Jesus said that anyone expecting to go to Heaven must be born again or born ‘from above’. What in the world can that mean?
Being born again is the way Jesus said we can prepare ourselves to be acceptable to God. John the apostle remembered the words of Jesus and wrote them for us 50-60 years afterward Jesus said them. It was part of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John Chapter Three. He said ‘You must be born again.’ As he continued to discuss this with Nicodemus, he told him that ‘God so loved the world (us, people) that he gave his only son, (that is Jesus, himself) that whoever believes in him will not perish (that is, be judged and sent to hell and receive punishment for their sins) but he will have have everlasting life.”
John actually explains this in the 1st chapter of his Gospel in verses 10-13. They read like this: “He (Jesus) was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to his own (the Jewish people) and His own did not receive Him. But, as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God; even to those who believe in His name! (now notice this:) (they) who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man….but of God!….(this is how we are born again!) Born….of God or by God, and it happens because we believe his word and testimony that he will give everlasting life….not the life we received from our earthly parents…..but the life that comes from God!!
You might ask, ”How do I receive Him?” A very good question! We do so by faith! God approves of us when we believe Him. And believing Him is FAITH IN HIM AND HIS WORD! So….we tell Him….with our words that we BELIEVE AND WANT TO RECEIVE HIM AND HIS WORD. The next part of this is for God’s Holy Spirit to make you realize that He has heard you. And He will do it. It may be ‘at the very moment’ or it may be at a later time….but as you keep telling HIM that you believe Him, He will confirm His Promise to you by His Spirit!! This account is confirmed in Galatians 3:26, where Paul writes: “For you (Galatian brethren) are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
John 5: 24 (Jesus is speaking) ”Verily, verily i say unto you, ‘He that hears my word and believes on Him that sent Me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation (judgment), but is passed from death unto life.”‘ Think: everlasting life is the ‘life’ that comes from a new or different birth than our 1st birth….is it not from a birth that comes from God? )
A few scriptures that confirm that this is what the Bible is teaching from Genesis through the entire Bible:
Genesis 15:6 Abram believed God and He counted it for righteousness. (This
kind of righteousness is what is required to have Eternal Life.)
Romans 4:3 “What does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was
counted to him for righteousness.”
Galatians 3:6 “…Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for
righteousness.”
James 1:18 “Of His own will has He begotten us (birthed us) by the Word of
Truth.”
1 Peter 1:23 “…you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of
imperishable, through the living and abiding Word of God.”
This righteousness is from God; imputed to the believing person since God sees the believer in Christ. Philippians 3:9 puts it this way: “….being found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own, derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.”
This message is proclaim and portrayed over and over in the Scriptures from Genesis through The Revelation. And the question each person should ask himself is the question Paul addresses in Romans 9:3: “For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own (righteousness) they (the Jews) did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
Jesus says, “He that believes on Me has everlasting life.” “Guess what will happen if we tell people this? Some will believe and have everlasting life.” (Quote from Ray Stanford).
Frank Huston
