Born Again: What does this mean to you?

[JohnOF123]

I would like to hear what it means to people when Jesus says that we are born the first time, but must also be "born again". Feel free to share your testimony of being "born again."

[pam]

To me it's being baptized. To have all my sins washed away and to be as a newborn with no sins. A chance to start over just as someone just being born.

[Faded]

I'll never forget the day I was baptized. I was only 8, but I already knew God and had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The experience was indescribable. A comfortable warm glow -- a fire within, but not painful. A tempest of good feelings in my heart and mind. I knew that I had covenanted to Christ to live my life for him. When hand were laid on my head to receive the Holy Ghost, it felt like rushing fire through my whole body.

I've been "born again" many times since. I've strayed away and had to return. The experience is always the same. Indescribable joy and good feelings that are like a whirlwind inside me. Sometimes it's subtle. Sometimes its strong. But it's always right.

[Moksha]

Born again could conjure up visions of reliving my youth and once again:

Get my motor runnin'

Head out on the highway

Lookin' for adventure

And whatever comes our way

Yeah Darlin' go make it happen

Take the world in a love embrace

Fire all of your guns at once

And explode into space

Of course, it could be a reference to finding Jesus. Forrest Gump did not know that Jesus was lost.

[Carl62]

Born again = baptism

[bytor2112]

Elder Christofferson sums it up nicely:

It was Jesus who stated that entry into the kingdom of God requires that one be born again—born of water and of the Spirit (see John 3:3–5). His teaching about a physical and a spiritual baptism helps us understand that both our own action and the intervention of divine power are needed for this transformative rebirth—for the change from natural man to saint (see Mosiah 3:19). Paul described being born again with this simple expression: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Consider two examples from the Book of Mormon. About a century before the birth of Christ, King Benjamin taught his people of the Savior’s advent and Atonement. The Spirit of the Lord wrought such a mighty change in the people that they had “no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2). Because of their faith in Christ, they said, “We are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments … all the remainder of our days” (Mosiah 5:5; emphasis added). The king responded, “Because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name” (Mosiah 5:7; see also D&C 76:24).

The case of Alma is also instructive. As he and his companions went about seeking to destroy the Church of Christ, they were rebuked by an angel. There followed for Alma three days and nights that he described as being “racked with eternal torment. … Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell” (Alma 36:12–13). Finally, after “repenting nigh unto death” (Mosiah 27:28), as he put it, there came to his mind the sweet message of Jesus Christ and His Atonement. Alma pled, “O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death” (Alma 36:18). Forgiveness came to him, and he stood and publicly confessed:

“I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit.

“And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters;

“And thus they become new creatures” (Mosiah 27:24–26).

As we reflect on these examples and other scriptures, it becomes clear that spiritual rebirth originates with faith in Jesus Christ, by whose grace we are changed. More specifically, it is faith in Christ as the Atoning One, the Redeemer, who can cleanse from sin and make holy (see Mosiah 4:2–3).

[JohnOF123]

Thank you for all your replies! I had a born again experience and it didn't really have to do with baptism, but it's great to hear everyones ideas on this!

[Carl62]

There's something about the act of baptism that cements, ceremonializes and publically celebrates the whole "born again" experience for me, unlike some people who say they said a prayer and got "saved" while they were merely taking a shower or driving down the road.

[WillowTheWhisp]

I have a book somewhere which explains that being born again is not a one-off experience but an ongoing thing where we continue to develop and grow. It's a while since I read it but it changed my outlook because prior to that I had thought it simply was baptism.

[JudoMinja]

There was a talk by a general authority (can't remember who or where it was given, I think general conference but I'm not sure). He compared repentance and being born again to turning a cucumber into a pickle. It is a thorough process, and if not done properly will not result in the desired "pickled" state.

To be born again is to experience a complete change of heart. This can be a sudden experience (like with Alma the Younger, Enos, and Paul/Saul) though these are few. Usually, it is a gradual process over a long period of time as we live lives more and more in line with Christ's teachings and become more and more repentant. To be born unto Christ is to accept him wholly and completely. It means to give up our sins to follow him. It means to experience a complete and total change in how we approach life. We desire to do as he teaches not because we are told to, but because we WANT to.

In the sense that many Christians think of the term "born again", I would say I have been. But when I think of it as this complete change of heart, I would say that I am still in the process.

[Blackmarch]

I would like to hear what it means to people when Jesus says that we are born the first time, but must also be "born again". Feel free to share your testimony of being "born again."

It means to me ihave buried my old self and have become a new person in Christ, which happened around and during my baptism, and also when Christ helps me overcome any sins I have.

[bytor2112]

There was a talk by a general authority (can't remember who or where it was given, I think general conference but I'm not sure). He compared repentance and being born again to turning a cucumber into a pickle. It is a thorough process, and if not done properly will not result in the desired "pickled" state.

To be born again is to experience a complete change of heart. This can be a sudden experience (like with Alma the Younger, Enos, and Paul/Saul) though these are few. Usually, it is a gradual process over a long period of time as we live lives more and more in line with Christ's teachings and become more and more repentant. To be born unto Christ is to accept him wholly and completely. It means to give up our sins to follow him. It means to experience a complete and total change in how we approach life. We desire to do as he teaches not because we are told to, but because we WANT to.

In the sense that many Christians think of the term "born again", I would say I have been. But when I think of it as this complete change of heart, I would say that I am still in the process.

Elder Bednar.....Ye must be born again.

[JohnOF123]

For me, it happened instantaneously rather than as a process. For weeks I was trying to "do good", trying to please God, convicted of my sin and then... I finally gave up. I cried out to God and decided to not trust in myself and truly trust in Him. I was crushed by my sin and cried; I begged for mercy. The next morning, it was like a light came on in my soul. The instant I woke up, I had spiritual eyes that could see and feel. All my wants, desires, tastes were different. It is like a sixth sense I suppose. And there are other elements of it also, like it seems that I am always conscience every second of the day of God.

I'm telling you, the night before I was a wreck, and the next morning I was a completely different person. Total transformation. I was born again.

[Hemidakota]

I would like to hear what it means to people when Jesus says that we are born the first time, but must also be "born again". Feel free to share your testimony of being "born again."

When you walk in the same footsteps as the Savior did...even Joseph Smith made his objective in life to follow the Savior's footsteps.

[marts1]

I think being reborn is a changing of one's life from that of his own will the God's will. I believe this can happen many times as we make mistakes in life. I don't feel the Holy Ghost at all times and I feel like I am reborn when I feel that wonderful strong influence, which for me, happens quite often, but never often enough.:)

[prisonchaplain]

IMHO, John 3:3 speaks to conversion. For me, it happened when I was 10, and I raised my hand and said, "Yes, I want Jesus to come into my heart. Forgive me of my sins and help me do better for you." If baptism was the key, then I suppose I could claim to have been born again as an infant, since my parents appeased my Lutheran grandma on that matter. (BTW, it was that grandma's prayers that probably helped prepare me for conversion). Then again, I'd hate to think that my born again experience did not take hold until I submitted to "believers' baptism," at age 16 (I waited until I had my parents' consent, out of respect for their earlier act of having me baptized as an infant).

But, if I'm gueesing correctly, since my baptism was performed by folk who were not considered authorized by LDS standards, does that mean I'm not really born again at all?

[JohnOF123]

IMHO, John 3:3 speaks to conversion. If baptism was the key, then I suppose I could claim to have been born again as an infant

I would agree that Baptism is not how we become born again. In John, Jesus illustrates that God is like a wind blowing where it wishes, no one knows where it will go. This tells me that you cannot "tie down" the new birth or invoke it with a Baptism.

I also said that prayer as a child and thought I was saved. I believed and ended up living like the world for the majority of my life. It wasn't until 3 years ago until I was truly born again. I came to the lowest point in my life and fell at the foot of the cross for mercy. I finally gave up and offered my life to Jesus. The very next morning, everything was clear, everything was new. I had spiritual eyes. I had an awareness 24/7 I never had before. It was obvious. I could go on and on, but this creature is nothing like that old one! Praise God!