A Born Again Christian | Theodore M. Burton | 1982

Theodore M. Burton speaks about the doctrine of baptism and discusses what our doctrine teaches on what it means to be born again.

This speech was given October 26, 1972.

Read the speech here:
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/theodore-m-burton/born-christian/

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"One day, as I was traveling on a plane to New England, I entered into a conversation with a young stewardess sitting in the seat next to me. Most members of our Church know how to steer a conversation toward the gospel, and, before long, we were talking about religion. She told me that she had recently been converted from her former manner of living and was now “saved.” I congratulated her. Then she added that she was now a “born-again Christian.”

I asked her how she was born again, and she told me that she had accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Savior and now believed in him. I told her how wonderful that was, but explained that acceptance of and belief in Jesus Christ is normally called faith. She said, “But I have changed my former way of thinking and living. I am now on the path to eternal life.” Again I congratulated her and told her that change is normally called repentance. “But,” she said, “I have felt a marvelous spiritual change come over me which has purged all evil from my soul.” I then asked her if this were not a gift from the Holy Ghost. “I suppose it is,” she admitted, “but I mean I’ve had a sanctification experience, not through any work that I or any other person has done for me, but a work of grace whereby Jesus has pardoned my sins and promised me eternal life. I don’t need any formal church organization to accomplish this. A person needs only that wonderful, spiritual experience, or feeling of grace.” She added that she had truly been reborn spiritually. From her words, I knew she did not understand what is meant by being “born again” nor what is termed the second birth.

I have observed that few people who profess to be Christians—even many within The Church of Jesus Christ—really understand some of the most basic principles of the gospel. Today I want to teach you a little about one of these basic principles or what it actually means to be “born again.”

“I Am the Door”
Jesus was speaking of a basic concept when he related the parable of the sheepfold, as recorded in the tenth chapter of John. He called himself the true shepherd and said the sheep must enter in at the door, as does the good shepherd. He explained that those who try to climb into the sheepfold by some other way are thieves and robbers. The shepherd leads the way coming in or going out, and the sheep follow him, for they recognize his voice. They trust the shepherd and will follow him, but they will not follow a stranger. His hearers could not understand what Jesus meant by this statement, and so he explained:

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. [John 10:9]

I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. [John 10:14–15]

What did Jesus mean when he said, “I am the door for the sheep”?

When Jesus said he was the door to the sheepfold, he meant that there is only one door or way by which one can return to God the Eternal Father. That door must be through Jesus himself and is a very narrow door which is designed and constructed to conform not only to his teachings but also to his works. If we enter in through that door, it must be in the Father’s way as Jesus demonstrated through his own life of instruction and service and not by some other way prescribed by man.

Symbolism of Baptism
Jesus had preached this doctrine before, as, for example, when he spoke with Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a prominent Jew and a member of the Sanhedrin, which was the supreme council or tribunal of the Jews. When Nicodemus asked Jesus how he could personally enter into that fold as one of the chosen sheep or true believers,

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot [even] see the kingdom of God. [John 3:3; emphasis added]

Nicodemus could not understand how a person could be born again and asked how that was possible. How can a person again enter into his mother’s womb and be born a second time? Jesus explained that this new birth was symbolic in nature and thus different from one’s first birth."

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