Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

"Jesus answered and said to him [Nicodemus], 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'"¹

Do Good people go to Heaven? If so, why? And if not, why not?

Continuing our two-part series on "Do Good People Go to Heaven?" If ever there were an individual who would have qualified for heaven through his goodness, it would have been Nicodemus, a religious leader of Christ's day.

By all human standards Nicodemus would have been a model citizenâ€"strong in character, a man of integrity, and a sincere religious leader. It was to this good man that Jesus said, "You must be born again." In other words, unless a man/woman is born again he will not even see the kingdom of God/heaven let alone enter it.

"You must be born again," meant that Nicodemus, like everybody else, needed to be born spiritually (as well as physically) if he is to enter God's heaven.

Once, after addressing a group of church workers, the famous evangelist Dwight Moody was confronted by an angry person. "Mr. Moody," she said, "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 [that is, born spiritually]."

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 spiritually. But how can we do this?

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

If you're not sure that you have been born again spiritually, you can beâ€"right nowâ€"by sincerely praying a prayer such as the following:

"Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner and ask for your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus, your Son, died on the cross to pay the consequences and penalty for all my sins. And, dear Jesus, I thank you for doing this for me. Please come into my life as Savior and Lord and help me to become the person you want me to be and to live always for you. Thank you for your forgiveness and the assurance that I will spend eternity with you in heaven forever."


NOTE: For more information read "Born Again People" at: http://www.actsweb.org/art_bornagain1.htm

1. John 3:3(NIV).

<:))))><

2. To Know God and be sure you're a real
    Christian click on:

3. Donate: To help send Daily Encounter
    without charge to people around the world
    click on:

4. To send today's Daily Encounter to a friend
    click on:

5. To share your faith in a simple, attractive
    way with a friend click on:

6. For today's featured article click on:

7. This week's chuckle as seen "On the Lighter
    Side"  on Weekend Encounter click on:

8. Change Address of your subscription to
    Daily Encounter click on: