Friday, June 14, 2024
Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” Jesus answered,
“Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:3-8 CSB
How Can A Person be "Born Again?"
Nicodemus was a religious leader, a Pharisee, and an educated man. He had been watching Jesus and was interested in figuring out who he was and what his purpose really was. He asks Jesus. “How can anyone be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” And then Jesus answers him, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Of course this left Nicodemus feeling even more perplexed. By all the standards of the day he was already transformed – yet he was not – as were none of the Pharisees.
The Jews believed that their race assured them a place in God’s Kingdom. Jesus was very clear with him that his first birth does not guarantee a place for him in the kingdom. Only being born again assures us a place in God’s Kingdom. Jesus explained that being born again happens through faith: For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift, not from works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 When we are saved, we are born again, spiritually renewed, and now a child of God by right of that new birth. Faith in Jesus Christ, the One who paid the penalty of sin when He died on the cross, is the only way we can be born again. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
How do we enter into God’s kingdom and escape God’s wrath? Why does Jesus have the authority to save us and give us eternal life?
There is only one way to enter into God’s kingdom and that is through faith in Jesus Christ. John 3:16 is one of the most well known scriptures in the Bible and it is what Jesus shared with Nicodemus that night: For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. Salvation is free to all who believe in him and receive his free gift of salvation and eternal life. John 3:36 says The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.
Sin is what separates us from God. We are all sinners and because of our sin, we all deserve death. There is no way we could ever pay the penalty for our sins. Only God can do this for us. Jesus has the authority to save us because he is God in human form. He came to earth so that he could die in our place on the cross. Because of his great love for us, he took the punishment for our sin so that we could be reconciled with God and have a relationship with him. He rose from his grave on the third day, defeating death and hell. God offers this free gift of salvation and eternal life for everyone who believes.
How will you respond to Him?
God has already done all of the work. All you have do is receive the salvation God offers. Do you believe that he is the son of God who died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins? And that he rose again on the third day and later ascended into heaven? How will you respond to his call?
