If they have been regenerated by the Spirit of God they are.
The 'Greek' word is born "from above" NOT again!!! So naturally the answer is YES, all born in the flesh are born from above, just as was Christ. John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He That came down from heaven, even the Son of man Which is in heaven.
I was “born again of water and the Holy Ghost”(John 3:5) when I was baptized and, by the grace of God, my faith was reignited later on.
Therein lies the crux of the problem. Roman Catholics follow, properly so, the Petrine Doctine. He was appointed by Jesus, Himself. Saul, not so much.
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This is more than simply a good article, it is a necessary article for both Latins and Orthodox, many of whom have no idea of how to respond to the fundamentalists’ innovative theological nonsense about being “born again”. Like so much Western protestant theology, it is born of two things, first, a compulsion to deny, and a misunderstanding of, the efficacy of the Mysteria of The Church and second, a reliance on very bad translations of the NT read out of the context of what The Church believes and believed at the time of the definition of the canon of the NT in, for the West, the late 4th century. For those who are interested, a reading of the works of +Cyprian of Carthage, +Clement of Alexandria and +Cyril of Jerusalem will be instructive in this regard.
In the meantime, there is this, from the “Baptismal Instructions” of +John Chrysostomos:
“Are we only dying with the Master and are we only sharing in His sadness? Most of all, let me say that sharing the Master’s death is no sadness. Only wait a little and you shall see yourself sharing in His benefits. ‘For if we have died with Him,’ says St. Paul, `we believe that we shall also live together with Him.’ For in baptism there are both burial and resurrection together at the same time. He who is baptized puts off the old man, takes the new and rises up, `just as Christ has arisen through the glory of the Father.’ Do you see how, again, St. Paul calls baptism a resurrection?”
The world is fortunate that the “born again” nonsense is embraced by, comparatively speaking, so few people, almost all of whom are North Americans (the truly astonishing cultural chauvinism of N. American fundamentalists to the contrary notwithstanding).
Thank you for this discussion. (I will stick around until the first insults fly. My pride tends to draw me into that sinful activity.)
Now for the idea that baptism represents birth, I would direct you to the first letter of Peter, 3rd chapter, where he states:
18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,
20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.
21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you— not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.
One, Baptism represents DEATH. Water was a righteous judgement on the world, and only those that put total faith and enter in the Ark of Jesus will be saved, and through a willing appeal to God. The rebirth is the death of the old self and renewal through Christ, by the actions of the Holy Spirit from above, as God has preordained from before the foundations of the earth, and this rebirth is shown by a life of good work freely and joyfully given by a servant of Christ.
Now if baptism is NECESSARY for salvation, then all of the righteous in OT Israel (who were not baptized in the name of ...) and the thief on the Cross will not be saved. Abraham, Isaac and Joseph not saved? As Paul states Abraham was saved by faith, not by baptism.
Necessary is not optional, but a requirement. Any that start putting in provisos for salvation without baptism are saying that it is not necessary.
But Christ Himself says that one must be born from above to be saved, thus baptism is not being born from above.
Oops, and to answer the title of the article, as someone that already said, those that are are. Those that aren’t aren’t.
You and I would be hard pressed to find signs that many Catholics in the upper echelons of the Dem party are saved (ie Pelosi and Big Ted, et al). Not saying they could not be, but the signs are not apparent, or they hide them well...
Born again? In Baptism, but if you’re talking about returning to the Faith, the term we use is “revert.” And it usually takes a while and prayer from many people for hearts to be opened. What causes the falling away can be anything from laziness to being seduced.
Yes, through the Sacrament of Baptism. All who are baptized in the Catholic Church and other mainstream Protestant churches that the Catholic Church accepts are BORN again; they have a cleanly wiped slate and can begin a new life.
Good article.
I would assert it is also the fundamentalist position regarding baptism.
If one becomes adversarial, it is easy to imagine believers who are fallen away in misunderstanding both as Protestants and as Catholics by imputing wrong thinking on their group. For example, the initial regeneration of the human spirit by God the Holy Spirit is agreed by believers.
Some Protestants will attack Catholics as adversaries, thinking the Catholic doctrine is only focused on a ritual and the water itself is the object of faith that is regenerating the spirit. Meanwhile, some Catholics will focus on some fringe Protestant groups who place the object of their faith on a religious experience as opposed to simple faith through Christ. Both views by themselves are inaccurate as well described in the article.
If I recall correctly, there are some 7 different types of baptism in Scripture. Baptism is simply an identification of something with another thing.
For example, in 1Cor 10:1-6, there is a baptism of Moses, and the Jews are identified with Moses crossing the Red Sea under the cloud. Neither the Jews nor Moses got wet, but both were baptized. The Jews were baptized unto Moses and Moses under the cloud as being baptized with Jesus Christ.
1Co 10:1-6
(1) Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
(2) And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
(3) And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
(4) And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
(5) But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
(6) Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
The spiritual meat and drink for all the Jews and Moses, all came from Christ.
A 2nd type of baptism is the baptism of Christ with the Cross as recorded in Matt 20:20-29 (also backed up in 1Pet 2:24 and 2Cor 5:21)
(22) But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
(23) And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
There, our Lord Christ Jesus is identified with the Cross. He also refers to the death of the old man, which we are also identified with when we are baptized through Him. Again, no water is involved in this baptism.
A 3rd type of baptism is the baptism of the Holy Spirit entering the believer into union with God the Son, our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. (1stCor 12:13, Rom 6:1-10, Acts 1:4-5)
1stCor 12:(12) For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
(13) For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
(14) For the body is not one member, but many.
A 4th type of baptism is the baptism by fire, where unbelievers are baptized by fire. ( Lk 3:16-7; Mt 3:11-2; 2 Thes 1:7-9; Mt 25:31,33).
A 5th, 6th and 7th type of baptisms are ritual wet baptisms where the water represents something.
In the baptism of John, the water represents the Kingdom of God. Mt 3:6-11; Jn 1:25-33
In the baptism of Jesus, the water represented the Plan of God for the First Advent by sending the Son to the Cross and the acceptance of His Will by the Son entering the water. Matt 3:13-17
In the Church Age, water represents the baptism of the Holy Spirit, making them members of the royal family of God. We are identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection, (Acts 2:38,41; 8:36,38; 16:15,33)
The Catholic, then, should do more than simply point to his baptism; he should discuss his living faith, trust and love of Christ; his desire to grow in sanctity and conformity to Christ; and his total dependence on Christ for salvation. These are integral to the new life of the Holy Spirit that baptism bestows.
In other words, the enfeebled Protestant mindset needs to be penetrated broadly. It is not sufficient to explain any particular scripture on a particular topic, -- unless the idea of dividing living people into saved and unsaved is overturned, the faith of the fathers will remain closed to them.
Suggested reading: SALVATION PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
1 Cor 1:17 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
1 Cor 1:14 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
It would appear by these statements that Paul was against salvation since he came not to baptize and was happy that he had not baptize certain people. Why would they canonize the bulk of the New Testament letters to a person who did not equate salvation and baptism together and was happy they had not baptized many?
“Born Again? I can’t help it if He got it right the first time!” -— Dennis Miller