Born again

John 3:3, Jesus answered him, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again, he cannot ever see [gk: eido] the kingdom of God (KJV) John 3:5, Jesus answered, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, unless a man is born of water and [ even] the Spirit, he cannot [ever] enter [gk :eiserchomai] the kingdom of God. (AMP) Greek word SEE eido - to be aware of, to know, to be acquainted with, to be with spiritual perception or understanding Greek word ENTER eiserchomai - to enter, arise, come in The Kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom. The physical eyes cannot see the spiritual kingdom. One can only see it or be aware of the spiritual kingdom with the spiritual eyes. A person can only enter the Kingdom of God by being born of water and the Spirit. Let us understand some spiritual truths of being born again from the meeting and dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus:

1. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and ruler among the Jews

John 3:1, NOW THERE was a certain man among the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler (a leader, an authority) among the Jews (AMP) Being a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews, Nicodemus was well acquainted with Moses and the prophets. He was a reputed and respected leader of his day.

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2.Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night

John 3:2, Who came to Jesus at night (AMP) Night symbolizes darkness. Nicodemus was still in darkness as He was born of the flesh a natural man. He coming to Jesus represents him drawing near to the true LIGHT

3. Nicodemus calls Jesus, Master [Rabbi] and acknowledges Him to be a teacher from God
John 3:2, The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. (KJV)

4. Nicodemus does not perceive Jesus to be the Christ the Son of the living God, but only perceives Him to be a Master, teacher and miracle worker
John 3:2a, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Nicodemus had limited vision He looked only in the natural He perceives Jesus to be a teacher from God because of the wisdom and astonishing teachings [doctrines] He understands that no one can do the kind of miracles Jesus did unless God be with Him

5. Peter gets a foretaste from heaven

Matthew 16:16, Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
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Matthew 16:17, And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. The Father revealed Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God Peter could not have known this without the Father revealing it to him Flesh and blood cannot reveal or understand the spiritual Although Nicodemus knew the scriptures, he had no insight or revelation to who Jesus really was.

WHY DO WE NEED TO GET BORN AGAIN?

1. Nicodemus is physically alive but spiritually dead
Ephesians 2:1, who were once dead in trespasses and sins Colossians 2:13, And you, being dead in your sins Romans 3:23, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We, like Nicodemus were dead in our sins and trespasses, not aware or acquainted with the Kingdom of God because we were dead in spirit. This is the natural man who is born of the flesh. We must be made alive in our spirit to step into the Kingdom of God. The reason is because all died spiritually when sin entered the human race.

2. Two Births Natural and Spiritual

John 3:7, What is born of [from] the flesh is flesh [of the physical is physical]; and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. (AMP) Man is born in this world from his father and mother: this is a physical birth
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 Born again is when you are born of the Word and the Spirit of God: this is a spiritual birth

3. Nicodemus represents the natural man who cant perceive, understand and judge spiritual things
John 3:4, Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb again and be born? (KJV) 1Corinithians 2:14, But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated. (AMP)

4. Nicodemus needed a spiritual transformation because

Romans 3:23, the Apostle Paul wrote, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The Bible teaches that from Adam until present time, mankind has been born spiritually dead, inherited down from Adam's sin. This is why humanity MUST be bornagain. This is only possible through the Holy Spirit of God, which makes us alive again by faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior.

5. Jesus spoke about the Pharisees which included Nicodemus

Matthew 5:20, For I tell you, unless your righteousness (your uprightness and your right standing with God) is more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
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6. A natural child is conceived and born from the corruptible seed(sperm) of man
John 3:6, That which is born of the flesh is flesh

7. A spiritual child is born-again through the Word and the Spirit of God
1Peter 1:23, You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm), but from one that is immortal by the ever living and lasting Word of God. (AMP)

8. A spiritual (born again) man perceives, understands and judges all things
1Corinthians 2:15a, But the spiritual man tries all things [he examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things] (AMP)

HOW CAN A PERSON BE BORN AGAIN?

1. Believing (Faith) and repentance go together
Acts 20:21, Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable. The person who truly believes will certainly repent.

2. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and receive eternal life

Acts 16:31, 32, And they answered, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ [give yourself up to Him, take yourself out of your own keeping and entrust yourself into His keeping] and you will be saved, [and this applies both to] you and your household as well.

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32

And they declared the Word of the Lord [the doctrine concerning the attainment

through Christ of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God] to him and to all who were in his house. (AMP) John 3:16, For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten ( unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life. (AMP)

3. Acknowledge and confess with your mouth and believe in your heart
Romans 10:9, 10, Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
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For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so

is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation.

4. Believe Jesus is the Son of God

Acts 8:31, And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he (Ethiopian eunuch) answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (KJV)

5. Believe there is salvation in no other name or person, but Jesus

Acts 4:12, And there is salvation in and through no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by and in which we must be saved (AMP).

6. Believe Jesus is the Christ

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1John 5:1, EVERYONE WHO believes (adheres to, trusts, and relies on the fact) that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah) is a born-again child of God; and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of Him (His offspring). (AMP)

7. Believe, receive and welcome Jesus, who is the WORD made flesh and the true LIGHT
John 1:1, IN THE beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. (AMP) John 1:14, And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us (AMP) John 1:9, There it wasthe true Light [was then] coming into the world [the genuine, perfect, steadfast Light] that illumines every person. (AMP)

8. Repent metanoeo to think differently / renew your mind

We understand that a person who has believed has repented. The Jews who were cut from the heart by the preaching of Peter on the day of Pentecost asked the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37 KJV) Peter replied, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:38 KJV) When Peter preached the message on the day of Pentecost, the Jews who gladly received the Word got baptized in water and joined the church.

9. We are born of Water the WORD of GOD

The Word of God is compared to water so when we accept and acknowledge the Word preached to us; we are cleansed and receive eternal life. Ephesians 4:26, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word (KJV)
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John 15:3, You are cleansed and pruned already, because of the word which I have given you [the teachings I have discussed with you]. (AMP)

10. We are born again through the resurrection of Jesus Christ

1Peter 1:3, Praised (honored, blessed) be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)! By His boundless mercy we have been born again to an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (AMP)

11. We are ONE with the SPIRIT baptized into Christ

1Corinthians 12:13, For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body. (KJV)

12. We must understand that it is the LORD that calls, accepts and chooses us
1 Peter 2:9 , But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light Ezekiel 20:41, I will accept you as fragrant incense when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will show myself holy among you in the sight of the nations. Isaiah 41:9, I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, 'You are my servant'; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE ARE BORN AGAIN?

1. We are made alive by the Word and the Spirit; and are forgiven of all our sins.
Ephesians 2:1, And He has made you alive, who were once dead in trespasses and sins Ephesians 2:5, (even when we were dead in sins) has made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are saved) Colossians 2:13, And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses

2. My spirit is regenerated by the Spirit of God through Christ Jesus

Titus 3:5, He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but because of His own pity and mercy, by [the] cleansing [bath] of the new birth (regeneration) and renewing of the Holy Spirit, Titus 3:6, Which He poured out [so] richly upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior.[AMP]

3. We are rescued from the Kingdom of Darkness

Colossians 1:13, He has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves. We are rescued from the Kingdom of darkness by our Father and are now placed in the Kingdom of His Son Jesus. Before we are born again, we are only natural and cannot perceive and understand spiritual things.
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4. We are awakened from our sleep

Ephesians 5:14, Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

5. We are no more in darkness but now are children of LIGHT

Ephesians 5:8, For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.

6. We have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness

Ephesians 5:11, And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them

7. We are a NEW CREATION in Christ Jesus

2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come! (AMP)

8. We are made the righteous of God in Christ Jesus

2 Corinthians 5:21, For him who had no knowledge of sin God made to be sin for us; so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. (BBE)

Final Word:
The Gospel or good news of Jesus Christ is not good advice to be obeyed; it is good news to be believed. It is putting faith in all that Jesus has done for us His Death and
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Resurrection. It is an understanding of your NOW - throne position in the Kingdom of God because of the shed blood, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Do not make the mistake then of thinking that the Gospel is a call to duty, a call to better your condition, to behave yourself in a more perfect way than you have been doing in the past. It is not outward behavior modification but an internal spiritual transformation which leads to the right behavior model. The call is given by the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When people don't seek the truth and are not born again. They were called but never chosen because they are hard hearted and disobedient. 1Peter 2:7, 9, ...but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. We are born again by the Word of God. Jesus is the Word of God. Revelation 19:13, He is dressed in a robe dyed by dipping in blood, and the title by which He is called is The Word of God. If you're born once, then you die TWICE; if you're born twice, then you die ONCE. In Christ, Godwin Sequeira

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