Must You Be Born Again?

[Rocky Wiley]

Joh 3:5 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.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

If you haven't been born again, do it now!

How do we do that?
First, let us look at natural birth. The mother carries the baby until it has grown for several months in her womb and when the water breaks the baby comes out.

Born again has to be similar and baptism is just that!
1 One goes under the water and then comes out.
2 They are then like a new baby with no sins, for they have been washed away.
3 1Ti 5:24 Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.

 

[JohnDB]

Born from above...
The alternative reading makes a lot more sense if you include history and setting...and also include the prophecy concerning the event...the themes found in John's Gospel and just about every hermeneutic principle in existence besides the flat reading you are doing.

 

[justbyfaith]

The Bible is sufficient.

 

[JohnDB]

The Bible is sufficient.

Reading the Bible is impossible without extra biblical knowledge.

Who taught you the alphabet?
You didn't learn it by placing a Bible on your forehead.

So unless you are unwilling to at least admit that....

The question becomes one of how much extra biblical knowledge is necessary to understand the scriptures? Cherry picked knowledge then becomes the game of the day...and then we have what is known as "private interpretation".

So...
Now that your premise of interpretation has been thoroughly discredited...what excuse are you going to use now? More Holy Spirit in your little finger than anyone else?

 

[justbyfaith]

Reading the Bible is impossible without extra biblical knowledge.

Who taught you the alphabet?
You didn't learn it by placing a Bible on your forehead.

So unless you are unwilling to at least admit that....

The question becomes one of how much extra biblical knowledge is necessary to understand the scriptures? Cherry picked knowledge then becomes the game of the day...and then we have what is known as "private interpretation".

So...
Now that your premise of interpretation has been thoroughly discredited...what excuse are you going to use now? More Holy Spirit in your little finger than anyone else?

That is a ridiculous argument.

Extra-biblical knowledge is not needed to understand the Bible.

Of course knowing the alphabet is the exception to that rule; for no book can be understood unless you understand letters.

Saying we cannot understand the Bible without extra-biblical knowledge is like saying you can't understand a science book without the input of your college professor.

A science book is written to be understood without any backup from the professor.

Of course, if you want to insist on the opposite, I submit to you that our professor is the Holy Ghost (John 16:13).

 

[JohnDB]

That is a ridiculous argument.

Extra-biblical knowledge is not needed to understand the Bible.

Of course knowing the alphabet is the exception to that rule; for no book can be understood unless you understand letters.

What about farming ?
What about the life cycle of the seasons?
What about walking versus running?
What is blood?
What about the difference between the sexes?
Lots of extra biblical knowledge is necessary to put the writing into context.

 

[Pearl]

Joh 3:5 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.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

If you haven't been born again, do it now!

How do we do that?
First, let us look at natural birth. The mother carries the baby until it has grown for several months in her womb and when the water breaks the baby comes out.

Born again has to be similar and baptism is just that!
1 One goes under the water and then comes out.
2 They are then like a new baby with no sins, for they have been washed away.
3 1Ti 5:24 Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.

We do need to be born again but baptism isn't new birth it is a sign, something that we need to do after we have been born again.

 

[justbyfaith]

What about farming ?
What about the life cycle of the seasons?
What about walking versus running?
What is blood?
What about the difference between the sexes?
Lots of extra biblical knowledge is necessary to put the writing into context.

Please indicate an example of how the knowledge of any of these sciences, apart from what we can learn in the Bible itself, has any bearing on our understanding of the Bible when we read it, to the extent that we might read the Bible differently because of that extrabiblical knowledge.

 

[justbyfaith]

We do need to be born again but baptism isn't new birth it is a sign, something that we need to do after we have been born again.

Some get baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and they receive the Holy Ghost as a direct result of that (see Acts of the Apostles 2:38-39)

 

[JohnDB]

Please indicate an example of how the knowledge of any of these sciences, apart from what we can learn in the Bible itself, has any bearing on our understanding of the Bible when we read it, to the extent that we might read the Bible differently because of that extrabiblical knowledge.

Using only scriptures can you please explain what a seed is?

 

[JohnDB]

Seed of the woman?

Women don't produce seeds. (If you have knowledge of science) seed producers are only male.

 

[justbyfaith]

Using only scriptures can you please explain what a seed is?

I think I might be able to if I had a better command of the holy scriptures?

How does extrabiblical knowledge of what a seed is, affect your understanding of the Bible to the extent that your pov is changed through having that knowledge to something other than the understanding that you might take from the Bible if you don't have that knowledge?

I will admit that extrabiblical knowledge helps us to understand the Bible better; however, if something that is extrabiblical changes your understanding to something that is in all reality unbiblical, there is a problem.

I remember an instance in which someone taught extrabiblical knowledge about a scripture and it actually detracted from the application of that scripture; because the focus was on the extrabiblical knowledge and the application of the scripture was placed on the backburner; and the extrabiblical knowledge also completely nullified the application that the Holy Spirit wanted to minister.

 

[justbyfaith]

Seed of the woman?

Women don't produce seeds. (If you have knowledge of science) seed producers are only male.

I think that a dictionary may be the only extrabiblical text that anyone needs to rely on.

 

[marks]

Born again has to be similar and baptism is just that!
1 One goes under the water and then comes out.
2 They are then like a new baby with no sins, for they have been washed away.
3 1Ti 5:24 Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.

Being born physically is physical. Being born spiritually is spiritual.

You must be born of water AND the Spirit. Two births. The first is natural birth, the second is spiritual birth, and it doesn't happen in the terrestrial realm.

Much love!

 

[marks]

Reading the Bible is impossible without extra biblical knowledge.

Who taught you the alphabet?
You didn't learn it by placing a Bible on your forehead.

So unless you are unwilling to at least admit that....

The question becomes one of how much extra biblical knowledge is necessary to understand the scriptures? Cherry picked knowledge then becomes the game of the day...and then we have what is known as "private interpretation".

So...
Now that your premise of interpretation has been thoroughly discredited...what excuse are you going to use now? More Holy Spirit in your little finger than anyone else?

Why demeaning?

 

[marks]

I think that a dictionary may be the only extrabiblical text that anyone needs to rely on.

Especially if your dictionary is for Hebrew and Greek.

 

[amadeus]

What about farming ?
What about the life cycle of the seasons?
What about walking versus running?
What is blood?
What about the difference between the sexes?
Lots of extra biblical knowledge is necessary to put the writing into context.

If we are sincere, God will provide what is needed to get to where He wants us to go. His goal, His will, rather than ours.

 

[justbyfaith]

Being born physically is physical. Being born spiritually is spiritual.

You must be born of water AND the Spirit. Two births. The first is natural birth, the second is spiritual birth, and it doesn't happen in the terrestrial realm.

Much love!

Of course, if you gamble that in John 3:5, "water" is speaking of amniotic fluid, and end up being wrong, you lose everything.

If on the other hand, you believe that it is speaking of baptism, and obey the sacrament because of that belief, and it turns out to be true, you have gained everything; and if it turns out not to be true, you have lost nothing.

 

[justbyfaith]

Especially if your dictionary is for Hebrew and Greek.

It definitely helps to have that sort of dictionary.

However, the English is sufficient.

 

[marks]

I think I might be able to if I had a better command of the holy scriptures?

How does extrabiblical knowledge of what a seed is, affect your understanding of the Bible to the extent that your pov is changed through having that knowledge to something other than the understanding that you might take from the Bible if you don't have that knowledge?

I will admit that extrabiblical knowledge helps us to understand the Bible better; however, if something that is extrabiblical changes your understanding to something that is in all reality unbiblical, there is a problem.

I remember an instance in which someone taught extrabiblical knowledge about a scripture and it actually detracted from the application of that scripture; because the focus was on the extrabiblical knowledge and the application of the scripture was placed on the backburner; and the extrabiblical knowledge also completely nullified the application that the Holy Spirit wanted to minister.

@JohnDB

The parable of the sower tells you the activity of the seed. It goes into the ground, and a plant comes forth. The Creation tells us the origin of seeds, they are found in the fruit of the parent plant. The fall of man tells us that people also have "seed", and there are many other passages that tell us about that. Daniel 2 tells us that not all seed are compatible.

How much further should I go?

I agree with you, we should form our thoughts and conclusions from the Bible itself.

Much love!