I suppose I am pretty sceptical about 'born agains' as opposed to other Christians, because I have not had the best of experiences with many of them. A person I know well was a nice enough guy before he got 'born again', now he is judgemental and unpleasant. There is not much point in a faith which doesn't make you nice to know, imo.
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Does Being Born Again Make You A Better Person?
- Thread starter w00t
- Start date
I like the way the title of the thread is a question to which your post itself - from what you say - is from your observation of one person; don't you think you need to look into the matter a bit more, before coming to a conclusion?
PureX
Veteran Member
I would think that is most cases, being "born again" would result in a person behaving better toward others.
I feel as though I'm "born again", though for me it was not a religious experience. And the result is that I am now sober, when I used to be a hopeless drunk. And I no longer smoke cigarettes or take drugs recreationally when I used to do both. I rarely gamble and I work at trying to keep a happy and healthy attitude toward life. I now enjoy being around other people when I used to not like that at all. I now am willing to take responsibility for my ideas and behaviors when I used to constantly blame everything on everyone else. I used to wallow in self-pity and negativity and generally was not much fun to be around. Now I find that I have a much more easy-going demeanor and I enjoy exchanging pleasantries with people that I would have rudely ignored in the past.
I think I'm a lot better man than I used to be.
But then the change for me was not religion-based. It was spiritual, it was practical, and it was desperately necessary.
I feel as though I'm "born again", though for me it was not a religious experience. And the result is that I am now sober, when I used to be a hopeless drunk. And I no longer smoke cigarettes or take drugs recreationally when I used to do both. I rarely gamble and I work at trying to keep a happy and healthy attitude toward life. I now enjoy being around other people when I used to not like that at all. I now am willing to take responsibility for my ideas and behaviors when I used to constantly blame everything on everyone else. I used to wallow in self-pity and negativity and generally was not much fun to be around. Now I find that I have a much more easy-going demeanor and I enjoy exchanging pleasantries with people that I would have rudely ignored in the past.
I think I'm a lot better man than I used to be.
But then the change for me was not religion-based. It was spiritual, it was practical, and it was desperately necessary.
Muffled
Jesus in me
I know that it has made me a better person. However you are quite correct about becoming more judgemental of sin. Having been born again, I can no longer accomodate myself to sin. I can forgive the sinful and do all the time.
For me the biggest change is a love for others that was not there before. Before being born again everything was about me and what I wanted. Now I am more apt to think of others first and more apt to make personal sacrifices on behalf of others.
Unfortunately being born again hasn't made me perfect but I am still making progress.
For me the biggest change is a love for others that was not there before. Before being born again everything was about me and what I wanted. Now I am more apt to think of others first and more apt to make personal sacrifices on behalf of others.
Unfortunately being born again hasn't made me perfect but I am still making progress.
If it was only one person then it would be foolish to jump to that conclusion. From birth I have been surrounded by 'born agains', so I have not come to that conclusion lightly!
joeboonda
Well-Known Member
I am just a beggar telling other beggars where to find bread. I am a sinner saved by grace, forgiven but not perfect. The thing about being born-again is that the Bible says, Jesus says that the one thing we all MUST do is be born again. This is because we ALL have sinned and fall short of God's holiness. One may say, I am so much more moral and good, and caring and concerned with the state of things, the suffering and hunger, etc. than that fellow who got saved. And so it well may be in many cases, but we ALL have sinned. We ALL need forgiveness. We all need our sins to be paid for by the Saviour, and we all need his righeousness given to us in place of our own which are as filthy rags to a holy God as far as salvation is concerned. I suppose a heroin junkie who was living in the gutter doing anything and everything to get a fix who then got saved would look much worse than a college professor with nice clothes and house and manners and lots of degrees. When a person gets saved, they come just as they are, sinners in need of a Saviour. The only difference is they realize they are sinners who need a Saviour. Once they accept the free gift of salvation, they are still sinners, but sinners saved by grace. It is only as the Holy Spirit works in them, and they yield themselves to him, that they begin to grow in grace. The Bible is full of carnal Christians, who being saved a while were still babes in Christ, drinking milk instead of strong meat, and lacking any good spiritual fruit and abounding in all kinds of worldiness and sin. Saved but not growing like they should. But to one who yields to the Spirit, stays in the Word, prays and fellowships and serves with other believers, God begins to transform their life, and we see that in some folks around us. Being born again does one big thing, it saves us from Hell because we accepted Jesus death as payment for our sin and his righteousness in place of our own worthless works. The Bible promises us we are a new creature, we are saved to the uttermost, adopted into God's family and free from the power of sin. Many people don't know or don't believe enough in what God promises we are. But to those who trust him and obey him, results WILL follow.
Isabella Lecour
amor aeternus est
What do you mean by "born again?" Is it anything like being baptised? I've always thought of them being the same thing just different words. I don't think it makes a person better but I do know that it can change a person. Often the results are unexpected.
My baptisism resulted in me leaving Christianity compleatly. lol Now I'm Pagan.
My baptisism resulted in me leaving Christianity compleatly. lol Now I'm Pagan.
I haven't noticed that being "born again" makes people better, but I have noticed that mystical experiences sometimes make people better. So, I would first assume that some people who consider themselves "born again" do so because they've had a mystical experience, secondly that some of those people are better for it.
Reverend Chris
Member
Most Christians do not believe in reincarnation although it is gaining popularity.
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.Roman 10:9 KJV
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. John 3:5 KJV
Most Christians follow these verses. Born again and saved is basically the same with some arguments with John 3:5 as to what are required to be saved or born again.
blackout
Violet.
On the first day of my supernatural lifting...
God "Himself" called me deep unto deep....
and I dove head first, for the first time in years,
to the bottom of our swimming pool,
and swam the bottom all the way across.
It was truly a leap of faith...
because I hadn't taken a dive in so many years...
and the water (that is another story altogether)
itself was "lifted" that year.
Total imursion in the depths of God's Spirit was embodied in me that day.
The world has been NEW and supernatural ever since.
My NEW reality,
Is INCOMPARABLY better than my old one was.
Am I a better person?
Well I can say that I'm happier,
and REALER, and more wide awake.
I am in no way a victim of life anymore.
God "Himself" called me deep unto deep....
and I dove head first, for the first time in years,
to the bottom of our swimming pool,
and swam the bottom all the way across.
It was truly a leap of faith...
because I hadn't taken a dive in so many years...
and the water (that is another story altogether)
itself was "lifted" that year.
Total imursion in the depths of God's Spirit was embodied in me that day.
The world has been NEW and supernatural ever since.
My NEW reality,
Is INCOMPARABLY better than my old one was.
Am I a better person?
Well I can say that I'm happier,
and REALER, and more wide awake.
I am in no way a victim of life anymore.
blackout
Violet.
Upon further contemplation I would say...
that I entered deep deep deep into the eternal NOW that day,
and EVERY moment spent deep in the eternal now,
is a rebirth, an ever unfolding newness,
and so, as long as I remain deep in the NOw....
I am being reborn yet, again, and again , and again...
so after that first immursion....
THE NEWNESS LASTS FOREVER!
YAY!
that I entered deep deep deep into the eternal NOW that day,
and EVERY moment spent deep in the eternal now,
is a rebirth, an ever unfolding newness,
and so, as long as I remain deep in the NOw....
I am being reborn yet, again, and again , and again...
so after that first immursion....
THE NEWNESS LASTS FOREVER!
YAY!
lilithu
The Devil's Advocate
I appreciate that these many threads you've created that are critical of Christianity are issues that you need to talk about, but perhaps you can space them out? Seeing so many of them in a short space of time, feels from my perspective like a barrage of negativity. The effect is just as unpleasant as the people that you are talking about. And I am not even Christian, tho it is one of several faiths from which I take guidance.
I've met born agains who are unpleasant. And I've met born agains who are pleasant. It's probably the case that I've met more of the former. But I've also come to realize that some of what I found unpleasant had nothing to do with their being judgmental or proselytizing and more to do with me interpreting their actions as such based on my preconceived ideas about them. Like all religious labels, it is difficult to generalize because different people mean different things by these labels.
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
Not necessarily.
lilithu
The Devil's Advocate
lol, that's a sweet response.Whoops!!!!
It would help, if you are willing and perhaps in another thread, for you to discuss both what you like and what you dislike about Christianity. You describe yourself as Christian agnostic and you are clearly proud of your daughter, so there must be aspects of Christianity that you like. Conversely I would readily agree that there is much in Christianity to question and even criticize.
btw, my senior minister preached a sermon on being born again at our General Assembly. It's his position and I completely agree that we are born again multiple times in our lives, with each new turning point, with each new epiphany, with each new "conversion." We are not the same persons as we were when we we born...and hopefully will not be the same people when we die.
lol, that's a sweet response.
It would help, if you are willing and perhaps in another thread, for you to discuss both what you like and what you dislike about Christianity. You describe yourself as Christian agnostic and you are clearly proud of your daughter, so there must be aspects of Christianity that you like. Conversely I would readily agree that there is much in Christianity to question and even criticize.
btw, my senior minister preached a sermon on being born again at our General Assembly. It's his position and I completely agree that we are born again multiple times in our lives, with each new turning point, with each new epiphany, with each new "conversion." We are not the same persons as we were when we we born...and hopefully will not be the same people when we die.
We are proud of our daughter not because she is an Anglican Priest, but because she is doing a good job and is well respected for the things she does in the community. She is a good girl.
I don't know about the idea of being 'born again' each time we have a new direction in our lives. I don't think we shed our experiences, we use them to build on as we move forward, imo.
