Hi Redemptionsong,
When you are baptized in the name, for the remission of your sins - that is what it means to be born of the water. Being born of the water is referring to our water baptism, it is not referring to natural birth.
Then when you are filled with the Holy Spirit - that is what it means to be born of the Spirit.
The kingdom of God is his church. To get into the true church you must obey the plan of salvation, as taught by Peter (the man given the keys to the kingdom) in Acts 2:38
Hope this helps.
Hi,
For quite some time, I took the same view as you on the matter of water in John 3:5. But in the context of the discussion with Nicodemus, it now seems more likely, to me, that the reference is to child birth. The reason I would give is that in John 3:4 it says,
'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?' It's in response to this that Jesus says,
'Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.'
I accept that all who come to Christ must repent of their sin, as stated in Acts 2:38, such that the human will shows a willingness to turn, to die to self, and walk instead in the light of Christ. It is only when this heart of repentance and willingness to follow Christ is made known to God that the Spirit falls, and that baptism in the Spirit takes place. Interestingly, repentance in the heart does not appear to be the same as the ritual of water baptism. The ritual is more for the sake of other members of the Church, that they might know a person's true intention. This is why, when Cornelius and his household received Christ as Saviour they were baptised in the Spirit
before ever receiving water baptism [see Acts 10:44-48].
If Jesus is referring to repentance in John 3:5, then I'm happy to accept that, too. I know that repentance, and faith in Jesus Christ are necessary if one is to be born again and enter the kingdom of God, the Church.
There is only one God. That one God is a Spirit (John 4:24) not 3 different persons. God didn't have flesh and blood to shed for man's sins. So the Spirit made himself a body to dwell in, and sacrifice for man's sin. The eternal Spirit was the Father of that body, so he could call the body his Son. But it was still YHWH dwelling in that body. The Father was the eternal Spirit dwelling in the body, and the Son was the fleshly body itself. But it wasn't two distinct persons. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son (his own body) that whosoever believed in him could be saved.
When prayer was made, it was the flesh crying out to the Spirit for strength.
When he said the Father is greater, it is because the Spirit is greater than the flesh.
After he shed his blood, the Spirit raised the body up a glorified eternal spiritual body, and he ascended and took the throne to rule forever.
Again, I accept much of what you say here. There are many versions of Trinitarianism! Yes, IMO there is only one God. Yes, the Father, God, dwells in the Son, a body of flesh and blood. The Father also dwells within members of the body of Christ, the Church. I'm very happy to dispense with the theological terminology if necessary!
My objection to traditional Unitarian belief is the refusal to accept Jesus Christ as worthy of worship and service. I believe Jesus Christ is my Lord, and my God. To deny that Jesus Christ is God (as the risen Lord) is, IMO, to fail to understand the redemptive plan with God as our Saviour.