The Gospel

Born Again

Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. This is interesting because Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He spent his life studying the law of God. He was regarded as one of the spiritual leaders of Israel. He comes to Jesus at night and Jesus tells him that the law is not enough. He in essence tells Nicodemus that you cannot be good enough to get into the kingdom of God. You must be born again

Of course Nicodemus does not understand what Jesus is talking about.

4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

Nicodemus believes that this is impossible. How can a person be born again. This is an interesting question. Jesus answered:

Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.

Born of water and Spirit

Jesus tells Nicodemus that it is not enough to just be born in the flesh. A person must also be born n the water. This means that a person must be cleansed from their sin. Just as water makes the body clean, the water that Jesus is referring to is what makes the soul clean. The forgiveness of God cleanses the soul.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

When a person places their faith and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, He forgives them of their sin and cleanses them from all unrighteousness. When you receive the birth of the water the wrath of God is removed from you. this means that you are forgiven completely. Never to bear the wrath of God for sins committed in the past or in the future. You have been washed in the blood of the lamb. I love the 4th verse of Washed in the blood.

Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin, And be washed in the blood of the Lamb; There’s a fountain flowing for the soul unclean, O be washed in the blood of the Lamb.

Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin, And be washed in the blood of the Lamb; There’s a fountain flowing for the soul unclean, O be washed in the blood of the Lamb.

Not only does a person need the cleansing that comes from forgiveness, they must also be born of the Spirit. This means that Spirit of God takes up residents in your heart. The Spirit of God that is in the heart of every believer continually testifies that Jesus is Lord. He guides the believer into all truth. The Holy Spirit guides the steps of a believer to fulfill the calling and purpose God has for the believer.

21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Jesus places His Spirit within us to guarantee our salvation. Once you receive the Holy Spirit it is He that enables you to persevere.

The Spirit of God is like the wind.

Jesus says that the wind blows but we do not where it comes from or where it is going. He does say that we do see and hear the evidence of the wind. We here the wind as it howls by. We see the wind as the trees and grass bow. The evidence of the wind is apparent.

So is the one who receives the Spirit. You don’t physically see the Spirit in the person, but you certainly see the change. They are a new person.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin—

Believe In Jesus

Jesus reminds Nicodemus that just as the Israelites defied Moses an God and were living in a state of rebellion, they had to pay a penalty for their sin. So God sent serpents to bite them.

4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea,[c] to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”

6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

The Israelites were not happy with their accommodations and grew impatient. They lost their trust in God and blamed Him for leading them into the desert to die. They failed to recognize the truth of God and believed a lie.

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

The Israelites knew God, but they didn’t bring glory to Him or give thanks for what He had done. They gave themselves over to the thought that God was evil and led them to an impending death.

God disciplined them by sending venomous vipers to bite them. The only way they could escape death was to look at the bronze snake God provided for healing. They had to go to the place where the staff and snake were. They had to look at the snake and believe that they would be healed.

We are like the Israelites

We all live in a rebellious state against God.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

So we all have impending death upon us

Just as God provided a means to save the Israelites, He has provided a way for us to be healed from the venom of sin that runs through our veins.

14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,[f] 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

Jesus was lifted up on a cross and provides salvation to all that believe that what He did on the cross was enough to heal you of your sin.

Jesus Saves!

God loves, God gave, we believe, we receive eternal life. We must not lose sight of the fact that God loves all people. He loves the world. He knows that man cannot save himself. He gave His Son Jesus Christ to pay our sin debt. You must believe that Jesus died for you personally and believe that he has the power to forgive you and save you. When you do this you are promised that you will not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus doesn’t come to condemn but to save

Many people are afraid to come to Jesus for fear that they will be judged by Him. The Bible is clear that he does not want to judge but to save. He desires to make the sinner whole. AS a matter of fact when you do believe in Jesus the Word of God says you are not judged. Only the person that does not believe in Jesus is judged.

Jesus judges the unbelievers

The fundamental key of judgement is the love of a persons heart. The scriptures say that when a person loves their sin more than they love Jesus they will follow their sin. A person cannot practice sin and follow Jesus at the same time.

4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or [b]knows Him. 7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil [c]has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one who is [d]born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is [e]born of God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: [f]anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

The unbeliever is the one who remains in sin. They have no love for God. They have become their own god.

Jesus empowers the believer

The person that believes and walks in Christ demonstrates the deeds wrought in God.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

God has prepared good works for us to do. The Holy Spirit guides us into those works.

13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.