Ye Must Be Born Again

04/21/2025

I asked AI to use the Bible and only the Bible to explain how to be born again, the reponse does not surprise me at all.

Here is the response AI gave:

The concept of being "born again" is central to Christian doctrine, and the Bible provides clear instructions on how one is born again. Let’s examine what the Bible says about being born again using scripture as the sole reference.

1. Born Again by the Spirit
In John 3:3-7, Jesus speaks to Nicodemus about the necessity of being born again:

"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." (John 3:3-7 KJV)

Here, Jesus explains that a person must be born of the water and of the Spirit in order to enter the Kingdom of God. Being born again is not a physical rebirth, but a spiritual transformation that involves both a spiritual renewal (born of the Spirit) and a baptismal act (born of water).

2. The Role of Water Baptism
Acts 2:38 is a key passage where the Apostle Peter, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, explains how one is born again:

“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38 KJV)

Peter explicitly connects repentance, water baptism (in the name of Jesus Christ), and receiving the Holy Ghost as the means to be born again. Water baptism is described here as essential for the forgiveness of sins and part of the process of being born again.

3. The Need for Repentance
Repentance is the first step in being born again. Acts 3:19 says:

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19 KJV)

Repentance involves turning away from sin and turning toward God. It is a change of heart and mind that leads to a transformation in the believer’s life. This is a necessary part of the rebirth process, as repentance prepares the individual to be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit.

4. The Role of the Holy Ghost
As seen in John 3:5, being born again also requires receiving the Holy Ghost (Spirit):

“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5 KJV)

Acts 2:38 also connects receiving the Holy Ghost with the process of being born again. The Holy Ghost empowers the believer to live a life of holiness and enables them to grow in their relationship with God. It is through the Holy Ghost that believers are sealed as children of God.

Romans 8:9 further reinforces this concept:

“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” (Romans 8:9 KJV)

To be born again, the Spirit of God must dwell within a person, signifying that they belong to Christ and have been transformed by Him.

5. Being Born Again Through Faith and Obedience
Romans 10:9-10 outlines the necessity of faith and confession in the process of salvation, which includes being born again:

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10 KJV)

While water baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost are essential elements of being born again, the process also includes faith in Jesus Christ and a confession of Him as Lord and Savior.

Summary: How One Is Born Again (According to the Bible)

Repentance: One must repent of their sins—turning away from sin and toward God. (Acts 3:19)

Water Baptism: One must be baptized in water, specifically in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins. (Acts 2:38, John 3:5)

Receiving the Holy Ghost: One must receive the Holy Ghost (the Spirit of God) as an essential part of being born again. (John 3:5, Acts 2:38, Romans 8:9)

Faith and Confession: One must confess Jesus Christ as Lord and believe in His resurrection for salvation. (Romans 10:9-10)

Together, these steps form the biblical process of being "born again" according to Scripture.

Each element—repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and faith in Jesus Christ—works in harmony to bring about the spiritual rebirth that Jesus spoke of.

This new birth is essential for entry into the Kingdom of God and living a victorious Christian life.

04/10/2025

Celebrating my 8th year on Facebook. Thank you for your continuing support. I could never have made it without you. 🙏🤗🎉

10/31/2024

“And they continued”Acts 2:37-42Rev. Kelly Crider from Valdez, AK ministering the word at Life Temple UPC in Hobbs, NM. Wednesday , October 30, 2024.

10/29/2024

06/05/2024

The scripture speaks…

When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
Proverbs 11:2

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
-Proverbs 8:13

Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
-Romans 12:16

A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
-Proverbs 29:23

But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.
-2 Corinthians 10:17-18

Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.
-Proverbs 18:12

And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
-Mark 7:20-23

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
-1 John 2:16

And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.
-1 Corinthians 1:28-29

Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
-James 1:9-10

Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.
-1 Timothy 6:17

Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
-Daniel 4:37

05/30/2024

Think on this!

This is how important the baptism of the Holy Ghost is!

Romans 8:9-11
King James Version
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

05/20/2024

Interpreting Matthew 28:19 in harmony with Acts 2:38.

Matthew calls for a name to be applied to baptism.

Acts identifies this name as Jesus.

The name Jesus literally means, Jehovah the Savior.

When one is baptized in water it should be in obedience to scripture. The disciples obeyed this command given in Matthew to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Father, Son & Holy Ghost are not names. These are titles of the name. The name used in all New Testament baptisms was always Jesus.

Read the following for further consideration:

Why My English Teacher Wanted To Be Baptized In Jesus Name!

Ms. DeGroote, as she wished to be called, was from France and she taught my senior year English class at South Bend Central High. She was 63 and referred to herself as a spinster. We had more creative names for her. Most of the students dreaded her classes. We were taught diction and enunciation with a heavy French accent. It seemed to make learning to speak proper English an impossibility with her as the instructor. By much effort I received the only A in her class both semesters.

My class was filled with Catholic students. South Bend, Indiana still is a predominately Catholic town. Its claim to fame is the University of Notre Dame. I was the only non-Catholic in the class.
Ms. DeGroote was a stern woman who tolerated no-nonsense in any of her classes. I was highly confined in her restrictive and controlled environment.

During the course, we had many weeks of conjugation and diagramming sentences. Somehow the nerd in me found those subjects easy and interesting. No, that is not normal, but it happened nevertheless. (I knew I was a nerd and not a geek, because geeks make more money than nerds.)

One day Ms. DeGroote said, “Now students, tomorrow I want you to bring to class a sentence or sentences that you have diagrammed. You may go to the board and diagram your sentence, and I will correct your paper. Or, I will go to the board and diagram your sentence while you correct the paper.

For the life of me, I could not think of a sentence to diagram. Especially since the whole class would see. Then it dawned on me. What better sentence in the world to diagram! I went home, picked up my Bible, and copied Matthew 28:19 down. I proceeded to diagram the verse. This just had to be right.

The next day couldn’t come soon enough. I was ready for class. When 3rd period English finally arrived I knew I would be the second one called on. Everything in the class was by alphabet. Even our seating was arranged that way. I set behind Adams. We were all called by our last names.

When Adams was called on, he went to the chalkboard and almost got his correct. Ms. DeGroote had sat at his empty desk and corrected his paper while he was at the board. When he finished, I heard “Ballestero!”

“I would like you to go to the board and diagram my sentence, and I will correct my own paper,” I said to Ms. DeGroote.

She said, “Read me your sentence.”

“It’s a Bible verse, if that’s OK,” I ventured.

She nodded and I read my Scripture.

Matthew 28:19 (KJV) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

“Go ye therefore (comma)” I said.

Ms. DeGroote prefaced her work with a (you) in front of the word “Go”.

When I read the verse aloud, I paused on the word “name,” while I waited for her to catch up.

“Of the Father,” I said.

“Now, here we have a prepositional phrase modifying the word name. At this point we do not know yet what the name of the person is, but we do know by this prepositional phrase, that whoever this person is, they are a Father,” she said.

She then drew the appropriate lines on her diagram.

“Of the Son,” I continued.

“Now we know, that this person is both a Father and a Son, but we still don’t have a name.”

“Ms. DeGroote,” a girl named Williams called out with her hand in the air. “Aren’t Father and Son names?”

“They’re just descriptive titles. They tell us something about the name, but they don’t tell us His name, they are only titles.” was her answer.

She again drew the second prepositional phrase on the board.

“Of the Holy Ghost.” I continued.
After the 3rd prepositional phrase was in place, my teacher looked carefully at the diagram on the board from end to end. She shook her head. “All we know here is that whoever this person is, they are a Father, a Son, and they are the Holy Ghost! But we still don’t know what the name is.”

“Martyn,” she said looking at me carefully, “What is the name?”

I had been waiting for this moment. I stood, and gently said, “Jesus is the name!”

Ms DeGroote looked at her writing on the board. Then she turned back to me with her arms wide in surrender. With a heavy French accent, my Catholic English teacher said, “I guess I need to be baptized in Jesus name!”

“Yes!” I said as I pulled my upraised clinched fist down from my chin area. The other 30 students in the class clapped. I did a modest jig in the class aisle myself.

Rev Martyn Ballestero

04/23/2024

Praying for you Brother Rodney Warren!

04/10/2024

Ezekiel 47:1-12Psalm 46:1-5Message peached at Life Temple United Pentecostal Church in Hobbs, NM on June, 29, 2022Rev. Kelly Crider

04/10/2024