This is going to be short, sharp and straight to the point. The term “believe” can be simply defined as; to accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (i.e., as opposed to knowing). Or in other words, believing is a choice that someone must make from within and outwards externally, that something or someone is true without absolute certainty or proof! Get any dictionary of your choice and define the term, I’m not going to spoon feed you…
There is no way one would enter God’s Kingdom when Jesus Christ returns in His clouds of glory without first believing in Him! John 3:16 reads, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” It is as simple as that, only those who believe in Jesus Christ will enter His Kingdom when He returns in His Second Coming.
So, what does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ? John 1:11-13 reads, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His Name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.” According from the above verses, those who Jesus Christ gave the right to become children of God are those that believe in His Name (the Name of Jesus Christ), and those who believe in the Name of Jesus Christ are actually those who are in fact “BORN AGAIN!” For more information of the blessing to be born again and become children of God, click and visit the following link: http://peterjnrbebi.blogspot.com/2018/01/blessing.html
To be born again means to go through Water Baptism and Baptism of the Spirit. John 3:5 & 6 reads, “Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of the water and born of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that is which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” To be born of the water here symbolizes baptism of repentance and to be born of the spirit symbolizes baptism of The Holy Spirit. Furthermore, Jesus Christ stressed it out chronologically in John 3:5, that water baptism or baptism of repentance must always come first before the baptism of The Holy Spirit-The Holy Spirit will never abide within us when we still have sin within us: God loves the sinner but He hates the sin! That is why we must ask God through prayer to forgive us our sins and help us repent from our sins truly from the heart prior to asking Him to infill us with The Holy Spirit, through prayer. For further information, click and visit the following link:http://peterjnrbebi.blogspot.com/2018/01/what-it-means-to-leave-all-and-follow.html
To be born again (to believe) is an everyday thing and not a one-time event! The “VERB” believe in John 1:12-13 means those who continue to believe-those who continue to be “BORN AGAIN” over time everyday in their lives here on earth (which is of unknown duration considering time, which is something we all don’t have): or in other words “GROWING IN CHRIST”, which is one the Seventh Day Adventist Church fundamental beliefs. Or in other words, it is an everyday thing… Quoting from the footnotes of my Andrews Study Bible of John 1:12,”It indicates a constant action over-time and not a one-time event at a particular moment. Thus, it does not in any sense support a ‘once saved, always saved’ understanding of salvation.”
Jesus Christ the Word in John 1:1-4 is currently in heaven as our High Priest but left us the Comforter The Holy Spirit. When we are “Born Again” we have The Holy Spirit within us. When we have the Holy Spirit us, we are connected to the True Vine in John 15,Who is the Truth in John 14:6, Who is the Word in John 1:1-4, Who is none other than Jesus Christ. When we have Jesus Christ through our connection to Him through The Holy Spirit, we are able to love God and Keep His Commandments (considering John 14:15), and love our fellow human beings, from inward (from the heart) and outward (to the world). The power of choice is yours, whether to choose to believe in Jesus Christ or not-every choice has a consequence: eternal life or the wages of sin which is death in Romans 6:23 depends entirely on your personal choice…