John 3:1-3, “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
I went with my family to see the movie, 'The Passion Of The Christ,' in 2004. I cried. Mel Gibson is a devout Roman Catholic, who directed the film. A year before its release, in 2003 Mel Gibson invited 800 evangelical pastors to meet together to watch the movie. ...
The Passion of the Christ received enthusiastic support from the American evangelical community. Before the film's release, Gibson actively reached out to evangelical leaders seeking their support and feedback. With their help, Gibson organized and attended a series of pre-release screenings for evangelical audiences and discussed the making of the film and his personal faith. In June 2003 he screened the film for 800 pastors attending a leadership conference at New Life Church, pastored by Ted Haggard, then president of the National Association of Evangelicals. Gibson gave similar showings at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church, Greg Laurie's Harvest Christian Fellowship, and to 3,600 pastors at a conference at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church in Lake Forest. SOURCE
All of the apostate religious leaders who attended Mel Gibson's pre-release screening are preaching another Gospel of Lordship Salvation, not the free grace Gospel taught in the inspired King James Bible (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). For example: Here is the counterfeit plan of salvation of Pastor Joel Osteen.
I was curious today what I would find if I typed in the question in a search engine (I used Duck Duck Go): “What does it mean to be born again?” The first return was from Billy Graham's ministry website (at BillyGraham.org). The following is a quote from their website, and this is damnable heresy! ...
Q. What does it mean to be "born again"?
A: Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Our first birth gave us physical life; the new birth gives us spiritual life and membership in God’s family (John 1:13). To be born again is to have the Holy Spirit transform our hearts from indifference and hostility toward God to a love of God and a desire for righteousness and holiness. The only way one can come to God and experience what it means to be “born again” is through repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ; read John 14:6. The Bible clearly teaches in Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 3:5, and Romans 10:13 that salvation is a gift; it cannot be earned in any way.
To receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord means more than accepting Him as a fact of history, a teacher, or an example. It means more than giving mental assent to the fact that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world. It means that one turns from sin and with his or her whole heart trusts in Christ as personal Savior and Lord. God makes that one a new person; see 2 Corinthians 5:17. The Bible says, “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).SOURCE: 'What Does It Mean To Be Born Again?,' Billy Graham
What you have just read is unbiblical tommyrot! I will expose many false teachings in the following rebuttal:
- To be “born again” does not mean “to have the Holy Spirit transform our hearts from indifference and hostility toward God to a love of God and a desire for righteousness and holiness.” The dumb dumb staff at the Billy Graham Evangelical Association (BGEA) are unlearned and ignorant, wresting the Scripture to their own destruction. To be “born” again means just that, you are being born by the Holy Spirit of God, by faith alone in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior (Philippians 3:9). The moment you trust Jesus as your Savior—receiving Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins, believing that He died, was buried and three days later Jesus physically resurrected from the dead—you are saved. When you were born the first time in the flesh (of water - John 3:5), you were given biological life. But when you get born for the second time, of the Holy Spirit, you are given eternal life.
Dear reader, being born again has absolutely NOTHING to do with transforming your heart from indifference and hostility against God to one of love for God and a desire for righteousness and holiness. That is another gospel! What the BGEA are describing is poppycock, balderdash and foolishness. God does not require you to posses the characteristics of a mature Christian as a prerequisite to be saved. That is the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation! To be saved you simply need to repent of your unbelief to trust Christ. The BGEA are wrongly attributing being “born again” to the reformation of the sinner, instead of attributing it as a divine miracle of God in response to a sinner's faith in Jesus (John 1:12-13). The BGEA have it wrong! - Repentance “of sin” is not taught in the Bible. You cannot show me even one Scripture passage which teaches to repent “of your sins” or to “turn from your sins” to be saved. Ungodly religious men added these unbiblical Words to God's plan of salvation (Proverbs 30:5-6). The Bible does teach “repentance toward God” (Acts 20:21). The Bible does teach “repentance to the acknowledging of the truth” (2nd Timothy 2:25). The Bible teaches “repentance from dead works” (Hebrews 6:1). But you cannot show me where the Bible says to repent “of your sins.”
To “repent” means to change your mind to acknowledge THE TRUTH that you are a dirty, guilty, sinner in the sight of a holy God. To “repent” means to change your mind toward God, from a heart of rebellious unbelief to believing the Gospel. Repentance and faith are inseparable and happen at the same time. The man who believes has repented, and the man who repent has believed. Repentance is automatic, included in believing. Repentance is NOT a separate act from believing the Gospel to be saved. This is why we find the word “believe” in the Gospel of John mentioned 85 times, but the word “repent” does not appear even one time. Repentance is not from your sinning, it is from your unbelief. - You don't have to receive Jesus as your “Lord” to be saved. The Bible does not teach us to receive Jesus as “Lord” of our life to be saved. You simply receive Jesus as your personal Savior to be saved. Pastor Jack Hyles in this sermon excerpt throws a fit over the heresy that you must take Jesus as your “Lord” to get to Heaven.
By “Lord” neo-evangelicals mean that you must submit your life to obey Christ, to follow Him no matter what the cost, turn from your sinful bad habits, forsake the world, and to persevere in holiness until the end of life to know for sure you are saved. This nonsense is rooted in Calvinism (the heretical teachings of infidel John Calvin, 1509-1564). Romans 10:9 has been corrupted in all of the modern Bible revisions. Instead of believing on the “Lord Jesus Christ,” all of the Devil's Bibles change it to declare “Jesus as Lord” to be saved. That is false doctrine that cannot produce the new birth! - The BGEA contradict their statement that salvation cannot be earned, when they insist that you must turn from your sins to get to Heaven. Again, you cannot show me any such teaching in the Word of God. Jesus came into the world to die on a cross to pay your debt of sin (and mine). He does not ask that you forsake your sinful bad habits to receive His free gift of eternal life, because that would constitute works. In Jonah 3:10 the Bible says God saw their “works,” that the Ninevites turned from their evil way. Romans 3:20 warns that no flesh shall be justified by works. Tragically, the staff at BGEA have the Gospel wrong!
- The BGEA are quoting from a corrupt version (the NIV) of the inspired Holy Bible. The inspired King James Bible says in John 1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” The translators of the NIV chose to render the Greek word exousia as “right” instead of “power.” Although the English word “right” in the New Testament elsewhere is derived from the same Greek word, the basic meaning of the Greek word is “privilege.” I hate the Devil's modern Bibles which are always tampering with God's inspired Word.
To be born again, Dr. Jack Hyles used to rightly say, means to have He (Jesus) who is the beginning born in you. What saith the Scripture? 1st John 5:20, “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” Jesus IS the true God and eternal life. If you have Jesus as your Savior living inside you (i.e., the blessed indwelling Holy Spirit - Romans 8:9), then you possess God's gift of eternal life, because Jesus is eternal life.
The new birth is just as irreversible as the physical birth. Once saved, always saved! Once born, whether physically or spiritually, always born! To be “born again” doesn't have anything to do with the change in your heart dear friend, it involves God being born in you. It means that you have now become a part of God's heavenly family, and are now a member of the seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:29). When you get saved, your spirit which was dead in trespasses and sins is quickened (made alive) by God's indwelling Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:1).
Literally, God's Holy Spirit merges with your human soul, so that you are now a part of God and He a part of you. The same is true of your parents and you. You have their DNA. They are a part of who you are, in your very DNA, but you are not your parents. Likewise, you are not God as His child, but God's DNA (Holy Spirit) is in you. You are more than just a member of God's Kingdom, you are actually indwelt by the God of the universe, who has promised never to leave nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).
Ephesians 1:13-14 teaches that at the moment a lost sinner is born again, God seals and indwells that individual forever with His wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit (1st Corinthians 3:16-17; 1st John 3:24). John 14:23, “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” This Scripture is saying that if you will get saved, God and His only begotten Son will make their home in you, in the form of the indwelling Holy Spirit. No one is saved who does not have the Holy Spirit (1st John 3:24).
Ray Comfort's Error Of What It Means To Be 'Born Again'
1st Timothy 6-7, “From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.”There is a disturbing trend among evangelicals to explain being “born again” as an “EXPERIENCE,” instead of as a supernatural miracle of God in response to a man's faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have a copy of Ray Comfort's “THE EVIDENCE BIBLE” in front of me. I bought it a few years ago. On page 1529, under the commentary section, “How Can You Know That You Are Saved?,” The Evidence Bible states:
Christians believed in God's existence before their conversion, however, when they obeyed the Word of God, turned from their sins, and embraced Jesus Christ, they stopped merely believing. The moment they reached out and touched the heater bar of God's mercy, they moved out of belief into the realm of experience. This experience is so radical, Jesus referred to it as being born again. [emphasis added]May I say, being born again is NOT an “experience.” Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron wrongly understand being “born-again” as an EXPERIENCE that involves forsaking one's sinful lifestyle and “EMBRACING” Jesus Christ. Ray Comfort gets this idea from an errant understanding of James 2:19, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” Many foolish Bible teachers misinterpret James 2:19 to mean that simple BELIEF on Christ is insufficient to be saved. This is not what the Bible is saying here. It simply means that no one is going to Heaven just because they believe there is a God.
SOURCE: The Way of the Master Evidence Bible, by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron, page 1529; ©2003 by Bridge-Logos Publishers
This is why Jesus told His disciples in Luke 13:23-24, “Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” You can believe in God all you want—you can serve Him, go to church, tithe, sacrifice and do good all your life, and then go straight to the Lake of Fire forever to burn!!! Jesus said, “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7).
What did Jesus mean by “born again?” The question is answered in John 3:6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” When you were born the first time into the world, that was of the flesh; but the new birth (or second birth) is when the Holy Spirit of God comes inside your body to indwell you (upon your faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ). Being “born again?” means that you have been born into God's family! Whereas all men are born spiritually DEAD from birth (Romans 5:15), in order to enter into the Kingdom of God a person must be born for the second time, spiritually (John 3:6-7). The first birth is PHYSICAL, earthly; The second birth is SPIRITUAL, by the Holy Spirit of God (John 1:12-14).
Biblically, mere childlike BELIEVING is all that God requires to be saved. This is what Jesus said in John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”
In Mr. Comfort's thinking, being born again means moving from the realm of merely believing in God, to the realm of leaving one's sinful ways and clinging to Christ. Mr. Comfort recognizes this as an EXPERIENCE, which to him means being born-again.
The Word of God teaches something entirely different. A person is “born again” by the Holy Spirit of God, which is initiated by mere childlike belief in Christ's death on the cross for our sins, His burial and resurrection three days later. The Bible defines this as the “Gospel” in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4. Whereas The Evidence Bible teaches that a transforming “radical experience” is what it means to be born-again; the Holy Bible teaches that it is the transforming power of God's Holy Spirit that produces the new birth . . .
John 1:12-13, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”It is a false plan of salvation to explain the new birth as a mere transforming experience. Any radical transformation is wrought solely by the Holy Spirit of God. It is heresy to require an experience, a radical change, or some transformation from a person in order to be saved. This is because eternal life is a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). Salvation is a TAKE proposition, not a GIVE proposition. God will not save anyone who is trying to be saved, He will only save those who are trusting to be saved. It is the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit that changes a person, and not our own human effort.
Ray Comfort understands salvation backwards. He requires a person to commit to leave their sinful lifestyle, and embrace Christ, which is the radical experience he requires from people to be saved. Biblically, you don't have to embrace Christ to be saved, you simply need to believe on Him. That's what the Bible teaches. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Although a person may or may not express emotions at the time of salvation, emotions are not required for salvation. Neither tears, nor any outward manifestation of inner changes, nor a desire to serve God, nor forsake sins, nor any radical experience is necessary to receive the free gift of eternal life. IT IS A GIFT, and a “gift” is free in every sense. For a wonderful presentation of the simple plan of salvation by Pastor Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008), please see Get God's Gift.
Furthermore, forsaking one's sinful lifestyle is NOT what it means Biblically to “repent.” Repentance is “changing one's mind,” that is, realizing and acknowledging one's guilt of sin for breaking a holy God's commandments (Romans 3:19). The only thing you need to repent of to be saved is whatever has been hindering you from coming to Christ to be saved (Hebrews 6:1). The man who BELIEVES the Gospel has repented, otherwise he never would have come to Jesus Christ to be saved (John 3:20). Our part in salvation is simply to BELIEVE on Jesus Christ, and whatever else is a part of our salvation is solely God's department, and you can be assured He will attend to that.
A Brief Study On The Trinity (Godhead)
Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) falsely claim that Jesus is “a god,” but not almighty God. JW founder, Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916), was sued in Canada for perverting the Word of God in John 1:1. Charles added the article “a” before God, to attack Jesus' deity. That was blatant irresponsible Bible translation. It was fraud. If you look inside Russell's New World Translation (NWT) today, you will find the fraudulent article “a” inserted before the word God, thus corrupting God's inspired Word. Woe be unto Charles Russell (Proverbs 30:5-6; Revelation 22:19). Mr. Russell by adding something that doesn't belong, removed Jesus' deity from the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 9:6b calls Jesus “The everlasting Father.” Jesus told the Jews that when they saw Him, they also saw the Father. John 14:9, “Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?” 1st Timothy 3:16b says, “God was manifest in the flesh...” Every modern Devil's Bible revision corrupts this passage of Scripture, removing the word “God” to discredit Jesus as almighty God. That is, they attack Jesus' deity. Jesus is the Father in the sense that they are both God, but Jesus and the Father are two distinctly different persons in the Trinity (Godhead). They posses different unique physical bodies, sitting upon separate thrones in Heaven (Colossians 3:1).
Dear reader, have you been born again? Has there ever been a time and place in your life when you realized that you are a rotten, dirty, guilty, sinner in God's holy sight? Did you realize that Jesus paid the debt of sin you owed on Calvary's cross with His precious blood? Did you know that He was buried after He died on the cross? But then Jesus physically raised up from the dead victorious three days later. Do you know this? But most importantly friend, did you personally put your trust (faith, confidence) in these biblical facts to be saved? You must make it personal, by BELIEVING ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST to get to Heaven.
And may I say, there is much needless confusion being spread today by unlearned, but well-meaning, preachers. They say foolish things like, it is not enough to believe in your mind, you must also believe in your heart. That is utterly confusing! How can you believe in your mind, but not in your heart, when your heart in in your brain? What they intended to say is that it is not enough to merely be familiar with the facts of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. You absolutely must decide that you BELIEVE these facts to be true FOR YOU. Someone said it this way—Christ died, that's history; Christ died for me, that's salvation!
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