what does it mean to be born again?

Even now, the new birth is not the emancipation of a supposedly truer inner self from the external reality of history and the body, but the pledge (arrobon) of the consummation for which the whole creation waits eagerly (Romans 8:18-25).

Unable to bring final liberation of humanity apart from leaving everything creaturely behind, Gnosticism loses the joy of the Christian gospel that leaves nothing behind but sin and death.

- Michael Horton, Christless Christianity

to be sure, this extract seeks to identify the pitfalls of gnosticism, not what it means to be born again. however, it is important to note that being born again is not a present event, but a future event.

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."

In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

- John 3:1-8 (NIV)

"I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."" - 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 (NIV)

"For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." - 1 Peter 1:23 (NIV)

to be born again is to enter/inherit the kingdom of God with a new body. in other words, to be born again is not to be converted in this life, but to be resurrected for the next!

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on a separate note, i have heard it argued (from a 5-point calvinist perspective) that since we cannot determine whether we are born, therefore we cannot determine whether we are born again. however, just because we cannot determine whether we are born does not mean that we cannot determine whether we are born again.

in fact, it is at least possible (and in my opinion more plausible) that precisely because we cannot determine whether we are born, therefore we can determine whether we are born again.

maybe we can determine whether we are born again. or maybe we cannot. all i'm saying is that the premise 'we cannot determine whether we are born' does not necessarily lead to the conclusion 'we cannot determine whether we are born again'.