Except a Man Be Born Again,.....
Jesus said in John 3:3, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." For years I thought that the kingdom that it was talking about was referring to heaven. But in I Corinthians 4:20, it says that the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. And Romans 1:16 says that the gospel is the power of God.
You know, God sent His Son to die, be buried and be raised again so that you and I might have eternal life. And in the book of John (3:7), Jesus said, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." These are the words of the Lord Jesus. And being born again is the first step we will have to take in obtaining that promise of eternal life, and it is the first step a person must take to become a Christian. A Christian is one who is walking like Christ walked - doing the works of Jesus and even greater.
To become born again, or receive the Lord, all you have to do is confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead - Romans 10:9. It is that easy. You cannot find the 'sinner's prayer', as most of us have heard at one time or another, in the bible.
It says in John 1:11-13, "He (Jesus) came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He the power (the right or privilege) 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 flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." You are not a son of God until you are led by His Spirit. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." - Romans 8:14.
Growing up, I never heard about being born again in the Methodist church. All I remember hearing about is 'good works', which were nothing but 'dead works'! But when I was about 14 years old, I went to a so-called Christian meeting called 'Reach Out'. I heard of it through my school, although it was not directly related to the school. It was held outside of school at different people's houses at night. And there is where I first heard 'ye must be born again'.
I went home that night and asked my mother, as she was sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper, if she was a Christian. She looked at me in amazement that I would even ask her such a question and she replied, "Why, sure I am". I said, "Well, how do you know?" And she said, "Because I'm a good person and I go to church". I then said, "No, mother, that is not what I'm talking about. Are you born again, or have you received the Lord Jesus?" I don't even think she was able to answer me, and that was the end of the conversation. Two months later, though, in the den of our home, my mother and I received the Lord around 2-3 o'clock in the morning. And because of unbelief, and not having been instructed in the ways of righteousness, it wasn't until several years later I was water baptized, and then years later baptized in the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in other tongues.
Although I never heard of being born again in the Methodist church, a prayer that we were taught to pray, but really had no understanding of what it meant, was in Matthew 6:9-13. It was referred to as "the Lord's Prayer", but in reality it is a prayer Jesus told us to pray. Verse 9 and 10 say, "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." In other words, thy power come; thy will be done in this earth as it is in heaven. That power is the gospel - the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
In John 3:4-8, there was a man named Nicodemus who came to Jesus with a question, who obviously had no understanding about being born again. "Nicodemus saith unto Him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 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. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." After this, Nicodemus still did not understand how this could be. Do you know what Jesus did? You can read it in verses 13-15, but He preached the gospel to this man. The gospel is the power of God unto our salvation, if we will believe. All we have to do is believe that Jesus died, He was buried and He rose again. And that brings salvation.
Do you know why people won't come to the gospel? Because they love darkness and their deeds are evil. But a person who will come to the light (or the gospel), his deeds will be made manifest that they are worked in God. The gospel is what will deal with all the darkness in a person's heart, and people don't want that, because then they would have to admit they are not as good as they think they are. But it says in Isaiah that our righteousness is as filthy rags to God. And filthy rags 'stink'! But what this gospel will do is cover you with the robe of righteousness - and that righteousness is by faith upon all and unto all that will believe.
If we will believe on the Lord Jesus, we will have everlasting life, but if we don't believe on the Lord Jesus, it says that the wrath of God abides upon us. And who wants that? If you believe on the Lord Jesus and believe this gospel, you will trust in, rely on and adhere to it in all areas of your life. This is not just a one-time experience and then go off and do your own thing. It is daily trusting in the power of God to deliver you from every hindrance in your life. And being born again is just the beginning.
If there is anyone reading this who has never been born again, all you have to do is confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. That is all. Then you need to read the Psalms and New Testament out loud daily, pray, fast (according to Isaiah 58) and rely on the death, burial and resurrection power of the Lord Jesus to work in your heart and purge it from all its wickedness. And yes, every heart is wicked - Jeremiah 17 tells us this.
When you become born again, or a new creature, all that wickedness does not instantly leave you, as some would like you to believe. They will quote you II Corinthians 5:17 and make you believe that old things pass away and all things become new when this takes place in your life. But if you read the previous verses (15-16), you will see that all things do not become new until you are living and walking after the resurrected Christ and knowing no man after the flesh - not even Jesus. And if you still know the man Jesus in the manger - you know Him after the flesh. He has been raised from the dead and He is seated at the right hand of the Father - not in the manger.
Salvation is a process, and being born again is the first step you take in this process. It includes everything that you need from the time you receive the Lord Jesus until you go to heaven to be with Him. You will have to have your heart purged from dead works by the blood of Jesus to serve the living God. This purging is not completed in one day, either. You did not get bound in one day, therefore you will not come out of bondage in one day. But you can start today believing salvation to take place in your life. And this is done by faith through believing the gospel. Salvation is NOW.
Believe the gospel and see the salvation of God manifest in your life this day. Amen.
Well, until next time, God bless you.
