The phrase “Born Again” is used seven times in The Urantia Book; it also appears in the Bible. This expression has been used by evangelicals to call the faithful into the flock. In this posting, using teachings in The Urantia Book, we study what it means to be born again, how we can achieve it, and what are the consequences. You do not enter the kingdom of heaven unless you have been “born again” — born of the Spirit. (Urantia Book, 1130.6)

What Does it Mean to be ‘Born Again’?

The vast majority of our sisters and brothers assume physical reality is all there is. The physical universe is assumed to be the entirety of creation. Since our physical eyes and other senses detect only physical things, we are mostly unaware of spiritual reality.

Our Heavenly Father who created all things is spirit; therefore spiritual reality has precedence over the physical realm. When we see the trees moving we know there is wind; we cannot see the wind but we observe the effect wind has on physical things, even on our face; we observe wind by the consequences of its passing. Likewise we cannot directly observe spiritual phenomena but our senses somehow recognize their presence. When we enter a place of worship there is an unexplainable feeling of peace, joy and love. Conversely we may enter a dark foreboding area and experience threatening emotions. Spiritual reality is present even though we are generally oblivious of it.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.^[1] Before we can experience spiritual reality we must be born into it. We must be Born Again. {Personal Religious Experience}

Jesus gave counsel to a young man in the wilderness of Crete telling him this day, my son, you are to be reborn, re-established as a man of faith, courage, and devoted service to man, for God’s sake…. you have been born again — born of the spirit — and henceforth will your whole life become one of victorious accomplishment.^[2]

You are indwelt by a spark of God, your Thought Adjuster, and if you sincerely follow its guidance you will begin to see with the eyes of the spirit, and then by the wholehearted choice of spirit guidance would you be born of the spirit since your only purpose in living would be to do the will of your Father who is in heaven.^[3]

How Can We Be Born Again?

The short answer to this question is: You must desire it with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your soul.

This leap of faith is particularly difficult for us citizens of planet Earth because we have been betrayed and let down by those entrusted with guiding us in the past. Our Planetary Prince, Caligastia, went into rebellion against universe authority and our Adam and Eve defaulted on their mission to genetically and spiritually uplift our ancestors.

The mortals of a normal world do not experience constant warfare between their physical and spiritual natures. They are confronted with the necessity of climbing up from the animal levels of existence to the higher planes of spiritual living, but this ascent is more like undergoing an educational training when compared with the intense conflicts of Urantia mortals in this realm of the divergent material and spiritual natures.^[4]

Just as many physical births are accompanied by discomfort and pain, so are spiritual births sometimes difficult; no religious development occurs without conscious effort and positive and individual determinations. Religion is never a passive experience, a negative attitude.^[5] True religion is not involved when we sit in the pews on Sunday morning and merely listen to the preacher. True religion acts.

We would experience less of this conflict between flesh and spirit if we fully enter into the spirit kingdom where we will be delivered from this conflict.^[6]

We must ask ourselves if we are willing to pay the price of this entrance into the kingdom of heaven? Are we willing to be born again? to be remade? Are we willing to be subject to this terrible and testing process of self-destruction and soul reconstruction? Has not the Master said: “Whoso would save his life must lose it. Think not that I have come to bring peace but rather a soul struggle”?^[7]

The process of fully following the teachings is certainly difficult; there is no easy path to becoming born again. The process may take a long time or it may be sudden as was the case with Saul of Tarsus who had such an experience on the road to Damascus and became the apostle Paul.

Even the apostles were unable fully to comprehend his teaching as to the necessity for using spiritual force for the purpose of breaking through all material resistance and for surmounting every earthly obstacle which might chance to stand in the way of grasping the all-important spiritual values of the new life in the spirit as the liberated sons of God.^[8]

We must use spiritual force to break through the walls of materialism we have surrounded ourselves with and be Born Again.

What Happens When We Are Born Again?

One characteristic of those who have been born again is that they show the fruits of the spirit in their lives; these include love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, faith, meekness, and temperance.^[9] They have found peace within that passes all understanding.

Those who have been born again are all but independent of material environment as regards the joys of living and the satisfactions of earthly existence. They are spiritually illuminated and refreshed, morally strengthened and endowed.^[10]

Religion is no longer a theory, something we might read about or have preached to us. Religion becomes an actual experience with our Father fragment within; we know God is with us and is assisting us every step along the way. Religion is no longer something from the past; it has become a vital driving force leading us into a wider future. A future of eternal service.

1. Bible, John 3:6. Also, The Urantia Book, 1602.4; this refers to the one column version in the format page.paragraph. All references are to The Urantia Book unless otherwise noted. ↑
2. 1438.1 ↑
3. 1602.6 ↑
4. 382.3 ↑
5. 1130.6 ↑
6. 382.6 ↑
7. 1782.1 ↑
8. 1829.5 ↑
9. 381.7 ↑
10. 381.2 ↑