on him. Jesus made a statement to him.

Now, the application is very broad, if I have a nice home, job or what ever it is, and that is hampering my relationship with Jesus, then I need to get rid of it.

It is not an issue of picking and chosing what you like and what you don't.

Understand also, that the same Jesus who said, you must be born again, also said, he who takes away from the bible, from him will I take away his portion of inheritance.

When you pick and chose what you like, you are guilty of defiling the bible and God says there are consequences to that.

So I would say to mr. mullins, go and learn what this verse means, study to show yourself approved of God, a workman that need not be ashamed, so that he might declare the full revelation of the LORD God that men might be saved.

Answer 3

If your interpretation were true, then logically, only one person in the world would be worthy enough to enter heaven...the one who is the poorest!

Of coarse, Christ didn't mean for Christianity to be a contest of poverty as you suggest. You are making a statement about the story of the rich young ruler, so in fairness, one should probably actually read it before making any judgements on the story (from Luke 18):

'"18A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
19"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. 20You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'[b]"

21"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.

22When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

23When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. 24Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

26Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?"

27Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."'

You'll notice right away that there is much more to this story that just "give everything away or you can't get to heaven." The FIRST thing Jesus says -- which many people forget -- is to keep the basic commandments - do not lie, do not steal, etc. That was Jesus's answer. The rich young ruler could have kept his mouth shut and walked away right there. End of story - Jesus said he was going to heaven!

But he wanted something more. He wanted reassurance. He wanted to reach out toward God. Jesus saw what was in his heart that was keeping him distant from God. He saw that there was some amount of greed in him. Wealth is only an obstacle between you and heaven if you let it be.

It is also forgotten that the man was smart - he realized right away the problem with literally giving away everything. Nobody has ever given up everything literally, and it it would be very difficult for every person to literally give away everything. The story ends with Jesus reminding him of God's grace.

In contrast, it is quite easy to submit yourself to baptism.

Nobody has "earned" the right to be in heaven - nobody is perfect. We can only do the best we can to serve God.

Answer 4

You don't have to be literally "born again" or "baptized" to enter the kingdom of God. The saying "born again" means to be spiritually reborn in Christ, and follow Him with all your heart and all your soul.

Second, the story of "the man" that Rich Mullens is talking about is taken out of context. Rich doesn't understand the meaning of this story, and the point that Jesus was trying to make because of it.
In Mark 10:17-22, we read the story of a man who asked Jesus, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" The man had followed all the commandments; however, Jesus told him, "One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus told him that he lacked "one thing", which is implied to be a relationship with God. The man had followed the commandments; however, he didn't know God. He knew the laws, but not the God who made the laws. In order to inherit eternal life, the man needed a personal relationship with Christ. However, Jesus knew that the man's money was holding him back. When Jesus told him to "sell everything" for the Kingdom, the man went away -- he turned his back on a relationship with God. The reason that he turned his back on a relationship with God was because he owned so much money that, really, his money owned him. That is, he loved his money more than he loved God.

In this man we clearly see the principle that where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21).
And THIS is the point that Jesus was trying to make when He told the man to sell everything.

What do you think about this quote:
"A disciple of Christ has truly been reborn. A born-again Christian is one who both believes in God AND receives Him. As a result, the believer/receiver is born again into the family of God. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13).

I guess I don't understand why that man saying the quote has a problem with being "born again"? It is simply saying that you accept God, and change your life because of Him.

Answer 5

Being born again means first born of water by the womb and then again by the spirit by Jesus.

Selling all he had was Jesus' condition for following Him. This had nothing to do with Salvation.

Only One Way to heaven, belief in Jesus Christ which reconnects us to God and we receive the Holy Spirit. That is born again.

Answer 6

Jesus recomended giving everything to the poor but he also said that it is possible for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God [though much harder].

Answer 7

Hey what if you are the poor?No one has sold all and given to me.I am a born again believer and I know what that means.You are a new creature,all the old you is gone and you are a new creation.So we don't highlight what we want and ignore the rest.The Word made flesh lives in me and I want all the Word.

Answer 8

God does not give us the choice of how we go to His home. In the United States, the constitution is misunderstood by many to be as important as the Bible. People believe that when it says the government can make no laws -- they think that means the Bible cannot make it's own law. The Bible is true and every person that disagrees with the Bible and claims to be a Christian is not.

Answer 9

Jesus said that we were 'made a little lower than the angels' for a time. To be born of the spirit is to become spirit. What's born of the flesh is flesh. So many have taken this out of context. If you read it for what it says, it means that we are to become spirit born entities.

Answer 10

Rich Mullens Is a Super guy who has wonderful worship songs that run deep (AWESOME GOD!)
He is wonderful and making the best music with Jesus now. I look forward to meeting him some day!


****EDIT***
PEOPLE MR. RICH MULLENS WAS A VERY INTELLIGENT MAN. I DO NOT THINK SHE IS EXPLAINING THIS TO HER FULL ABILITY!!
RICH MULLENS WAS A VERY POPULAR POP CHRISTIAN SINGER WHO WAS VERY KNOWLEGABLE ABOUT CHRIST AND BEING BORN AGAIN!! YOU ALL DO NOT KNOW WHO HE WAS! HE HAD A POPULAR BAND CALLED THE RAGGA MUFFIN BAND!
GO DO A SEARCH ON HIM AND YOU WILL EAT YOUR WORDS YOU ARE SAYING ABOUT HIM!
HE WAS AN AMAZING MAN WHO DIED ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO! HE WORE SANDALS AND DID NOT HAVE A HOME, HE WAS MORE LIKE A MISSIONARY>

PLEASE DO A SEARCH ON RICH MULLENS!!