"Born Again the Bible Way"

Loosely paraphrased and / or adapted from: Tim Staples, of "This Rock" magazine, September 2008 issue, who goes to the heart of this question:

"Have you been born again, my friend?"

"Have you been born again, my friend?

"Thousands of Catholics have been asked this question by well - meaning Fundamentalists or Evangelicals.

"Of course, by born again the Protestant actually means: Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior through the recitation of the sinner's prayer?

"How is a Catholic to respond?

"The simple response is:

Yes, I have been born again -- when I was baptized.

"In fact, Jesus' famous born discourse of John 3:3 - 5, which is where we find the words born again in Scripture, teaches us about the essential nature of baptism:

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

"When a Fundamentalist or Evangelical hears the Catholic position on the matter, the response is mostly predictable:

Baptism does not save you, brother; John 3:5 says we must be born of water and the Spirit.

"The Catholic will then be told the water of John 3:5 has nothing to do with baptism.

"Depending on the preference of the one to whom the Catholic is speaking, the water will either be interpreted as man's natural birth (the water being amniotic fluid), and the Spirit would then represent the new birth -- or the water would represent the word of God through which one is born again when he accepts Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior.


Amniotic Fluid vs. Baptismal Water...


"To claim that the water of John 3:5 is amniotic fluid is to stretch the context just a smidgen!

"When we consider the actual words and surrounding context of John 3, the waters of baptism seem to be a more reasonable interpretation of what it means to be born again."

O.K.! Why, then .....?! Because ...

"According to the Bible, baptism is not the mere removal of dirt from the body, but Christ's instrument in purging our conscience from sin.

"That is what being born again is all about!"


Right, on, Brother Tim !!