Jesus’ Words in Red
'You must be born again.'
Jesus said to
Nicodemus
'You must be born again.'
Nicodemus questions
what does this mean
Being born again is
now a popular term
Particular in
Christian evangelism
Have you ever asked
yourself what Jesus meant?
If you are born again
how would you explain it to someone else?
If you are not born
again how can you become born again?
'You must be born again'
John 3:5-8
Jesus answered, "I tell you the
truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the
Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You
should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'
Nicodemus being a Jewish Pharisee, was very much
aware of God’s promise to the seed of Abraham.
God made a promise to Abraham…
The LORD appeared to
Abram and said,
"To your
offspring I will give this land."
Genesis 12:7
In John 8, Jesus says…
"If you hold to my teaching,
you are really my disciples.
Then you will know the truth, and
the truth will set you free."
They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants
and have never been slaves of anyone.
How can you say that
we shall be set free?"
Jesus replied, "I tell you the
truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
Now a slave has no permanent place
in the family,
but a son belongs to it forever. V31-35 NIV
The Jews are claiming their rights as
Children of Abraham and Jesus
recognized they are Abraham’s
seed and descendants.
John 8:56
Yet, Jesus also said…
John 8:39
"If you were Abraham's
children," said Jesus,
"then you would do the things
Abraham did.
Jesus was making it clear that being born of
Abraham does not give you excess into Heaven.
Romans 4:3
What does the Scripture say?
"Abraham believed
God, and it
was credited to him as
righteousness."
It was faith that God honored in Abraham’s life.
Abraham received the promise by faith and his
offspring would have to receive it the same way.
This is why Jesus said…
“Flesh gives birth to flesh,
but the Spirit gives birth to
spirit.”
John 3:5
Our hope is in the fact that the Spirit of God that raised
Jesus from the dead, will raise us also from the dead.
You and I, Jew or Gentile, cannot be a child
of God unless the Spirit of God lives in us.
You, however, are
controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God
lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not
belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin,
yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who
raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead
will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Romans
8:9-11 NIV
David cried out to the Lord in
his sinful position and said…
“Take not thy Holy
Spirit from me”
David knew the only thing that can change us,
the only way we can become Children of God,
is to have God’s
Spirit.
We are all creations of God…
But only those born
of the Holy Spirit have
the right to become the Children of God.
Abraham clearly showed us
how to receive the Holy Spirit…
“Abraham believed God
and it was
credited to Him as righteousness”
Abraham walked in the Spirit,
the Words of God,
although hard to understand
were believed by Abraham.
“Believe” is a verb the action of the noun “faith”
Abraham acted on the Word of the Holy Spirit.
Have you been born
again?
Born of the Spirit that transformed Abraham
and had the power to raise Jesus from the dead?
Scripture Reading
NIV
John 3:3-15
3 In reply Jesus declared, "I
tell you the truth,
no one can see the kingdom of God
unless he is born again."
4 "How can a man be born when he is old?"
Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's
womb to be born!"
5 Jesus answered, "I tell you
the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and
the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8 The
wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where
it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the
Spirit."
9 "How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.
10 "You are Israel's
teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not
understand these things? 11 I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and
we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our
testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe;
how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever
gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven — the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the
desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in
him may have eternal life.
2 Corinthians 5:17-18
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come!
Titus 3:4-8
5 he saved us, not
because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us
through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured
out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified
by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
1 Peter 1:3-5
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can
never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you,
1 Peter 1:23
23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but
of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
1 John 2:29
29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone
who does what is right has been born of him.
1 John 3:9-10
9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because
God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of
God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of
the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor
is anyone who does not love his brother.
1 John 4:7-8
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from
God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
John 5:1-5
5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born
of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is
how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out
his commands. 3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands
are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the
victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
1 John 5:18-19
18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin;
the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.
John 1:12-13
12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his
name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of
natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
