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Born Again People


She reported, "The change in my life was profound. On the tennis court my nervousness and tension were gone. At home, where once I had been plagued by impatience, the Lord replaced all that with understanding and tolerance. Where once I found it difficult to reach out to people God gave me a deep and loving concern."

Being born again isn't a new fad. In fact, Jesus Christ introduced the term two thousand years ago. Addressing Nicodemus, a prominent religious leader of his day, Jesus said, "Unless a man is born again, he will not ever see the kingdom of God let alone enter it."

Confused, Nicodemus queried, "How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he can't return to his mother's womb to be born a second time!"

I can almost hear Jesus saying, "You don't understand, Nicodemus," and then continuing, "Flesh gives birth to flesh, but it is God's Spirit that gives birth to spirit. You shouldn't be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again'."1

Physical birth is not enough. You must also be born spiritually.

By all human standards Nicodemus would have been a model citizen— strong in character, a man of integrity, and a church leader. It was to this good man that Jesus said, "You must be born again," meaning that Nicodemus, like everybody else, needed to be born spiritually as well as physically.

Physical birth is not enough.
You must also be born spiritually.

Once, after addressing a group of church workers, the famous evangelist Dwight Moody was confronted by one of them.

"Mr. Moody," said the angry person, "do you mean to tell me that I, an educated woman, taught from childhood in good ways, and all my life interested in the church and doing good, must enter Heaven the same way as the worst criminal of our day?"

"No, madam," said Mr. Moody, "I don't. God does. He says everyone who would enter Heaven, no matter how good they think they are, or how well educated, or zealous in good works, must be born again."

The difficult thing to grasp is that our sin has made us spiritually dead to God. This is why we all need to be reborn spiritually.

To become a member of the human family, we were born physically. To become a member of God's family, we need to be born again spiritually.

But how can we be born again spiritually?

Contrary to what many people feel, it isn't by being good or through good works. It is simply by confessing our sinfulness to God and by believing that his Son, Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, and by responding to his call to receive him into our heart and life as personal Lord and Savior.2

You can be born again into God's family-right now-by praying a prayer such as the following: "Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner and ask you for your forgiveness. Come into my life as Savior and Lord. Please help me to become the kind of person you want me to be and live for you. Thank you for dying on the cross for me and hearing and answering my prayer."

For additional HELP to be sure you're born again Click HERE on Find and Know God link.

1. See John 3:1-7.
2. See John 3:16; 1:12 and Acts 16:31.

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All articles on this website are written by
Richard (Dick) Innes unless otherwise stated.