Born Again

This may shock you, but ...

I am more convinced than ever that many people who truly repent, and ask God to forgive their sin, can be saved and receive salvation ... without being "born again" as it is commonly taught.

No, I'm not trying to be a heretic.  Heresy is described as a person holding an opinion at odds with what is generally accepted.  I want to know the truth of the Word ... not just go along with popular thinking. 

And no, I'm not trying to make some new doctrine.  Yes, I do know that Jesus said ... "You must be born again."  But through observing "life" and all the many reasons people do what they do ... I do not believe salvation is as clear cut, or as black and white as most people think.

Let's look again at what Jesus really said in John 3:3-7.  "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Nicodemus didn't understand what Jesus meant when He said this.  And I contend most people don't either.  The new birth, or being born again by God's Spirit, allows you to see that there is a kingdom of God, (the spiritual realm around you) which before ... you had no knowledge of. 

This is what Jesus was telling Nicodemus.  To see who Jesus really was ... he would have to be born again ... (conceived from above), not of flesh, but of the Spirit.  This new life becomes spiritual, and gets it's nature from the Spirit of God. 

Basically, Jesus was saying to Nicodemus ... "You can't perceive or see that I am of the kingdom of God without a spiritual rebirth."  Notice salvation was not mentioned by Jesus. 

Nicodemus a Pharisee, came to Jesus and basically said, for Jesus to do what He did (the miracles) proved that God was with Him.  Concerned about being born again, the only question asked by Nicodemus was ... "How can I be born a second time?"

I believe the key word in this first statement by Jesus to Nicodemus is the word, "see."   By how it is used, to "see" implies ... to know, be aware of, perceive, or understand the spiritual things of the kingdom of God.  Nowhere in this scripture does Jesus speak about or refer to salvation as being ... "born again."

Being "born again" ... according to this scripture ... allows you to see, and opens your spiritual eyes to the truth of the kingdom of God; one of which is that you need to repent and ask God to forgive your sin.  Repentance to God brings salvation.

 Let me ask a question along this same line ...

What about the person who truly repents of his or her sin, but never quite fully understands or perceives that God has given them a portion of His Spirit to help them live this new life free from the old sins.
 
I question whether every new repentant soul is truly aware of what has taken place in their life.  Everyone who confesses Jesus as their savior doesn't always feel, "born again."  But thru that repentance of sin and God's promised forgiveness of that sin ... whether they understand everything or not ... I believe they are just as saved by the blood of Jesus as anyone.  We don't have to get it all right ... we just have to come as we are.   

I have an example of just that.  I heard one well known country singer and song writer sharing his personal testimony of the night he repented of his sins.  He said he had a profound experience, something that had never happened to him before.  Here's his testimony ... 

"I don't go to church very much, but that night I was asked to go with a personal friend ... so I went with her to Pastor Jimmy Snow's church in Nashville.  At the end of the service, Jimmy asked for anyone who was lost to raise their hand.  To me, that was out of the question.  All of a sudden I felt my hand going up, but at the same time hoping nobody saw me raise it.  Then Jimmy called for anyone who wanted to give their life to Jesus to come down to the front.  I thought, that will never happen, but I found myself getting up and walking down to the front where Jimmy said something like ... are you ready to accept Jesus Christ in your life, and I responded ... I don't know.  I didn't know what I was doing there.  He had me kneel down ... I can't even remember what he said to me ... but it was such a release for me, I found myself weeping in public, and I felt this forgiveness that I didn't even know I needed."     

So ... was this man "born again" or was he just "forgiven" of his sins through his repentance?  Which is more important?  If God forgives your sin, isn't that the same as receiving Jesus for salvation?

Okay ... back to what Jesus said. 

I do not want to do harm or injustice to the Word of God; but notice that according to John ... Jesus did not tell Nicodemus, he must be born again to enter Heaven.  Jesus used the word "see" speaking of perceiving and understanding ... "spiritual" things in the kingdom of God; things he would need to know about here on earth.

The next thing Jesus tells him is something about "being born of water and the Spirit" or he cannot ... "enter" ... the kingdom of God.  Again, Jesus does not mention "Heaven."

This word kingdom that Jesus uses twice is "basileia," pronounced (bas-il-i'-ah) in the original Greek translation, and means ... realm.

Most people just take for granted that Jesus was speaking of the eternal Heaven ... but that is not the case ... if one relies on and believes what the early Hebrew Aramaic translations into Greek have to say.  And I for one, do.

Look again at this scripture ... "Except a man be born again, (from above) he cannot see (know, be aware of, perceive, or understand) the kingdom (or realm) of God."

So ... by going back as close as possible to the original wording ... brings a whole different meaning to this scripture.

My question was ... is being born again the same as being forgiven of sin?  It's up to you to decide for yourself ... if it even matters.