About 33 A.D. there lived in the city of Jerusalem a gentleman by the name of Nicodemus. He was a ruler of the Jewish nation and a member of their Sanhedrin. He was religiously connected with a respectable denomination called the Pharisees, a group that was intensely focused on their religious practices.
During the Passover week, when many strangers from around the world were in the city, there was a considerable stir concerning one, Jesus of Nazareth, who was at that time in Jerusalem. He had been working miracles and had turned out of the Temple those who had turned it into a market.
This caused a great sensation among the more religious of the people, and the denomination to which Nicodemus belonged united against Him. Despite all this, Nicodemus was unsatisfied. He would not be led by public opinion, but was determined to go and hear for himself. So after it was dark one night, he set off alone to have an interview with Jesus. The interview resulted in this religious gentleman’s eventual conversion. Previous to that night, he had been a follower of the religious customs of that day, but afterward he became a possessor of salvation and a follower of Christ. Let’s see how it happened.
New Life, Not Religion
This startled Nicodemus; it was entirely new to him. He believed in men being religious and keeping the feasts. But he didn’t know anything about being “born again.” Before he had time to be puzzled over the new doctrine, Jesus told him something else more startling still. It was this: “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” Not only wicked men like drunkards and thieves need to be born again, but you your own self need to be born again.
This cuts at the root of all human religion. It matters not how “good” people are or “what church” they belong to or how often they “take the sacrament.” Jesus says they must be born again, or never enter God’s kingdom. It doesn’t matter even if they “say their prayers and read their Bibles,” and “do the best they can”; if they are not born again, they cannot see the kingdom of God and they must be in hell for all eternity. It’s “must be,” not “you might want to consider.”
Perhaps you don’t believe this. Now, if any man could have gone to heaven without new birth, that man was Nicodemus, and yet to him the Savior said, “Ye must be born again.”
You must be born again.
Not because you are worse than your neighbors,
Not because you sometimes lose your temper,
Not because you are a very wicked person,
But because you are a sinner, a sinner at the core.
You were born a sinner, you grew up a sinner, and you are a sinner still, with a sinner’s nature. “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.” Not even one. Why? Because they were born that way. We cannot be reformed so as to please God; we cannot be improved so as to gain heaven. We need to be made new. We cannot bear the fruit of the Spirit so long as we are in the flesh, any more than a bramble bush could grow apples or a thorn tree grow cherries. It is not a little help we need to make us all right — it is not a good religious education — it is a new life. And this new life must come from somewhere outside ourselves; we cannot find it within ourselves — we cannot earn it by our works.
A blacksmith once said: “I have often tried to be good; I have often made resolutions to live better, but this being born again is beyond me: I have never tried that.” It was something he could have no hand in; it is God’s work.
Is it Personal for You?
Have you found this out for yourself?
What does being born again mean?
It is not being baptized with water.
It is not becoming religious, or making a new start.
It is not turning over a new leaf, or joining a society.
None of these things, nor all of them put together, is being born again.
Some people think that when they reform, it is the same thing as being born again, but that’s a great mistake. A young man once told us he was “quite sure he would be in heaven, because he didn’t drink now.” “Very good, sir; glad to hear it, but are you born again?” He knew nothing about that. He was as unprepared for heaven as he had ever been.
A preacher of the gospel once told us that he had preached to others for seven years before he knew God’s salvation for himself.
What a terrible work! It’s time that some other religious men and women were asking themselves this question: Am I born again? or, do I just go to church and keep up a profession because it is a respectable thing?
Have you been born again? Think about this seriously. Remember that nothing else will do instead, and nothing but this will fit you for being in heaven.
What must I do to be
born again?
Nicodemus asked almost the same question: “How can a man be born when he is old? ... How can these things be?”
Listen to God’s answers to his questions: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,” and “as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”
Notice, He did not say, “As many as are sorry for their sins,” but, “As many as received Him ... even ... them that believe on His name.” When a man enlists, he becomes a soldier. When a man receives Jesus Christ, he becomes a Christian, or, in other words, he has become God’s child — he has been born of God.
Have you received Jesus as your Savior? Can you say, “Jesus is mine — my Savior; He has saved me”? If you have received Jesus, then God has received you — you have become a child of God and a joint-heir with Christ.
Don’t I Need to Feel Different?
But must I not feel a change?
Certainly you will. But what kind of change do you expect and when do you expect to feel it? When the doctor gives you medicine, do you expect to feel better before you take it or after? When your friend brought you that gift, did you feel it was yours before or after you received it? It’s the same with salvation; you cannot expect to feel saved when you are not. You cannot expect to know that Jesus has saved you until you have received Him.
Many people are “waiting for a change.”
They want to feel a burden roll off; then they think that they will feel “nice” and “happy.” God’s way is: Receive Christ first, and the change will come along afterwards, but don’t wait until you feel a change before you accept God’s remedy, or you may die in your guilt and perish eternally.
Don’t wait to feel anything; rest where God rests in Christ. Christ has so glorified God that God can send a message of love to you and say, “God is satisfied.” Now, are you?
Find out more about forgetting about religious works and trust Jesus Christ’s finished work of salvation in A Muslim’s Dream.