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NASB | 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]. |
Bible Question: what it is to be born again? |
Bible Answer: Dear Lirika, Please read John 3:1-21. To be born again means to be born from above. It is an act of God in which eternal life is given to the person who believes. See also: 2 Corinthians 5:17; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:3; 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1-4, 18. When you are saved or born again, you are spiritually renewed and are a child of God. "What it is that is required: to be born again; that is, First, We must live a new life. Birth is the beginning of life; to be born again is to begin anew, as those that have hitherto lived either much amiss or to little purpose. We must not think to patch up the old building, but begin from the foundation. Secondly, We must have a new nature, new principles, new affections, new aims. We must be born ano¯then, which signifies both denuo - again, and desuper - from above. 1. We must be born anew; so the word is taken, Gal_4:9, and ab initio - from the beginning, Luk_1:3. By our first birth we are corrupt, shapen in sin and iniquity; we must therefore undergo a second birth; our souls must be fashioned and enlivened anew. 2. We must be born from above, so the word is used by the evangelist, Joh_3:31; Joh_19:11, and I take this to be especially intended here, not excluding the other; for to be born from above supposes being born again. But this new birth has its rise from heaven (Joh_1:13) and its tendency to heaven: it is to be born to a divine and heavenly life, a life of communion with God and the upper world, and, in order to this, it is to partake of a divine nature and bear the image of the heavenly."-- Matthew Henry "The author of this blessed change, and who it is that works it. To be born again is to be born of the Spirit, Joh_3:5-8. The change is not wrought by any wisdom or power of our own, but by the power and influence of the blessed Spirit of grace. It is the sanctification of the Spirit (1Pe_1:2) and renewing of the Holy Ghost, Tit_3:5. The word he works by is his inspiration, and the heart to be wrought on he has access to. The nature of this change, and what that is which is wrought; it is spirit, Joh_3:6. Those that are regenerated are made spiritual, and refined from the dross and dregs of sensuality. The dictates and interests of the rational and immortal soul have retrieved the dominion they ought to have over the flesh. The Pharisees placed their religion in external purity and external performances; and it would be a mighty change indeed with them, no less than a new birth, to become spiritual."-- Matthew Henry WOS |