Posted on 03/27/2023 7:58:55 PM PDT by fishtank
1 Peter 1:3
KJV
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Far, far far too many people think that the term “born-again” is a modern-day TV scammer invention.
And John 3:3
Jesus responded and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
… Jesus answered and said unto him (Nicodemus), Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. / Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? / Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. / That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. / Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. / The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. …Just to put things into context.
— John 3:3-8
“Born-again” and “born of the Spirit” is the same event, the same reality.
Verses 6 and 8 seem to indicate something different.
Beware of proof by assertion, since that’s a logical fallacy.
Here’s a way of looking at it that I heard when I was a new believer.
If you are born once, you will die twice.
If you are born twice, you will die once.
(Of course, that does not take into account the possibility of rapture in your lifetime.)
Is that from the Bible?
No. It is a way of understanding what Jesus told Nicodemus.
You can either use it as a tool to express what being “born-again” means, or you can walk away from it and ignore it.
That accuses Jesus of saying simple things that can’t be understood, when He was quite plain-spoken apart from the parables.
Wow! I am shocked to see this in print. I suppose you know what you are talking about but it is difficult to even think about. I've always known I lived a sheltered life in rural Georgia with a family that goes back generations in the Bible Belt of the Agrarian South, but wow.
My nephew seeds Churches in the PNW with three so far but I also didn't now what a task it must be.
Oh, yes it does. What you have said is true, but it needs expansion of the context.
Every one must endure cessation of the sin-condemned flesh-and-blood body of which all humans are descended, and discard it. Going a bit deeper theologically into the event described in 1 Thessalonians 4:17:
Heb 9:27-28 (AV):I believe that at the moment of the ἁρπάζω (translated rapiemur in the Vulgate from the Latin verb rapio and thus referred to as "rapture" by learned Biblicists), which is translated "caught up" in the KJV English, each of the remaining living individuals will experience a sudden physical death (separation of one's soul and spirit from the flesh body) and be instantly transferred into the Christ-promised new spiritual body which will be like His; and likely without any jolt, like as my entry into and instantly-perceived recovery from general anaesthesia that I experienced a few months ago: no disorientation or physical pain at all, and no sense of the real time passed for the procedure.
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time withoutχωρις=apart from sin unto salvation."
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Rom 6:5-7 (AV):
"For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is deadphysically is freed from sin."
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1 Cor 15:51-52 (AV):
"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
Be confident that the soul-and-spirit saved personalities of you and I and Abraham and King David and Blessed Apostle John and many others will be clothed with the new substantial spirit bodies like Christ's, all in the same twinkling-of-the-eye instant, much to the joy of everyone continuing on without a hiatus in the progress of everlasting absolute sinless function in the service of our Lord and Master!
Very interesting, in depth.
Soaking it in...✝️
This “born again” has physical changes in perception.
It has to do with raising your consciousness frequency through prayer and meditation to levels where you perceive directly with your consciousness beyond your physical body.
Sin creates obstacles to Love in the soul and destabilizes and lowers consciousness frequency.
It’s similar to changing stations on a tv to perceive a new channel.
This is how the Christian mystics and Saints do what they do.
Hebrews 9:27 is explaining what happens automatically when a person dies and their conscious awareness is no longer restricted to the physical body. At death, conscious awareness expands through the stored memories of life’s experiences in the soul.
It is somewhat a judgement in the same way that if you are holding too much baggage and are thrown in the water, you drown. The attachment is to sin. I define sin as the obstacles to love in a person’s soul. This is the reason for Jesus’s second commandment.
The problrm is that many people belong to the “Flat Consciousness Society “ and don’t understand the purpose od religion and Jesus’s teachings is to raise us up.
Call it rapture or awakening, it’s the same. A raising up to a new perception of reality that is above the earthly turmoil.
🙏
Death is not graduation. Transcendence is. It’s the reason for life in the physical body, i.e. to grow to a level of transcendence. It is through transcendence that you will see that Jesus is already here and in everyone who invites Him into themselves. Communion is not just metaphoric.
Everything Jesus taught us is geared toward achieving this.
My Father’s Mansion has many rooms, and where you are at when you die determines what floor your room is located.
I’ve died, and made the journey to Heaven. Upon entering, I asked for help, upon which time the four Angels that greeted me began praying. This shot my soul up to a higher level of Heaven. The same one that Paul spoke of in 2 Corinthians 12:2
“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows.”
Paul was speaking of himself, but to maintain humility he spoke as though it was another person. Real strength only comes through our weakness. When full of pride you have no room for the Holy Spirit to enter and help you.
I was shown the same visions, and like Paul sent back. I say this not to brag in any way as it would only harm my soul. For 30+ years since this visit and the visions happened, I was told not to share much. Now that has changed. God’s Plan is unfolding exactly as it is supposed to unfold on earth.
You can see that the people on earth are in great turmoil. It will get much worse. The Matthew 13 “weeds” are here and creating this turmoil. I have seen them increase their activity a lot recently.
There is a second turmoil that is coming that the weeds fear, and is the reason they are acting up now. There is a change in the earth that is opening it up to an increase of the Holy Spirit. The cleansing Fire is also increasing now. The only unforgivable sin is to reject this Fire,i.e. the Holy Spirit.
The phrase “On earth as it is in Heaven” of the Lord’s Prayer is unfolding now on earth. We are living in wonderful times.
Don’t believe my words. I would not if they were said to me. But invite the Holy Spirit into you daily that it may help you and guide to learn on your own. The Bible is very accurate. Read it and pray, rather than “thinking too much.” Let the Holy Spirit guide your thinking.
Blessings on your individual journey. May Christ be with you.
🙏
Very uplifting t&r, thanks.
It’s time to reread “An Imitation of Christ” by Thomas Kempis.
It is available for free on the internet. This 15th century devotional text is one of the best for guiding introspection, the process of looking within where you will find God.
2 Corinthians 5:17:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. . ”
“passed away” probably means “dead” (not knowing Greek or taking the time to look it up). Of course not physically dead in this case - but... Transcendence.
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