What is a born again believer?

What are born again believers?

John 3:4 "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?"

Born again is your second birth, the first being born of water, and the second being born of the Spirit.

John 3:5-6 "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."

To be born again, one must first be born of the flesh, and later born of the Spirit. To be born of the flesh is our physical birth. To be born of the Spirit is our spiritual birth.

1 John 3:9 "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."

The spiritual birth means a “new man” has been birthed in this earthen vessel of the body. This is the spirit man born of God, living in the body of a born again believer. The spirit man in a born again believer will attract hate:

John 15:19 "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."

A born again believer will be hated. Why? Because he is not of the world. How is he not of the world, when he is born in the world? The answer is found in 1 John 3:9 “born of God.” Just like the Son of man Jesus Christ, a born again believer is born of God. Therefore he is not of the world, but of God. Notice the words in 1 John 3:9 “for his seed remaineth in him?” Jesus tells us:

Luke 8:11 "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God."

The word of God is the seed that remains in a born again believer, the day he heard and believed in the gospel of Jesus Christ. A seed it is, it will take root in the good ground of an “honest and good heart” (Luke 8:15) of a born again believer, and becomes a tree of life that will bring forth much fruit. Jesus tells us:

Matthew 7:18-20 "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

If you are a born again believer, you will be known by your fruits. There is a “good tree” that God has planted in you that will bring forth good fruit. But then, there is also that mention of the “corrupt tree” in this passage of scripture.

Matthew 15:13 "But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up."

Those would be the trees that God the Father hath not planted. These are the trees that will bring forth corrupt fruit, and will be hewn down and cast into the fire. A tree it is, that means that it will bring forth fruit on its own. It has a life of its own, while it draws its nutrients and water from the heart wherein the seed was sown.

Mark 4:26-27 "And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how."

Notice how the seed of a good tree has a will of its own? Once the seed is sown in a good ground, it knows to spring up and grow, and bring forth fruits in its season. Likewise, the seed of the word of God, when sown in the good ground of an honest and good heart also has a will of its own. It knows to spring up and grow and bring forth fruits in its season, all the while, the born again believer knoweth not how.

Romans 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Paul tells us that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, and this is what a genuinely born again believer with the “love of the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:10) will always do. The heart of a born again believer is a good ground heart which needs to be fertilized and watered from time to time, and that is where the tree of life in a born again believer draws its nutrients and water from.

Proverbs 11:30 "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise."

All born again believers are saved by the grace of God through faith in the word of God. What is “faith?” Think about it as a replica of the word of God. The original seed is the word of God. Faith is the replica of the original seed faithfully duplicated from the tree of life in a born again believer, like how an apple seed will produce an apple tree which in turn will produce more apples and more apple seeds. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. Within the fruit are replicas of the word of God, and they are the genetic material for more trees of life.