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[NotTheRock]

Should there be a follow-up question to ask those who reply "Christian" if they are born again?

I've been assured that people who declare that "Jesus is Lord" and who strive to follow his commandments cannot accurately be described as "Christian" unless they have been "born again".

Maybe those who profess to being "born again" should get a sparkly, gold cross by their name to differentiate them from the unwashed masses. How about it?

 

[Rita]

Should there be a follow-up question to ask those who reply "Christian" if they are born again?

I've been assured that people who declare that "Jesus is Lord" and who strive to follow his commandments cannot accurately be described as "Christian" unless they have been "born again".

Maybe those who profess to being "born again" should get a sparkly, gold cross by their name to differentiate them from the unwashed masses. How about it?

No thanks xx

 

[MatthewG]

Being born again, is part of what Jesus talked about with Nicodemus, when he had went to see him at night. It's coming into a new life with God now in it. It's an important part of teaching, within the content and context of rising again with Christ, after his death, and burial.

Here was Paul wrote concerning these things, in his second letter to the Corinthians.

2 corinthians 4:
7Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive are always consigned to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

13And in keeping with what is written, “I believed, therefore I have spoken,”d we who have the same spirit of faith also believe and therefore speak, 14knowing that the One who raised the Lord Jesuse will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in His presence. 15All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is extending to more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow, to the glory of God.

16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

If people are not interested in that its fine. As everyone has to deal with themselves in this life.

 

[Wrangler]

I thought the follow up question would be, 'what denomination?'

 

[MatthewG]

There are many denominations of money, Wrangler. But only one Kingdom of God.

 

[NotTheRock]

I don't know if I have been born again. Since I am unsure, can I change my affiliation from "Christian" to "unsure" or something else? I am not worthy to be in the presence of all of these righteous, TRUE, Christians!

 

[Wrangler]

I am not worthy to be in the presence of all of these righteous, TRUE, Christians!

Friend, there are only 2nd class Christians.

 

[Lambano]

I've been assured that people who declare that "Jesus is Lord" and who strive to follow his commandments cannot accurately be described as "Christian" unless they have been "born again".

Our family spent some time in my early teens attending a Baptist church that held that "every believer should be able to identify a time and a place when they became 'born again'", ala Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus. Thank you, God, thank you, Mom and Dad, for getting us the hell out of that church. I learned much later that, while some Christians do have dramatic Damascus-like experiences, many/most do not. Since getting "born from above" (another translation of γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν) is by definition an act of God and totally out of my control, I decided to just trust God to handle that detail.

I enjoy hearing others' testimonies about their "born-again" experiences, as long as they glorify God and not themselves, and as long as they are sensitive to their brothers and sisters who don't have dramatic testimonies.

​

 

[MatthewG]

I don't know if I have been born again. Since I am unsure, can I change my affiliation from "Christian" to "unsure" or something else? I am not worthy to be in the presence of all of these righteous, TRUE, Christians!

oh, okay.

 

[Johann]

Our family spent some time in my early teens attending a Baptist church that held that "every believer should be able to identify a time and a place when they became 'born again'", ala Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus. Thank you, God, thank you, Mom and Dad, for getting us the hell out of that church. I learned much later that, while some Christians do have dramatic Damascus-like experiences, many/most do not. Since getting "born from above" (another translation of γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν) is by definition an act of God and totally out of my control, I decided to just trust God to handle that detail.

I enjoy hearing others' testimonies about their "born-again" experiences, as long as they glorify God and not themselves, and as long as they are sensitive to their brothers and sisters who don't have dramatic testimonies.

​

Well said @Lambano.

J.

 

[NotTheRock]

Our family spent some time in my early teens attending a Baptist church that held that "every believer should be able to identify a time and a place when they became 'born again'", ala Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus. Thank you, God, thank you, Mom and Dad, for getting us the hell out of that church. I learned much later that, while some Christians do have dramatic Damascus-like experiences, many/most do not. Since getting "born from above" (another translation of γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν) is by definition an act of God and totally out of my control, I decided to just trust God to handle that detail.

I enjoy hearing others' testimonies about their "born-again" experiences, as long as they glorify God and not themselves, and as long as they are sensitive to their brothers and sisters who don't have dramatic testimonies.

​

Finally someone who gets it. Thank you!

 

[Johann]

Finally someone who gets it. Thank you!

You think I don't struggle?

J.

 

[NotTheRock]

There are many denominations of money, Wrangler. But only one Kingdom of God.

So every preacher of a denomination is misguided and in it for the money? They are deceived but YOU have it all figured out and perfectly walk the narrow path. The self-righteous Christian strikes again!

 

[MatthewG]

You assume I see myself better than everyone else. At one time I did walk like so. Sometimes I do continue to struggle. It’s only the power of Christ that helps me through my weakness.

 

[Rita]

Our family spent some time in my early teens attending a Baptist church that held that "every believer should be able to identify a time and a place when they became 'born again'", ala Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus. Thank you, God, thank you, Mom and Dad, for getting us the hell out of that church. I learned much later that, while some Christians do have dramatic Damascus-like experiences, many/most do not. Since getting "born from above" (another translation of γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν) is by definition an act of God and totally out of my control, I decided to just trust God to handle that detail.

I enjoy hearing others' testimonies about their "born-again" experiences, as long as they glorify God and not themselves, and as long as they are sensitive to their brothers and sisters who don't have dramatic testimonies.

​

Yes, my experience was that I had to speak in tongues !
I do know a moment in time when I just knew something had changed, but I didn’t have a church background and suddenly felt the need to go to church. It was months of questioning things, then I did feel a kind of quickening in side and as I read scripture one day I just was so emotional - but I can’t say I had a Damascus road experience - just knew I believed something I hadn’t believed before , to me born again simply means my spiritual nature was awakened.

 

[NotTheRock]

Yes, my experience was that I had to speak in tongues !
I do know a moment in time when I just knew something had changed, but I didn’t have a church background and suddenly felt the need to go to church. It was months of questioning things, then I did feel a kind of quickening in side and as I read scripture one day I just was so emotional - but I can’t say I had a Damascus road experience - just knew I believed something I hadn’t believed before , to me born again simply means my spiritual nature was awakened.

That never happened for me. I'm obviously NOT born again.

Ok, how can I change my classification to something besides "Christian"?

 

[MatthewG]

Yes, my experience was that I had to speak in tongues !
I do know a moment in time when I just knew something had changed, but I didn’t have a church background and suddenly felt the need to go to church. It was months of questioning things, then I did feel a kind of quickening in side and as I read scripture one day I just was so emotional - but I can’t say I had a Damascus road experience - just knew I believed something I hadn’t believed before , to me born again simply means my spiritual nature was awakened.

Yes. Exactly. I knew one day that there was something wrong with my heart at 26 years old. All I ever heard was Jesus was the healer. My first experience was one of superiority, but eventually God broke me down, and then I realized it was that coming to newness of life in Christ was God working with me, (if I allowed him too). My heart slowly started to become more softer than harder because at one point in time I hated everyone.

 

[NotTheRock]

Ah! There it is! I'll change it to "other affiliation" so as not to continue to defile true Christians with my presence in the "Christian only" sub-forums.

 

[Johann]

Yes, my experience was that I had to speak in tongues !
I do know a moment in time when I just knew something had changed, but I didn’t have a church background and suddenly felt the need to go to church. It was months of questioning things, then I did feel a kind of quickening in side and as I read scripture one day I just was so emotional - but I can’t say I had a Damascus road experience - just knew I believed something I hadn’t believed before , to me born again simply means my spiritual nature was awakened.

I remember being told that I had to speak in tongues; without it, I was considered "unsaved." The sisters even claimed to see "demons" in me and my brother. Then there were the "open confessions"-forced upon me with someone I didn’t even know.

Week after week, I found myself consoling my brother through it all. Today, by the grace of God, he stands as a grown man in Christ Jesus.

J.

 

[MatthewG]

I remember being told that I had to speak in tongues; without it, I was considered "unsaved." The sisters even claimed to see "demons" in me and my brother. Then there were the "open confessions"-forced upon me with someone I didn’t even know.

Week after week, I found myself consoling my brother through it all. Today, by the grace of God, he stands as a grown man in Christ Jesus.

J.

My first experience in church was something like that. The preacher man was putting his hands on people and they would fall out in the floor and they would be acting like they are climbing a ladder to heaven, some dancing around, other speaking in what they considered tongues. I feel like I was at the age of 8-9 years old. A friend telling me he seen the spirit of Mary, and it was a lot, I just closed the section off from my life all together.

I’m glad you were there to help your brother. There are even people out there that still play with snakes and dying from it, and what not… there are some strange beliefs out there and they can be detrimental to those who are afraid to think and speak for themselves, and are subjected to such things. It is sad, to me.