Are you a Born-again Christian?
Yesterday’s Feast of the Baptism of the Lord brings to mind a very important piece of scripture spoken by Our Lord:
4 Nicodemus saith to him: How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born again? 5 Jesus answered: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (Jn 3:4-5, from the Douay-Rheims translation)
So, if you are a baptized Christian, then you can indeed say that you are “Born-again.”
Steve Ray – the Indiana Jones of Catholicism – has an excellent post at his blog that touches on how, when God wants to start something new, He begins with water and spirit.
Here are a few of highlights:
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Gen 1:1-2 — God creates the water-covered world when His Spirit hovers above the waters
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Ex 14 — Israel is born after the Cloud of the Holy Spirit leads them across the waters of the Red Sea out of Egypt into the Promised Land
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1 Pt 3:18 — Peter says, “Baptism now saves you”
In light of this, it is amazing how many Christians, including some who call themselves “Born-again”, do not understand the true meaning of baptism. Many Protestants think that baptism is merely symbolic; and some don’t baptize at all.
Yet another reason to thank God for the Catholic Church, which has maintained – through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, as promised by Christ (Matt 16:18; Jn 14:26) – the proper understanding and teaching of the Faith for nearly 2,000 years.
