Ping!
Great topic! My grandmother (Catholic) and I (Baptist) were just talking about this today.
We agreed that it’s not religion that gets you to heaven, it’s your faith.
The first “saved” person was a thief who never attended church.
“And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
Shouldn’t the question be, “Are non-Catholics born again?”
As a Catholic I recognize that my parents brought me to be "born" into Christ the day I was baptized - I don't need to do it "again".
I may be incorrect but the "born again" Christians that I know tend to think they've transcended their previous beliefs and go on to feel (and act) a bit superior to the rest of the Christian world. It's as though they have, by being "born again", received some special blessing.
Simple Answer!
YES
More than once, I have been asked by well-meaning Baptists or Evangelicals if, even though a Catholic, I had been born again or had considered becoming a Christian. On such occasions I must usually pause as I choke down a laugh and contrive a polite reply.
Yes, and yes!!! This has been my walk with Christ. Although the initial experience was distinct, I was born again at that moment of asking Jesus into my life. My walk with Christ has been much like my physical growth. I went through baby, to toddler stage, adolescent stage, the teen stage and ended up being stuck there for awhile. You know how teens are? They think they know everything. Until about 8 years ago, I experienced a physical healing from liver cancer, which lead to a rapid spiritual maturity over a period of 5 or so months. It was more profound then my physical healing was. I understand something that's so simple, yet took me over 25 years to finally get. God is good ALL the time!!! He loves us more than we can ever comprehend.
It is certainly possible, but all the Catholics I know have not been born again, with the exception of one. She is where I was ten years ago, trying to fit her life-changing experience into a Catholic straitjacket. She has yet to find a milieu that will support and nourish her conversion. I have brought her to my church, but even the powerful rush of the spirit in that place could not persuade her to open her eyes the rest of the way and provide her with a home with her fellow saved. We can’t do it. God alone can do it. In his good time He will, I pray.
The answer is all who repent of ther sins, believe Jesus died on the cross for their sins, and ask Jesus to be their Savior are born again!!! Easy, and it doesn’t matter if you are Catholic or not.
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Peter was ‘born again’, with or without being the ‘first pope’ - and btw, the rock on which the church is built is Jesus Christ Himself.
‘Born again’ simply means having personally accepted the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross, His death and ressurection. That is what ‘believeth in Him’ means in John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son: that whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting.”
The only problem with Christianity is sects/churches/cults. Why should any non-Christian consider converting to Christianity when Christians can’t agree on much? Why do we need Baptists, Lutherans, Catholics, Methodists, and on and on? There should only be one Christian entity.
What percentage of Christian churches are fronts for moneygrubbing frauds? How does one tell the real from the frauds?
I’ve been born again. I don’t need a church to control my life, which seems to be the main goal as opposed to “saving” me. Christ lives in me every day, I don’t need a church to tell me how to live.
Ahh Jeeze, This sh*t again?
Every human is born of water..the natural birth process (when your water breaks, the babies are ready to be born.) When we receive Christ, we are born again in the spirit. That’s it...
e 1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
3 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.
4 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? 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.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 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.
9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
1 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
There was no sacrament of Christian baptism when Christ had the conversation ...but Nicodemus understood that to be "born of the water," spoke of human birth ...
1 Peter 1:23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.
Peter understood the words of Christ
John 6:63 It is the spirit that vivifies; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life.
I am Catholic and I can humbly state and testify: that I have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Personal Saviour and when my time comes, all that I ask of him is to forgive me and walk me to heaven.
The only difficulty I have is with your statement regarding infants and young children. Having been a Sunday school teacher, I can tell you, at a certain age, most children can CHOOSE to follow Jesus.
However, there is NO SCRIPTURE to support the theory that child “baptism” means - the child is born again. Baptism is an outword symbol of an inward change in the heart. Once a person chooses to follow Jesus, Baptism is just a way to outwardly show the commitment to your decision.
To be born again, it takes a CHOICE OF YOUR FREE WILL. While God gave to man the ability to choose, that “choice making” can only be done when you understand right and wrong. A baby cannot do that.
As for whether or not Catholics can be born again .. I don’t see why people are even questioning that. The point I’m making is that God does not see whether you’re Catholic or Methodist or Baptist or otherwise; God see you as HIS (through Jesus), or not HIS (because you have not chosen to follow Jesus).
Being born again has nothing whatsoever to do with what denomination you belong to, or what church you attend. Being born again is accomplished by CHOOSING Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Romans 10:9-10 gives us the model to follow:
“9) ... If you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him [Jesus] from the dead, you will be saved.
10) For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [this] salvation. Amp.
If you continue reading verses 11-17, you come to this scripture:
17) So faith comes by hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by preaching [of the message that came from the lips] of Christ (the Messiah Himself).
A lot of Bible translations say, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God”. But if you move the comma from the first “hearing” to the second “hearing” - you wind up with the true statement: “Faith comes by hearing and hearing, by the Word of God”. Meaning that just hearing a scripture once is not enough. To keep your faith in Jesus alive, you need to be hearing and hearing the Word of God.
If people are confused about this, it usually means that it’s not being taught at the church where they attend. That’s very sad.
Remember this important thing: The most important gift God gave to man (humans) was the ability to CHOOSE. It’s one of the most important gifts, because it allows you to choose to follow Jesus and to serve God.
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And for years, I could not begin to understand what people were asking when this question was asked.
The day I discovered that somebody ( and I sure would like to know who it was) changed the WORDs ‘born from above’ to again it was total relief that I could finally answer this question that has no basis from what Christ was actually teaching Nicodemus.
The subject is ‘who’ can ‘see’ the kingdom of God and what is required. And Christ exhorted Nicodemus in verse 10 Jesus answered and said unto him, “Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
So the instruction was NOT new, Genesis in describing the formation of the Adam, says the flesh was not living until the breath of life, which means soul was breathed into the Adam's nostrils. And Moses does not pen one word regarding the creation of the souls/spirits but they certainly did exist.
Then the book of Ecclesiastes describes the flesh and the soul/spirit bodies. In Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. So there was cause for Christ to expect a master of Israel to know the answer to this subject.
Now if all souls already belong to the Heavenly Father long before they were placed into the flesh at conception, when were the souls/spirits created.... They had to be in existence when this was penned.
Paul says for further clarification in Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
This is not talking about baptism, this is describing the children partaking of flesh and blood which begins at conception as Luke describes to us in Luke 1:41-45.
The answer to the question by Nicodemus is given in John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He That came down from heaven, even the Son of man Which is in heaven.
The soul/spirit existed before this ‘flesh’ age, and only those souls/spirits that choose to be born in the ‘water’ at the time of conception will have opportunity to see the kingdom of God.
Peter says there are three different heaven/earth ages IIPeter 3 and all Peter was doing was expounding on the instruction Christ put forth in His discussion with Nicodemus.
AND yes ‘Catholics’ are born from above, every one, good, bad, and middle of the road that gets planted at conception are born from above.