What Does It Mean to be Saved: It Means to be Born Again

John 3:3-8 "Jesus answered and said unto him, 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."

Ephesians 2:1-5 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (By grace ye are saved.)"
 
How do you describe a saved person? What is a true Christian, what is the distinctive characteristic of a Christian?  Is it someone who is nice? there are lots of nice people in this world and they are not Christians, so this is not the distinctive characteristic.  Is it love? Other people love who are not Christians.  Love is the outflow of the Christian life and it is a great witness, but love nor niceness nor even religious duty, nor faithfulness in attendance at church are the distinguishing mark of a Christian.  Because Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists can do all these things. What about a Christian sets them apart? It is doctrine, it is what a Christian believes, in this generation when no one wants to define a Christian, the distinguishing mark is the gospel which they believe.  Doctrine, theology, what they believe is distinct from any other religion.  A Christian is defined by and identified by what they believe and that is unique and unparalleled in any other religion.  If you don't believe certain things you are not a Christian, simple as that.  If you don't believe the gospel, you are not a Christian under any meaning of the word.  There is no such thing as a nominal Christian.   The Word of God defines what a Christian is.



The Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 being evangelized by Philip, wants to be baptised, and Philip told him "if thou believest with all thine heart" (belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ) and believing, he was baptized.

What is the gospel? what does it mean to be saved? It means to born again.
What does it mean to be born again?  You must be made spiritually alive by God.  Humans are dead in sin, spiritually dead inside, dead to God, no spiritual life.  Humans are in bondage to sin, dead in trespasses and sins.  We are all born into this world as sinners and that is why we must be born again.  Jesus says to Nicodemus John 3:6 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."  Because we are sinners by nature, to be saved we need a change, a transformation that is so dramatic that the Lord Jesus calls it a new birth.  We must be given new life inside.  1 Peter 1:3-4 "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, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven foryou."  At the new birth we get a second nature, God lives inside us, we partake of the divine nature.  To be born again means a new creation.  It's a dramatic inward change.

How are we born again?  John 3:5-6 Jsus 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."  Christians are born of the Spirit.  John 1:12-13 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." God, the Holy Spirit causes the new birth, we are born of God, Sovereinly.  It is God's will, by his Spirit. We are born by the Word of God.  1 Peter 1:23 "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."   James 1:18 "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." We were brought into existance, begotten by God by the word of truth, by the word of God.  If you put yourself under the word of God, that word of God is the means of being born again.  The Holy Spirit causes the new birth by using scripture.. reading, or listening, bringing into memory the Word of God.  All these things are ways the Spirit uses the word to cause people to come to new birth.  That is why Satan is happy when the word of God is removed from schools and other places.  Many so-called churches are helping him.

Why do we need to be born again?  it is reason enough to say we need to be born again because Jesus uses the word "must"  if Jesus says you "must" be it is not an option.  If you are not born again,you will never see God's kingdom.  "except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God".   Without the new birth you cannot enter heaven..  to be born again is a distinguishing mark of a Christian, it is a "must".  If you are not born again, you are not a Christian.  The word Christian means born again so it is not necessaray to say "I am a born again Christian" because all Christians are born again. 
What does it mean to be born again?  What is that? It means to be made spiritually alive, to get new life inside you, to be changed, to get a new heart.  Born again of the spirit of God, under God's sovereign control, by the word of God.  Because Jesus said you "must" be.  The first part of the gospel is a complete change inside you.  You go from being dead to God and alive to the world  to being alive to God and dead to the world.   Old things are passed away, all things are become new.  

Are you a Christian?  are you born again?  are you different?  do you have this new life?  What defines a Christian is not niceness ,nor love, nor faithfulness to duty, but its the gospel doctrine that distinguishes a Christian from everybody else.  Jesus says you must be, and I pray you will be.

These notes were made by myself from the sermon by Rev Paul Dowling of Whiteabbey Congregational (Reformed) at Sermon Audio, link below:
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=419091517574