John 3:5 BORN AGAIN
“Jesus answered Nicodemus, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus is a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. But unlike the other pretentious religious characters, Nicodemus went by night (perhaps in secrecy due to being afraid of criticism) to seek after the truth from Truth Himself - Jesus. As we can see from his conversation with Jesus, Nicodemus had a hard time grasping what Jesus was saying about being "born again." He said, "How can a man be born when he is old. Can he enter a second time into mother's womb and be born?" (v4). Clearly, Nicodemus was wrestling about how to physically reborn while Jesus is talking about spiritual things. But like Nicodemus, don't we also have some questions about being born again? Do we really understand what it means to be born of water and the Spirit?
“Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but YOU DO NOT RECEIVE OUR TESTIMONY.
If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”
One of the key hindrances that caused the Pharisees like Nicodemus to stumble was the callousness of their disbelieving hearts. In Matthew 23, Jesus warned the crowds and disciples about their hypocrisy and declared seven woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees. In verse 13, Jesus said, "You hypocrites! For you shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in." Throughout Jesus' ministry on earth, we saw numerous encounters with the Pharisees. Because of their greed, self-indulgence, hypocrisy, and wickedness, they failed to believe that Jesus is the Messiah even though they studied about Him all their lives. All they ever did was plot schemes to kill Jesus and take Him down for good.
HOW TO BE BORN AGAIN
“The wind blows where it wishes, and your hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
To be born of the Spirit means:
- to confess and believe beyond cognition that Jesus is Lord and the Resurrected King (Romans 10:9-10)
- to have a childlike faith by putting our hope in Jesus Christ and His eternal life (John 3:16)
- to accept Him as the Savior who died on the Cross for our sins and receiving His full forgiveness (Colossians 1:13-14)
- to be baptized in water and in the Holy Spirit (John 3:5)
- to follow Him completely (Matthew 16:24)
- to repent from all of our sins (Acts 3:19)
- to allow the Holy Spirit to change us, transform us, and renew us into our new life (Ephesians 4:17-24)
- to live solely for the glory of God and not for our own pleasure (Galatians 2:20)
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank You for revealing to us what it means to be born of water and of the Spirit. We now know that the only way to be right with You is to have the right relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ. Because He is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life" and that "No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). We believe this with all of our heart. We also know that we can never earn this grace and that no amount of work and righteousness can get us closer to You. It is only through Jesus Christ. So Father, give us understanding to the areas that we find hard to comprehend. Give us faith to trust what Your Word says about You. Thank You and we ask them in Jesus' Name. Amen!