JOHN 3:1\u20133<\/b><\/p>\n
In reply Jesus declared, \u201cI tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
(John 3:3)<\/i>.<\/p>\n
For a more complete understanding of election we will spend a few days considering regeneration as a result of God\u2019s calling. Without regeneration we cannot be conformed to Christ.<\/p>\n
Once a man came to me and said, \u201cI\u2019d like to be a Christian, but I don\u2019t want to be one of those born-again types.\u201d What he meant by \u201cborn again\u201d was a certain kind of Christian who wears his faith on his sleeve, which this man considered offensive. I hastened to assure him that no one can be a Christian without being born again. In our society, being \u201cborn again\u201d has come to be associated with a certain kind of experience. In theology, however, the idea of rebirth is the same as the idea of regeneration. No particular kind of experience is needed. What is necessary is a transition into God\u2019s kingdom. One way or another, every branch of the Christian church has a doctrine of being \u201cborn again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nicodemus Comes in Darkness<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
As we begin our consideration of rebirth, let us look at Jesus\u2019 encounter with Nicodemus, recorded in John 3. We find in verse 1 that Nicodemus was \u201ca man of the Pharisees\u201d and also \u201ca member of the Jewish ruling council.\u201d As a Pharisee, he was highly educated in theology, and as a member of the Council, he ranked with a cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church.<\/p>\n
Unlike so many other Pharisees, Nicodemus accepted Jesus as a \u201cteacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with Him\u201d (v. 2). Nicodemus seems to have been genuinely inquiring about Jesus\u2019 ministry.<\/p>\n
Jesus answered Nicodemus\u2019s gracious words by stating that unless a person is born again, he or she cannot see the kingdom of God. By saying this, Jesus cut down all of Nicodemus\u2019 human accomplishments. His theological knowledge and his political good works would count for nothing unless he was born again. Jesus made rebirth an absolute necessity for entrance into His kingdom.<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
Nearness to the kingdom doesn\u2019t count. Nicodemus was as close as any man, but was still far away. Either you are born again or you are not. How certain are you today of being born again into God\u2019s kingdom?<\/p>\n
For further study: John 1:12\u201313; Titus 3:3\u20138; 1 Peter 1:17\u201325<\/i><\/p>\n
tuesday<\/p>\n
august<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JOHN 3:1\u20133 In reply Jesus declared, \u201cI tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God\u201d (John 3:3). For a more complete understanding of election we will spend a few days considering regeneration as a result of God\u2019s calling. Without regeneration we cannot be conformed to Christ. … Continue reading “MUST I BE BORN AGAIN?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10983\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}