Scripture You Must Be Born Again
You should not exist surprised at my saying, 'You must be built-in once more.' John 3:7
Yous've probably heard the phrase, "You must exist built-in over again," during a sermon. But what does this mean exactly?
When Nicodemus, a prominent Pharisee and fellow member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, came to Jesus with questions about His teaching and the nature of salvation, Jesus provided the perfect synopsis of the Gospel, which included ane of the nigh important metaphors and doctrines of the Christian faith. "Jesus answered and said to him (Nicodemus), ' no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born once again." (John iii:3, bold emphasis added).
At the time, the thought of being "born once more" confounded the inquisitive Nicodemus, who asked, "how tin someone be born when they are old? Surely they cannot enter a 2d time into their female parent's womb to be born!" (John 3:four). Though educated in matters of the Old Testament and Jewish police, Nicodemus struggled to grasp the deeper significant of Jesus's words. He was not solitary. Many have wrestled with the spiritual truths of Jesus'south educational activity and the implications of Christ'due south telephone call to discipleship in their lives. And so what does information technology really mean to be built-in once again and what does this look similar for Christians and those called to follow Christ?
First, allow'due south read this verse in context: Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you lot, no one can run into the kingdom of God unless they are born again." "How tin someone be born when they are erstwhile?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother's womb to exist built-in!" Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you lot, no one tin enter the kingdom of God unless they are built-in of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, merely the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be built-in again.'(John three:3-vii)
What Did Jesus Hateful by 'You Must Be Born Again'? (John 3:7)
When Jesus said we must be "born over again" He was not referring to any kind of literal or physical rebirth. He used the term "reborn" to affirm our need as individuals to be redeemed and spiritually transformed, refashioned, and remade through God'south saving grace and His eventual death on the cross. To explain this concept to Nicodemus, Jesus connected His mission on globe to an Old Testament story that Nicodemus would have been familiar with.
"Every bit Moses lifted up the ophidian in the wilderness," Jesus said, "even so must the Son of Man exist lifted up; so that whoever believes volition in Him accept eternal life." (John 3:14-15)
Jesus was of course referring to Numbers 21 and the plague of fiery serpents that spread through the campsite of Israel every bit a outcome of their frequent lament and lack of faith. To salvage those infected, Moses was instructed by God to place a bronze serpent on a flagpole at the center of the camp. All who looked upon the bronze serpent would exist miraculously healed from the toxicant coursing through their veins (Numbers 21). The indicate of comparison Jesus was making to Nicodemus was that, at our cadre, we too are corrupted by the deadly toxicant of personal sin. As the campaigner Paul writes, "all have sinned and fall short of the celebrity of God." (Romans 3:23, bold accent added). Unfortunately, the consequences of this sin are spiritual death and eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23).
Thankfully, as God provided a way out for the Israelites, He provided the perfect Savior and healer through His Son, Jesus Christ. Every bit the bronze serpent was raised up to save the children of Israel, so Jesus Christ was raised on the cross to be our saving grace. In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes, "but God demonstrates his own love for the states in this: While nosotros were nonetheless sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
He went on to debate that, "because of his groovy dearest for us, God, who is rich in mercy, fabricated us alive with Christ even when nosotros were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you accept been saved." (Ephesians two:4). Jesus fabricated it articulate: to enter the kingdom of God and experience true transformation, forgiveness, and healing, complete renewal and regeneration are required. The poison of sin is also great to overcome past any quick fix or man antidote. Nosotros must exist born again.
According to Matthew Henry, "corruption and sin are woven into our nature; we are shapen in iniquity, which makes information technology necessary that the nature be changed. It is not enough to put on a new coat or a new face, just nosotros must put on the new man, we must be new creatures."
Jesus argued that we must beginning over and exist "built-in once more" into a new life "of h2o and the Spirit." (John 3:five)
Several passages of the New Testament echo this thought.
"He saved us, non on the basis of deed which we have washed in righteousness, but according to His mercy past the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon u.s. richly through Jesus Christ." (Titus 3:5-6)
"If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is built-in of Him." (one John 2:29)
"Blest be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His bang-up mercy has acquired us to exist born once more to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (i Peter 1:3)
The Bible makes it clear. You must exist born again, in gild to be saved.
How Are Christians Born Again?
It'due south important to affirm what the Bible says about salvation and that Christians are Not built-in again by their own work or merits. Dissimilar many world religions, salvation is not obtained past anything we practice just rather what Christ does in u.s.a.. We are non capable of saving ourselves from our sin, nor are we able to buy our way into heaven.
" For by grace you lot take been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the souvenir of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8-ix)
True Christians must accept the foundational truth of the Gospel, that is, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross, was buried, and rose again three days afterwards. In doing so, He alone interceded before God on our behalf, paying the ultimate price for our sin once and for all so that nosotros might be saved (Hebrews 7:25).
"And in that location is conservancy in no one else; for at that place is no other name under heaven that has been given among flesh by which nosotros must exist saved." (Acts four:12)
Jesus said information technology best in His conversation with Nicodemus: "for God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that anybody who believes in Him will not perish, only have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, only so that the earth might be saved through Him." (John 3:xvi-17). Human wisdom may claim that there are many paths to God and heaven. Jesus, however, quickly dispelled this lie, proverb, "I am the fashion, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Begetter except through Me." (John fourteen:6)
Those who wish to be born again must believe that Jesus Christ died on the cantankerous and was resurrected. They must acknowledge that they take sinned and are in need of saving. They must confess their sin and accept the free gift of salvation offered through Jesus Christ. Equally it is written, "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive united states of america our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (one John 1:9)
What Is the Significance of 'You Must Exist Born Again'?
In response to Nicodemus's confusion about the meaning of being born again, Jesus answered, "truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of h2o and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been built-in of the Spirit is spirit." (John three:v-6)
The 1 who is born again exchanges the corrupt, sinful life for a new life born from above. That person receives a fresh start in the class of forgiveness, eternal conservancy, and spiritual renewal. Without, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. The apostle Paul writes, " if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new cosmos; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Paul also writes in his letter to the Galatians that, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now alive in the mankind I live by organized religion in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself upward for me." (Galatians 2:20).The one who is born again is freed from the shackles of sin and death. Paul laid it out in this way, "knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him (Christ), in order that our body of sin might be done abroad with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for the one who has died is freed from sin." (Romans 6:6-7)
The apostle John also argued that, " no one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, considering he has been born of God." (i John 3:9). Does this mean that we will never sin or make mistakes? No. Jesus paid the cost for our sin. Through His death, our previous life of sin has been crucified with Him (Romans half-dozen:ten). We will nonetheless make mistakes. Nosotros are not perfect. Nevertheless, upon existence built-in once again, sin and the things of this world no longer hold mastery over us, for Christ overcame sin and the world, nosotros have been born anew in Him (1 John 5:1-4).
In doing and then, those who are born over again are given a new heart, a new listen, and eventually a new body in eternity, distinct from the polluted, decadent things of this globe. As it is written, " do not be conformed to this globe, only be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may testify what the will of God is, that which is skilful and acceptable and perfect."(Romans 12:2). Nicodemus's disability to empathize what Jesus meant past being "born over again" proved Jesus'due south point perfectly.
To the earthly mind, the spiritual wonders of God and eternity often seem like foolishness. Understanding tin can just come up from a spiritual transformation and re-forging of the mind through Christ (1 Corinthians 2:sixteen). Co-ordinate to Matthew Henry, "the natural homo must become a spiritual man, earlier he is capable of receiving and understanding them." The 1 who is built-in once more is transformed from the inside out. Their desires modify, their attitudes and actions are reformed, and their life begins to produce new fruit, born of the spirit (Ephesians v:22-26).
More chiefly, Jesus paid the price for our sin then that nosotros might become "children of God" and heirs to His kingdom, welcomed, "into an inheritance that tin can never perish, spoil or fade." (ane Peter i:4). This inheritance, Jesus argued is our eternal treasure and reward (Matthew 6:19-21).
As it is written in book of Jeremiah, "y ou will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13). And find Him Nicodemus did. Nicodemus may have come to Jesus in individual, simply he, like many, would eventually confirm his belief in Jesus publicly. He besides would be built-in again and made new through Christ'southward work on the cross, proving that Christ came and died for all and that "whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:13)
Further Reading
What Does "Born Again" Mean? Why Did Jesus Say "Yous Must Be Built-in Over again"?
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