Giving a Piece of My Mind on the Term "Born Again Christian"
I hear some people say that they read nowhere in the Bible that the term "born again Christian" is not in the Bible, that Jesus never called anyone to be born again Christians (HUH?!) but they couldn't tell me where in the Bible did it tell them what we must be Mormons, Iglesia ni Cristo members, Jehovah's Witnesses or Roman Catholics. Some Roman Catholic apologists (not all) even have made that terrible lie that Billy Graham allegedly founded the born again Christian movement. Their "proof" may lie because Graham himself was known to tell people that they must be born again. Worse, they even deny that the late John Paul II called Graham his brother. They even dare to deny that Graham himself is yoked with the Vatican even when the evidence says otherwise.
They may say, "But the Greek says born from above." I agree. It means to be born from above. But nobody is born from above by water baptism or infant baptism. None of them gets a person born from above. To be born from above is to be born again. To be a born again Christian is not a religion but it's a changed life by the grace of God. Remember Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again or born from above. There's really no difference between the two that you must be born from above by receiving Jesus Christ as one's Lord and Savior. When they say you must be born from above those Roman Catholic apologists still couldn't prove that you must join the Roman Catholic Church to be saved. Jesus never said, "You must be a Roman Catholic." but He said, "You must be born again." Not even born from above means "You must be a Roman Catholic."
They may say, "But the Greek says born from above." I agree. It means to be born from above. But nobody is born from above by water baptism or infant baptism. None of them gets a person born from above. To be born from above is to be born again. To be a born again Christian is not a religion but it's a changed life by the grace of God. Remember Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again or born from above. There's really no difference between the two that you must be born from above by receiving Jesus Christ as one's Lord and Savior. When they say you must be born from above those Roman Catholic apologists still couldn't prove that you must join the Roman Catholic Church to be saved. Jesus never said, "You must be a Roman Catholic." but He said, "You must be born again." Not even born from above means "You must be a Roman Catholic."
To become a born again Christian is not to be part of a manmade religion but to be part of the Christian religion. The Christian religion is pure and undefiled before God (James 1:27). Manmade religion doesn't establish any religare with God. It's just a system of oppression that makes doing good a burden rather than a delight. The Pharisees only had their religion but it wasn't pure religion and undefiled before God. Although they had very high moral standards but they were also hypocrites. Works salvation makes one a hypocrite because it makes sinning okay by saying that as long as you do more good than bad then you're okay. But James 2:10-11 and Romans 3:10-19 says otherwise.
Yes, I am proud to use the term born again Christian. It may sound as redundant as "cold ice cream" but the Christian is indeed someone who is born again by receiving Jesus Christ as one's Lord and Savior. The evidence of being truly born again is the changed life. It's not just merely transferring into religion or doing good for the sake of doing good. Instead, the Christian lives a different life than before because they have been truly saved. As 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 declares that there's a change when one's saved. Nobody can be saved and still remain the same because God's grace is there (Ephesians 2:10, Titus 2:11-14).