What does it mean to be born again?

The first thing we need to do to answer this question is look at the words of God in the flesh, the Word Himself, Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God.

Jesus said that heaven and earth would pass away but His words would never pass away. He said in John 12:49-50 "For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”

I lay this foundation because Jesus IS the way, the truth, and the life, what He spoke IS absolute truth. What He spoke He received directly from the Father and this is what He taught His disciples and they accepted His word.

In John 3:1-7 Jesus tells the Pharisee Nicodemus a ruler of Jews what one MUST do in order to be born again. Let's take a look at what Jesus said:

"There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’"

In these scriptures Jesus tells us plainly what it means to be born again. Unless we are born again we CANNOT see the kingdom of God. And unless one is born of water AND the Spirit he CANNOT enter the kingdom of God. Then He goes on to say that we MUST be born again, not should be, or need to be, or maybe, but MUST be.

Now let's look at what born of water and the Spirit is according to the scriptures. Many have a problem with the word 'water' here and say that it's the birth water, or the water of the word, but that's error and when we look at the Greek word for water in John it's the same word that's used in Matthew 3:13-17

"Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

In these scriptures Jesus is giving us an example of what it means to be born again, He gets baptized by John and immediately He comes up from the water and John was able to see a supernatural manifestation of the Spirit of God descending from heaven LIKE a dove and landing upon Jesus. (Like the tongues of fire on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:3)

The word 'water' here is the Greek word: Hudor

5204. hudor hoo'-dore, and genitive case, hudatos hoo'-dat-os, etc. from the base of 5205; water (as if rainy) literally or figuratively:--water. (Strong's Greek Lexicon)

This is the same word used in John 3:5

The word Spirit is also the same in Matthew and John:

4151. pneuma pnyoo'-mah from 4154; a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze (Strong's Greek Lexicon)

Now going back to John 3:5 we can understand clearly that what Jesus said to Nicodemus is that one must be born of water (hudor-baptism) and the Spirit (pneuma-Holy Spirit)

Without these two things as Jesus said, we cannot see or enter the kingdom of God.

This is what it means to be 'born again'. Water + Spirit = Born Again!

We can read of the culmination of this teaching of Jesus in the book of Acts when the Holy Spirit was ushered in with power on the day of Pentecost and 3000 new converts to Christ heard the gospel message preached by Peter and were born of water and the Spirit.

Acts 1:4-5

"And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Acts 2:1-4

"When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."

The initial evidence of receiving or being filled with the Holy Spirit is speaking in other languages!

Mark 16:17

"And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;"

Acts 2:36-39

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Acts 2:40-42

^"And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly  received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers."

In The Love Of Christ,
Tyrone

Vision From the Lord - 06/06/2010 - Prayer Time

Me and Tyrone were praying today in the morning and while we were praying , a vision came to my mind and did not leave it. I saw a big desert and Jesus was sitting down on the well and a woman came and Jesus asked for water. At this time I remembered the Scripture that talks about this story in John 4. I went to the Scriptures to read it with my husband. And also in this desert something called my attention because there were 2 very tall fires very far from the well, but visible that it was in that desert. It was like if the desert was being attacked from above, like bombs being sent to that desert.

Me and Tyrone talked about this vision and "we thought" about a coming attack, but in the midst of the attacks, in the middle of the fire Jesus will feed us with His Word and quench our thirst with His living waters. He will also go to places where people are despised by the society ( like this Samaritan woman) who I believe was very despised by society probably because she had 5 husbands and the one she was with at that time was not even her husband. Jesus will never forget those who do not know Him yet, He will pass through a place just because one soul. Also this message shows us how Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit brought out the woman's sin without condemnation or judgement and this led to many others believing in Him because of her testimony, "come see a man that told me all things I ever did."

Read John 4:3-14 -  "He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

I hope that you can be edified by this vision which reminded me of His words and also enforced that Jesus will always be with us in the midst of attacks.

God bless you,
Cynthia R. Palmer

Word From The Lord

"California Is Gone"

This word confirms the dream my wife had, and the word's of knowledge I received last year concerning the destruction coming to California.

In Christ,
Tyrone

Prophetic Dream

By: Cynthia R Palmer

Me and Tyrone were on the ocean sitting down on the waters and suddenly came a very huge tsunami wave which put us against a wall that was there in the ocean to protect us and gave us the opportunity after that wave came and all the waters were revolted to step down the waters and keep walking away from where this thing was happening in the waters. Right after we left and were walking, a word came to me saying: "Great destruction happened in California." and it was also related to waters.

We Must Be Baptized

Did you know that baptism is more than just a symbolic ritual?

In this study we will take a look at why we must be baptized in water and what baptism really means for new followers of Christ.

The Greek word for baptism is baptizo and it means:

“To immerse, submerge; to make whelmed (i.e. fully wet); used only (in the New Testament) of ceremonial ablution, especially (technically) of the ordinance of Christian baptism:--Baptist, baptize, wash.” (Strong’s Greek Lexicon)

Matthew 28:18-20

“And Jesus came and spoke to them (apostles), saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Jesus), teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”

Question: Did Jesus command His apostles to make new disciples and baptize them or did He leave it up to the new converts to decide how they would be saved?

Mark 16:14-18

“Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Jesus tells His apostles again to baptize the ones who believe the gospel message of the kingdom of God. Jesus makes it clear that baptism in water is a part of God’s plan of salvation for the soul.

Acts 2:36-41

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.”

Here we see Peter doing what Jesus had commanded him and the rest of the apostles to do; baptize new converts in water in the name of Jesus. They never changed their gospel message as long as they lived and they never allowed any believer to go without being baptized or receive the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:14-17

"Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit."

Romans 6:1-7

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.”

Paul tells the Roman saints that baptism is far more that a symbolic ritual, but a participation in the likeness of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. When we go into the watery grave we are putting to death the old man of sin, crucifying the flesh and being raised from the water a new creation in Christ. By this act of faith and confession, we come into spiritual contact with the blood of Jesus that washes away all our sins.

Galatians 3:26-28

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Colossians 2:11-12

“In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”

1st Corinthians 12:12-14

“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.”

When we are baptized in water and receive the Holy Spirit we are spiritually placed into the body of Christ, this is not a separate baptism but part of the one baptism that all converts to Christ are to receive.

Ephesians 4:4-6

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

Jesus commanded His disciples to be baptized in His name for the forgiveness of their sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, who will empower them to live the rest of their lives in obedience to God and dead to sin. He who believes and is baptized WILL be saved!

In Christ,
Tyrone