Originally posted by jay29:
You are right! Born again means being baptized with water and the Holy Spirit! I am born again. I was baptized.
Being born again does NOT mean being baptized with water and the Holy Spirit--not according to the Word of God.
According to the Word of God, being born again means:
BORN AGAIN
A sinner receiving new life from God
(Joh 3:1-16) and being born into God's family
(Joh 1:12-13). This new life is received by trusting Jesus Christ
(Joh 3:7-16; 1:12; 1Jo 5:1) . How the New Birth Is Like the First Birth: (1) It is a powerful event. The natural birth is a very significant event. Many people are affected, not only the mother and father, but also all of the relatives and friends and acquaintances. Births are very dramatic things. So is the new birth. (2) It happens at one time. A man is not born over a period of a week or month or year. A birth happens in one day. So does the new birth. There are many things leading up to the birth, but the birth itself happens in one day. (3) Others know it when it happens. When a child comes into this world, everyone around knows that a new life has been born. Likewise, when a person is born again, those around him are going to know it. The Means of the New Birth: This new life is received by trusting Christ to be one's Savior from sin
(Joh 3:7-16; 1:12; 1Jo 5:1). People are born again by hearing and believing the Gospel of Christ
(1Co 4:15; Jas 1:18; 1Pe 1:23). The Source of the New Birth: It is the Holy Spirit who imparts this new life
(Tit 3:5; 1Co 6:11). The Result of the New Birth: Those who are born again have eternal inheritance and are preserved by God
(1Pe 1:3-5) . Their lives, also, are completely changed by the power of the indwelling Spirit
(2Co 5:17; 1Jo 3:14).
Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible)
When we are born again, we are baptized and sealed with the Holy Spirit
(Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 Cor. 12:13)
Being baptized with water DOES NOT SAVE--never has, and never will. Baptism is an ordinance of the Church, an outward profession of an inward profession of faith in Christ. We don't get baptized TO BE saved, we get baptized because WE ALREADY ARE saved!! Baptism is our identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ--the first step of obedience in the walk of a Christian.