Ministries to Reach the World Because
” You Must Be Born AGAIN”
Must is a word that means that it is required with no exceptions. In order to go to heaven you must be born again.
Going to heaven by self effort is like the Lady that was always asking for money, complained a man to his friend. “Last week she wanted three hundred dollars. The day before she asked for a hundred dollars. Today she asked for two hundred dollars,”
“That’s crazy,” said the friend. “What does she do with all that money?” “I don’t know”, said the man. “I never have gave her any.” Spending money without getting it is just as impossible as thinking you are heaven bound by your good deeds.
Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again to enter heaven, St John 3:3. Jesus instantly went to the heart of Nicodemus’s trouble. The Lord saw that he needed to come as a sinner to a Saviour to be saved. Jesus told him what he needed to hear, not what he wanted to hear.
Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus revealed that he was dead to spiritual things. He ask Jesus, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” St. John 3:4.
Jesus knew what Nicodemus did not know. Nicodemus was still in the sphere of death. Jesus pointed out to Him that he needed to be born again. What was not important was his Jewish birth, his deeds, his religion, his education, and his abilities.
St. John 3:6,7 showes us from Nicodemus’s experience Four important things. First, there are Two distinct spheres for people to live. Second, to get to each sphere is by Birth. Third, Flesh makes flesh and Spirit makes spirit. Fourth, Anyone who wants and desires to leave the sphere of the flesh can only do so by a second Birth.
Three important words are used, “except”, “cannot”, and “must”. The Lord is declaring the requirement for life everlasting no matter who you are. “You must be born again”. There is absolutely no exceptions to entering the spiritual realm of everlasting life. Jesus goes to the heart of the matter and shows the utter impossibility of making the flesh spiritual.
Trusting Christ will pay off some day. A salesman said, “Believe me, this sewing machine will pay for itself in no time.” The customer said, “Good, When it does send it to me.” And that is the way a lot of us are expecting a pay off of our flesh by not doing nothing.
That which is born of the flesh makes flesh and it can never be anything else. It may be educated flesh, cultured flesh, traveled flesh, moral flesh, religious flesh, but it is still flesh. Human attempts cannot change flesh into spirit.
You must be given God’s Spirit. Born Again means Born from Above. God has to give new life. The word Again comes from the greek word Anothen- [509] meaning (from Above). The old person becomes the possessor of something which they never possessed before- the nature of God.
It’s funny how everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not have to believe or trust anything. Jesus said, except your born from above you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. You must be born again. Have you been born again?