“So.... you think being born again is mental activity?..
Thats a very religious way of looking at things.. feel free..
I don’t have religious bone in my body.. vexes many..”
Spirited: We are souls. We have bodies. If we were but preprogrammed fleshy machines your cynical retort might make a very peculiar sort of sense, as it is it does not.
Every choice you make between one thing and another is an act of will, which is spiritual activity, for mind is the citadel of soul. Upon reading my response, you “thought it over” and then “willfully chose” to contrast your lack of religion with what you falsely believe is mine. In other words, mental activity and will preceded your “chosen” reaction.
Being born again is not some passive act done to us, for God Who gave us free will does not override our willful choices. To be born again is an offer of salvation. We can accept or not. Either way, mental activity and will precede our acceptance or rejection.
That’s what repentance is all about.
Spirited: Indeed, but if as hosepipe seems to believe (mental activity, btw), if being born again is a passive act done to us, then repentance is unnecessary as sin must also be something we passively participate in.
Salvation from what?.. An offer?.. Jesus said; "You MUST be born again"..
J;3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born [from above, spiritually] of water and of the Spirit, he cannot "enter into" the kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of God must NOT be of flesh.. therefore spirit is NOT flesh..
"flesh is flesh, and spirit is spirit".. Salvation "from flesh" follows..
We are virtual slaves to this flesh.. We feed it(with appropriate other activity's), water it, groom it, educate it, breed it, socialize it, entertain it, warm it, cool it, medicate it, work it, on and on.. probably a hundred other ways we are slaves to it.. We need to be saved "from it"..
Living for eternity as a human could be like a "lake of fire" metaphorically.. compared to other options.. One of which Jesus offers.. Mental activity originates in the brain.. does God have a brain?..
It appears to me that we humans are born and identify with the flesh.. thinking we "are" flesh.. only to find out later that (maybe) that flesh dies.. and long for another option instead of dying..
Jesus gives us one.. "being born again".. hoping for a new identity.. as a spirit.. Jesus tried (it appears) to "wean" the apostles from fleshly identity.. it worked somewhat.. but not completely.. same with the so-called "christians"..