In The Word
Read: John 2:23-3:21
23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name as they observed His signs which He was doing. 24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, because He knew all people, 25 and because He did not need anyone to testify about mankind, for He Himself knew what was in mankind.
The New Birth
3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews;2 this man came to Jesus at night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus responded and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a person be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus responded and said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “You are the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you people do not accept our testimony.12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven, except He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him.
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. 18 The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. 21 But the one who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed as having been performed in God.”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Yeshua teaches us here that there are two kinds of births in this world: the natural and the supernatural. To inherit the Kingdom of God, you must be born, not just of the natural, but of the supernatural, which He referred to as being “born again.” We are born again when the Holy Spirit of God convicts us of our sin, and draws us to accept Yeshua as our Lord and Savior. When that truly happens, we become a new creation, we receive a new heart, our mind/thoughts begin to be renewed, and we have a new purpose in our lives.
Maybe you have grown up in a morally good environment, gone to church all or most of your life, and possibly even believe that God is real. All of those things are great. If you have not been born again, do not be deceived. You will not inherit the Kingdom of God. The devil is the father of lies and he has established a great deception in this world. The enemy has convinced most people that they will go to heaven and live forever there, even if they have not been born again. That lie will rob you of eternal life, so do not believe that.
If you do not know for sure that you have been born again, then you probably haven’t been. I encourage you today to evaluate your life. If the Holy Spirit is convicting you of your life and your relationship with the Son, take time today to yield to Him, make Him your Lord and Savior, and become born again!