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How do I explain to Catholics, and others, what being

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Abimelech said:
:(

I'm new here. I am Catholic, and thought I'd be welcomed here. Turns out you all don't even consider me a Christian.
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Ambimelech,

Don't sweat it. It doesn't matter whether they think we are or aren't Christian. In the end it is God who is the judge. We in fact are the fullness of Christianity. Be bold and confident in that. Yet humble enough to know that Christ has given us the fullness of the truth and those who are here that can't see it cannot be judged as to why they can't. You have friends out here and many on this board, such as lovely, are quite reasonable though they don't agree with us. Peace my brother.
 
thessalonian said:
We in fact are the fullness of Christianity. Be bold and confident in that.
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You just keep on kidding yourself Thess, because only if you are born again, and only then can you call yourself a true Christian!
 
thessalonian said:
Ambimelech,

Don't sweat it. It doesn't matter whether they think we are or aren't Christian. In the end it is God who is the judge. We in fact are the fullness of Christianity. Be bold and confident in that. Yet humble enough to know that Christ has given us the fullness of the truth and those who are here that can't see it cannot be judged as to why they can't. You have friends out here and many on this board, such as lovely, are quite reasonable though they don't agree with us. Peace my brother.
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Thank you Thessalonian.

I was just a little suprised upon first signing on here to see negative comments. I believe myself to be a Christian because I believe that God sent his only son, Jesus, to die for my sins...for all of our sins. For me, the traditions and practices of Catholicism are beautiful ways for me to express my love of God and Jesus. That some would construe what I consider to be celebrations of my love for God as somehow anti-Christian is hurtful.
 
sisterchristian said:
You just keep on kidding yourself Thess, because only if you are born again, and only then can you call yourself a true Christian!
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All true Christians are born again. No one denomination has an exclusive claim on being "born again."
 
Abimelech said:
All true Christians are born again. No one denomination has an exclusive claim on being "born again."
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It's not about a denomination, it's about Being Born Again! Are you born again?
 
sisterchristian said:
It's not about a denomination, it's about Being Born Again! Are you born again?
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I am Christian. Therefore I am born again.
 
It's not about a denomination, it's about Being Born Again! Are you born again?
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sisterchristian,

I'm not sure who you imagine yourself to be fooling. But I do imagine that you are deceived by your own selected "spirit speak". The reality of salvation and our actual identity in Christ is indeed that- a concrete reality, not some pocket book concept. Salvation isn't a matter of lingusitics. It doesn't lie in your choice words.

This is why I am continualy perplexed by this warped emphasis on being born again. In fact, from all points of observation, it isn't actually the emotional, spiritual, pyschological state of being "born again" that is being obsessed over, rather it is simply the usage of that label. Being born again, as far as I can see, means little more than chanting one's rebirth like a salvific mantra. All the "re-birth" that it seems to entail is an instant subscription to a series of theological concepts and right-wing, American ideology.

My understanding of being born again is not of some one time adolescent, emotional euphoria. It isn't kneeling in my bedroom or standing in a singing congregation, it isn't raising my hand and saying that I've given my heart to Jesus. It isn't a teary confession. It isn't even the acknowledgment that God is real or that Christ died for us.

Rather, being born again means exactly what the concept implies. It is an actual passing away, a death. Now think of that word, death. Death is not easy, death does not feel good. It is painful, it is a turmoil. As Christians we are called to suffer inwardly, to struggle with ourselves and be "crucified with Christ". Jesus died for us so that we might die with him. Without this pain, without the inward, existensial experience of the Crucifixion we will never share in the Resurrection.

It isn't simply believing in God through Christ, it is the implications of that belief as they are lived out in faith. It is a purging, a breaking, a ruin of everything that we thought we were...it is a continual ruin of everything we cling to now.

Being born again is not a single and once and for all event. Remnants and reminders of our old sinful self seep in every day. Are we not to die to them every day in Christ? Is not rebirth a daily, even hourly, call of faith?

I would be very wary about cheapening our second birth by sitting at your doctrinal "wicket" and turning it into the admission ticket of Christian identity. It is a much more lucid and meaningful process than that.
 
Being born again..... The Greek word translated "regeneration" is used only once in the bible as it relates to the ministry of the Holy Spirit: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5). Jesus told nicodemus, "unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Regeneration is that work of the Spirit of God whereby men are given God's life and nature and made a part of the family of God. Occuring during the moment of conversion, IT LASTS A LIFETIME, AND ETERNITY TO FOLLOW . Jesus said, "He who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgement, but has passed from death into life" (John 5:24). This passing "from death into life" is perhaps the chief feature of regeneration. God creates a new nature in him and makes him his child. So therefore I do know what consists of being "Born again" :wink:[/b]
 
Believe it or not, I actually like the RC interpretation, which is... "born from above". 8-)
 
vic C. said:
Believe it or not, I actually like the RC interpretation, which is... "born from above". 8-)
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Actually the ''Greek'' is ''born from above''... 8-)
 
jgredline said:
Actually the ''Greek'' is ''born from above''... 8-)
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Yes, I knew that, but I will go you one further... the closest expression we have that express the Greek would be, "from the top". ;-)

I don't even use the phrase Born again anymore. It is too all-encompassing these days. I simply tell people I'm saved. :angel:
 
vic C. said:
Yes, I knew that, but I will go you one further... the closest expression we have that express the Greek would be, "from the top". ;-)

I don't even use the phrase Born again anymore. It is too all-encompassing these days. I simply tell people I'm saved. :angel:
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One of the first books I ever read was ''born again''...
 
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