You Must Be Born Again
Ledtkey (Lit) McIntosh, Creek
John 3:1-8
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3
There is a story in the Bile about a man named Nicodemus, who is a representative of us all. He was a good man. Most of us think we are pretty good, even if we’re not; we still have a pretty high opinion of ourselves. Nicodemus was caught up in his religion, following what his ancestors had taught him. In fact, he probably was more religious than some of his ancestors, for he was a Pharisee, a group of men who had dedicated themselves to keeping all of the rules and rituals of their religion. There was a problem - all of his religious learning, keeping rules, and going through the ritual ceremonies had left him empty on the inside. He might have wondered, like many of us do, whether that was enough to get him into heaven when he died, or into the kingdom of God that Jesus was teaching about.
When you need to know something, it is very important that you go to the person who can give the correct answer, not someone who says, “This is what I think or this might be the answer.” You especially should not go to someone who will just tell you what you want to hear. You need the truth. So Nicodemus went to Jesus. According to John 2:23-25, Jesus knows all men and He knew what Nicodemus’s real question and problem was. He knew Nicodemus was a well-respected man, a good man, and a very religious man; but he had no inner peace with God or assurance of heaven when he died. Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again. Nicodemus could not understand that. So Jesus talked about being born physically and then the need of a second birth, being born of the Spirit. Nicodemus was confused, so Jesus used another illustration of the wind. The Spirit is somewhat like the wind, you cant see the wind or hold the wind, but you can sense the wind, feel the wind, and know it’s the wind because of the effects of evidence that the wind produces. What a person puts his trust completely in Christ alone to save him, the effects or evidence will soon be seen in new desires, new drives, new attitudes, and new actions. The Apostle Paul said that we are a new creation. (2 Cor 5:17) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.)
So the big question for you is: “Have you been born again?”
If you, like Nicodemus, know something is wrong on the inside, in spite of how good or bad you’ve been, you must do what he did.
1 You must personally come to Jesus. No one else could come for Nicodemus.
2 You must admit your problem is your sin. (Rom 3:23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
3 You must believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God came to die for you and pay the penalty for your sin, and that He rose again the third day. (Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.) (Rom 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.)
4 You must turn from your sin and trust Christ alone for forgiveness of sin and your only hope of heaven.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:15, He died for all, that those who live, should live, no longer for themselves but for Him who died for them and rose again. Friend, if you lack inner peace with God and assurance of heaven when you die, God offers eternal life to all who will believe in Jesus Christ.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Ledtkey (Lit) McIntosh, Creek
Bless God and God Bless
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