In the third chapter of John's Gospel we read that Nicodemus questioned Jesus' statement about being born again. Jesus answered: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."
Being born again is the spiritualization of consciousness which each one of us must experience in order to be released from bondage to matter. Through the study of Christian Science we learn that matter is the manifestation of the carnal, or mortal, mind, which claims that we have been born into matter and that we can sin, be sick, and suffer in it and die out of it. We find the world's belief in the reality of matter to be the basis of materialism.
Christian Science teaches that the only Mind is God, who is Spirit and also Soul. When we accept God as our Mind, we can exercise the dominion which belongs to man, the image and likeness of this Mind. We can then keep the commandment (Ex. 20:3), "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Man's only selfhood is the reflection of divine Mind, expressing infinite harmony, health, and happiness. Any so-called mind that does not possess the qualities of God, or good, can never be true.
