Based on John 3:1-15 (New King James Version)
“There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ Nicodemus answered and said to Him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
In this passage, we read the most important principle that exists in the Word of God so people can be saved. A person will or will not enter heaven, or obtain eternal life or not, depending on how they understand this passage. So then, it is obvious that you have to try to understand it, meditate in it, and act in a precise manner. It doesn’t mean that it is difficult, because it really isn’t. What is most important is “how” it is understood and what winds up happening with this knowledge.
The first aspect that needs to be seen is that it is not a matter of intellect or study, but rather, of disposition. We see an important religious person (Nicodemus) struggling to understand what the Lord is trying to explain to him. This was an extremely well-educated person, especially in the Scriptures. A person like him could recite from memory any part of the Old Testament, word-for-word. He had not only learned the Scriptures, but also, he learned everything involved with their writing; the context, the history, etc. Nonetheless, and despite his human intellect and years upon years of study, we see that all that effort and knowledge was not helping him. The Bible teaches us that we need to make ourselves like children so that we can enter the kingdom of God, and a child does not have years of study. What a child has is that they don’t question what is being taught. They are sensitive enough to God to accept it and believe it. Having that kind of disposition is what makes being born again in Christ possible. You need faith, at least enough to be able to believe and to start learning from the Lord. And since it is not about intellect, then what you need is the heart; the desire to want to submit to God, to accept what He wants you to do. For it is written: “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:8-10. The only intellect needed is the ability to understand the Word that is being shared.
How do you come to be born again? The Lord said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Being born of water represents John the Baptist’s baptism, the baptism of repentance. This baptism is not literal, by being immersed in water (like the baptism of the believer, the one that was established after the Lord’s resurrection). So then, being born of water is when a person confesses all of their sins before God, repenting and turning away from all their sins, completely converting to God. That is why the baptism of repentance that John demonstrated was by immersion, in other words, when one completely buries the old man and comes up from the water as a new and washed person by God. And being born of the Spirit happens after repentance, when a person believes with all of their heart who Jesus really is (our God, our Lord, and Savior), that He died, He was buried, and at the third day, He was resurrected and raised by God. And believing this, they ask God to come into their life and heart. When these two things are done, with all their heart, that is when a person comes to be born again, being regenerated by God. Then a great miracle occurs; God through the Holy Spirit comes to live inside a person’s heart.
When this new birth happens, then the first and greatest step a person could ever take is established. But, so this can happen effectively, there needs to be two things that are essential; so they can come to salvation and so they can follow the eternal path that is laid down by the same salvation God gives through His Son Jesus Christ. And these two things are: that you need to understand who Jesus really is, and that you need to start loving Him. Since it is a new birth, it’s a beginning, but a beginning and a foundation so that other things can come. The Word teaches us this about Jesus: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:1-4. Jesus was God made flesh, so He was 100% man, but also 100% God. He was made flesh so He could be the sacrifice for all of our sins, but He was and is God, the Eternal God, the Alpha and Omega (the beginning and the end) also. And the second thing is that our relationship with God must be set only on love. At minimum, when we start on this path, our love for Jesus starts. And the same love should continue growing over time. For it is written: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.” Matthew 22:36-38.
So then, you are born, you follow, and you obey God because of love; never out of obligation, but being conscious about who Jesus is: He is God. Our life should start with Christ (at some point), and continue by following Christ for who He is and for what He did for us, and obeying without question because our end, or rather, our eternal continuity depends on Him. So then, are you pursuing Jesus with all of your heart? Lord bless! John