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[Note:\u00a0 <\/strong>This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 1<\/strong>\u00a0 page.]<\/span><\/p>\n Once, while I was discussing the Bible with a man, he said that his wife had become a \u201cborn again\u201d Christian awhile back. President Jimmy Carter claimed to be a \u201cborn again\u201d Christian. \u201cBorn Again\u201d is the title of a movie that was shown nationwide a several years ago, tracing the alleged \u201cconversion\u201d of one of the Watergate principals. It is not enough to be a Christian anymore. Unless one is a \u201cborn again\u201d Christian, he apparently is only second rate. Apparently, what most people refer to by \u201cborn again\u201d is a claim to have been baptized in the Holy Spirit or at least to have had some sort of \u201cspiritual experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Not coincidentally, this description has emerged with the rapid numerical growth of the Pentecostal\/Holiness phenomenon in the past several decades. Until then the claim of \u201cHoly Spirit baptism\u201d was largely confined to the Pentecostal sects. However, with its spread across denominational lines (including both Catholic and major Protestant groups), the claim of this subjective religious experience has become the \u201cin\u201d thing among small and great. It is not my intent to question the sincerity of any person who claims to have been thus \u201cborn again,\u201d but sincerity has never been the arbiter of Truth and error. Rather, what does the Bible say?<\/span><\/p>\n Jesus taught that every person must be born again to see the kingdom of God (i.e., be saved, be added to the church) (John 3:3, 5). This simply means that there is no other kind of Christian besides a \u201cborn again\u201d Christian. <\/strong>If one is a Christian or is saved, he is born again; if one is not born again (by Scriptural definition, of course) he is not saved or a Christian. The New Testament makes no distinction. To speak of a \u201cborn again\u201d Christian is comparable to speaking of an unbelieving infidel. Both expressions are prime exercises in tautology.<\/span><\/p>\n Jesus defined the new birth as being \u201cborn of water and the Spirit\u201d (John 3:5). In every birth there must be a begetting or implantation of seed (from which the new life springs) and upon germination, a coming forth of the newly formed life. In the new birth, the Holy Spirit does the begetting through His inspired Word, not through a \u201cbetter-felt-than-told\u201d experience. The spiritual seed in the new birth is the Word of God (Luke 8:11; Jam. 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:23, 25). When the Holy Spirit\u2019s seed is \u201cplanted\u201d in one\u2019s heart and it begins to germinate, it produces,<\/span><\/p>\n At this point, one is ready to be born of water (i.e., baptized\u2014immersed in water and brought forth from water) to receive forgiveness of sins and be in a saved condition (Acts 2:38; 8:36\u201339; 22:16; et al.). Jesus\u2019 own explanation of the new birth is in Mark 16:16: \u201cHe that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.\u201d There is no miracle or mystery to the new birth; it is simply obedience to Christ\u2019s plan of salvation. Everyone who has heard and obeyed the Gospel terms of pardon is a born-again Christian, <\/strong>and no others are.<\/span><\/p>\n [Note:<\/strong> I wrote this article for and it was published in The Lighthouse, <\/em>weekly bulletin of Northpoint Church of Christ, Denton, TX, November 15, 2015, of which I was editor.]<\/span><\/p>\n Attribution<\/strong>: From thescripturecache.com<\/em>; Dub McClish, owner and administrator.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Views: 1[Note:\u00a0 This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 1\u00a0 page.] Once, while I was discussing the Bible with a man, he said that his wife had become a \u201cborn again\u201d Christian awhile back. President Jimmy Carter claimed to be a…<\/p>\n\n