In his first epistle, John describes the qualities of those who have been born of God: 1) they strive to become pure, 2) they do not commit sin, and 3) they accomplish righteous deeds.

John further declared that “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him” (1 John 5:1) and that “whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).

He repeats his main point in 1 John 5:18: “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.”

John also stressed the importance of being born of God in his account of the life of Jesus, saying that “as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). His report of the Saviors nighttime conversation with Nicodemus ties being born again to baptism:

The apostle Peter supported John's declarations on this subject, writing, “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:22-23). His words closely parallel the quote from 1 John 1 at the head of this article.

The Book of Mormon also describes the process of being born again of God. Alma declared that having “repented of my sins, and hav[ing] been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit,” and declared that “all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters; And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God” (Mosiah 27:24-27; see also vs. 28 and Moses 6:64-68).

In teaching his sons, Alma stressed not only that he had been “born of God,” but that the spiritual knowledge he possessed came to him because of this rebirth (Alma 36:4-5, 23-26; 38:6). It was this spiritual experienced that prompted Alma to spend much of his life bringing the blessings of God into the lives of others. Preaching in the city of Melek, he said,

From this, we learn (as we do from Jesus' words to Nicodemus cited above) that faith, repentance, baptism, and receiving the Holy Ghost are necessary elements in being born of God (see Article of Faith 4). Baptism alone is not sufficient to be born again.

Addressing a group of baptized people in the city Zarahemla, Alma asked, “And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?” (Alma 5:14; see also vss. 7, 12-13, 26).

When King Benjamin addressed his people at the temple in the city Zarahemla, they replied that they knew the truth of his words “because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2).

The king declared that “because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters” (Mosiah 5:7).

This change of heart also came upon the Lamanite king Lamoni and his servants, “and they did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing — that their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil” (Alma 19:33).

Passages like these confirm the Apostle John's declaration that those who are born of God cannot commit sins. I have long maintained that we mortals commit sin because we get some sort of payback by doing them. Sins are like familiar friends; we get used to having them around and hate to part with them. I have come to believe that we must do as another Lamanite king, the father of Lamoni, who, after hearing the message of salvation, asked Aaron,

For additional material relating to this lesson, see:

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