Born Again?

BORN AGAIN?

New Birth is a “Must” 

If you want to go to heaven, you must be born again. Jesus Himself told Nicodemus, a religious ruler and teacher of the Jews, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Regardless of what he was, he needed new birth to inherit God’s kingdom. Puzzled, Nicodemus asked, “How can a man be born when he is old?” The Lord’s answer challenged his religion, leaving him a helpless sinner outside the kingdom of God: “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit… You must be born again” (John 3:5-7). Just as you received natural life when you were born into this world, so too you will only receive spiritual life when you are born again.

New Birth is Spiritual 

We are born with a sinful nature – “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). In this condition, we can never enter the kingdom of God. A change must take place, and the Son of God emphatically tells us: “You must be born again.” New birth by the Spirit of God is essential for spiritual life that leads to heaven. Man cannot accomplish it by performing religious works or by following religious leaders. Jesus further told Nicodemus: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). Jesus was crucified for our sins, so that all who receive Him as Lord and Savior have eternal life.

New Birth is From God

When the Word of God, by the power of the Spirit, convicts us of our sinful condition and we repent and believe in Christ as Lord and Savior, we are born again. God makes us “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) and we become new in Christ: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This is what being “born of water and the Spirit” means. Some think that being “born of water and of the Spirit” refers to water baptism. But the Bible is clear: only the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit regenerates. Ephesians 5:26 gives the symbolic meaning of water: “The washing of water by the word.” And 1 Peter 1:23 says we are “born again … through the Word of God.” We are not born again by water baptism. New birth comes only when the Word of God by the power of the Spirit leads us to faith in Christ.

New Birth Can Be Yours! Have you been born again? Do you really know Christ as Lord and Savior or do you only say you do? If you are religious but not born again, you are dead in your sins and without spiritual life. Without new birth, religion accomplishes nothing: “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Don’t be careless about new birth. If you have never been born again, eternal separation from God in the Lake of Fire awaits you. If you are born again, then being with the Lord in heaven forever is your destiny. Which do you choose? 

Source: https://www.gtpress.org/gtweb/pubfolder/gospel/BornAgain.pdf