How to be born-again Short version. A more detailed version--with scriptures--is below. 1. Recognize that, until you are born-again, you are a sinner, separated from God, and in need of salvation. 2. Repent, i.e. be willing to change your way of thinking and living. 3. Believe the gospel message:
4. Get baptized in water as soon as possible. Now, expect to experience the peace and love of God. Even if you don’t you can be assured that you are now born again. Remember this day as your spiritual birthday. How to be born again Detailed version with scriptures. We group these topics: born-again, salvation, and water baptism together because they are inseparably intertwined. Jesus taught that the way to a relationship with God is to be "born-again." This is God’s plan and there is no other way. This does not mean a second, natural birth but a new kind of birth, a supernatural one: God would now put His own spirit, the Holy Spirit, into people, thereby transforming them from the inside out. There is also a greater experience of the Holy Spirit available to all believers called the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. The following passages are copied here to give you the background necessary to better understand this experience. You may not understand every detail that follows but you can still believe. The most important verses are highlighted in blue. All scriptures are taken from the NASB 2020 version. 1. Recognize you are a sinner, separated from God, and in need of Him. Joh 3:1-21 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; (2) this man came to Jesus at night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” (3) Jesus responded and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (4) Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a person be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” (5) Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (6) “That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit. (7) “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ (8) “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.” (9) Nicodemus responded and said to Him, “How can these things be?” (10) Jesus answered and said to him, “You are the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? (11) “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you people do not accept our testimony. (12) “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? (13) “No one has ascended into heaven, except He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. (14) “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, (15) so that everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him. (16) “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. (17) “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. (18) “The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (19) “And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil. (20) “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. (21) “But the one who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed as having been performed in God.” Rom 3:21-24 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, (22) but it is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction, (23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (24) being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus… Eph 2:1-10 And you were dead in your offenses and sins, (2) in which you previously walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. (3) Among them we too all previously lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest. (4) But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, (5) even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), (6) and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (7) so that in the ages to come He might show the boundless riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (8) For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; (9) not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (10) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. 2. Repent, i.e. be willing to change your way of thinking and living. Mat 3:1-2 Now in those days John the Baptist *came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, (2) “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Mar 1:14-15 Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, (15) and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the gospel.” Luk 13:4-5 “Or do you think that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse offenders than all the other people who live in Jerusalem? (5) “No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish 3. Believe the gospel message and declare these beliefs out loud:
Jn 3:16-18 (16) “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. (17) “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. (18) “The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. Rom 10:8-10 But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, (9) that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; (10) for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Act 2:37-39 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what are we to do?” (38) Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (39) “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” Act 16:29-31 And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas; (30) and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (31) They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 4. Get baptized in water as soon as possible. Act 8:35-38 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. (36) As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” (38) And he ordered that the chariot stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. Act 19:1-7 Now it happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. (2) He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “On the contrary, we have not even heard if there is a Holy Spirit.” (3) And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” (4) Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” (5) When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (6) And when Paul had laid hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. (7) There were about twelve men in all. Mat 28:18-19 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. (19) “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit... You are now a child of God. And you are now part of the Ekklesia (church). Expect to experience the peace and love of God. You can be assured that you are now born again. Remember this day as your spiritual birthday. ------//////------ But there’s more…God now offers you a deeper, fuller experience of the Holy Spirit. This is called the baptism with the Holy Spirit. The purpose of this experience is not for salvation, but for impartation of miraculous gifts and empowerment to facilitate the spreading of the gospel. Mar 16:15-20 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. (16) “The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned. (17) “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; (18) they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (19) So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. (20) And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. Act 1:6-8 So, when they had come together, they began asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time that You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (7) But He said to them, “It is not for you to know periods of time or appointed times which the Father has set by His own authority; (8) but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.” Act 10:44-48 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. (45) All the Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had also been poured out on the Gentiles. (46) For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter responded, (47) “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” (48) And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days. Act 11:15-18 “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. (16) “And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ (17) “Therefore, if God gave them the same gift as He also gave to us after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” (18) When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has also granted to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.” Luk 11:9-13 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (10) “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. (11) “Now which one of you fathers will his son ask for a fish, and instead of a fish, he will give him a snake? (12) “Or he will even ask for an egg, and his father will give him a scorpion? (13) “So if you, despite being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” Ask God for -- and expect -- this deeper experience. If necessary, find a spirit-filled believer to pray with you. Tongues are the most typical initial evidence of this experience, and many believers continue to pray in tongues as a personal prayer language because it is very useful for intercessory prayer. However, when done in public, tongues must be interpreted for the edification of others. The Holy Spirit provides that gift too! Sadly, some denominations teach against speaking in tongues, but we hold the belief that all of God’s gifts are good, and we suffer loss if we reject any of His gifts. Please contact us if you have any questions or would like prayer to receive this gift. ------//////------ |
Ekklesia Fellowship House Church - 1
7292 Lakeside Dr.| Indianapolis, IN 46278 | PH: 317-508-9267