From the Book, Rules For Life: According To Jesus

2. Be Born Again 

Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.  So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You [plural] must be born again.’”

John 3:5-7

As important as repentance is, it isn’t enough to get right with God. We must also be born of the Spirit of God. But what does this mean? The man He told this to at the time didn’t get it at first (even though he was a priest), and a lot of people today don’t get it either. 

Is He speaking literally (physically)? No, not hardly. Rather, He is speaking of a spiritual transformation that miraculously happens when God, the Father, gives a person the gift of faith in what Jesus did for us (die on the cross). Something that no one who ever lived could do by any means (because only Jesus never sinned and His death was attributed to all those who did sin, and accept it).

Here is how it works: God gives the gift of faith; the person receives it realizing that he/she could never be “good enough” through any effort of their own to satisfy God’s demand of perfection in us (imperfect humans); the person then gives their life over to Jesus for Him to rule over. That’s when the teachings of this post begin to kick in. 

Unless a person accepts the free gift of God for their reconciliation with the Creator, nothing else in this collection will do them any good toward their eternal destiny. Oh sure, one could follow these instructions and be a really “good” person, but they will not be good enough to satisfy God’s standard of perfection. We don’t depend on our goodness to save us; we depend on Jesus’ goodness to save us. And this comes to us by believing that His work is sufficient to do that (and that we need it). And that gift of believing is not even something that we can conjure up on our own; it has to be imparted (given) to us by the Father.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Ephesians 2:8-9

That, in a nutshell, is what we call “The Gospel”, which means “Good News”. The good news is that all of the requirements of literally every religion known to man are null and void in making us “right” with God.  Whatever good things one can find in any religion (and there are many) none of them will ever accomplish that one, crucial thing. It is only through our repentance (a change of heart) and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross that we can be made right with God.

This takes all human effort out of the equation of being reconciled with God. Repentance is more of an attitude than an effort. It isn’t something done, literally, just felt.

It is this commandment from Jesus that removes all religion from having any legitimacy in the eyes of God. And if someone tries to turn Christianity (the message of the cross) into a religion, then they have missed the point altogether. Jesus did what no one else (you) could ever do.

Previous – Repent | Next – Place God First

Sections in this study:
Introduction
1: Repent
2: Be Born Again
3: Place God First
4: Love and Serve One Another
5: Live By Faith
6: Forgive Others
7: Remain in Jesus
8: Live Righteously Before Men
9: Avoid Bad Influences
10: Stay On The Narrow Path
11: Do Not Return Evil With Evil
12: Give More Than Is Demanded
13: Love Your Enemies
14: Check Your Motives
15: Pray Simply
16: Do Not Worry
17: Store Up Treasures In Heaven
18: Do Not Be Judgmental
19: Guard what is Sacred
20: Care For Those In Distress
21: Do Not Swear Oaths
22: Watch out for false prophets
23: Exercise Spiritual Power
24: Have Childlike Faith
25: Do Not Exalt Yourself
26: Settle Disputes Quickly
27: Settle Disputes Between Believers
28: Do not Oppose Brethren
29: Remember Me
30: Be Merciful
31: Make Disciples
32: Be Ready
33: Obey Jesus’ Commands
Closing Comments