Acts America

What Does It Mean to Be Saved/Born Again?

It seems like today in America you ask someone if they are saved they automatically say “Yes”. But do we really know? Do we really know what it means to be born again? When a person gets saved, born again they ask Jesus Christ to come into their heart. Most people today have had some kind of exposure to church and the things of God. We hear people refer to God, we hear people say they believe in God, even pray to God. But have we really asked Jesus to come into our hearts.

When you ask Jesus to come into your heart its more than a children's prayer you pray at your bedside, its more than a feel good feeling or “I know this is the right thing” or someone prodded you. When you ask Jesus to come into your heart you are telling Him you want Him to be the Lord of your life, you are telling Him you want Him to have complete control of you heart, soul, mind and body. When a person gets born again, whether they are eight years old or eighty years old, there is a dramatic change in their life.

Being born again is passing from old to new, from death to life, from sin to salvation. It matters not if you are ten or forty, if you are a “good person” or a drunk on the street, we are all sinners. We were born into this world with a sinful nature, our nature tendencies are sinful and all about self. The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” That means that regardless of your age, your position in life, your position is society, your background, your good deeds, your good traits, you are a sinner. We are all sinners, from the lowliest to those in the height of society. When you come to the realization that you are a sinner in need of a savior you won't just pray some “lay me down to sleep prayer” you will fall on your knees and humble yourself before an awesome God. When you see your sin through the eyes of God, when you truly see your soul as one that is lost and without hope apart from the mercy of God you will see your great need of His love in your life and ask Him to come in and be Lord.

Getting born again is an instant experience, when you surrender your life into the hands of Christ and ask Him to forgive you of your sins. He immediately comes to you and forgives you and washes away all your sins. When Jesus washes your sins away you are free from them, you never have to return to them and their hold on your life again unless you choose to. When a man, woman, boy or girl is saved by the power of God they are CHANGED! God sent his only begotten Son to die on a cruel cross for mine and your sins, God didn't watch His own Son suffer and die in vain. When Christ paid such a high price it was so that you could be completely free from sin and never be the same person ever again.

When a person gets truly born again his heart and mind are changed. He doesn't think the same way anymore, he doesn't feel the same way, he doesn't walk the same way, he doesn't talk the same way. His life has been supernaturally changed forever!! The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17(KJV) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” What that is telling us is that when you get saved you are a new creature, old things pass away. Old things being your past life, your desires, your thoughts, your ambitions, your plans, your opinions, your way of doing things is changed. You don't desire the same things you used to, you don't think about the things you used to.

Your entire being has been changed by the power of God through the blood of His Son Jesus. When that experience takes place in a man's life you will see a drastic change in his life. He will be a new creature, full of joy, gladness, and freedom from sin.