<John 3:1-6>
"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.'"

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF BEING BORN AGAIN ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE?

In this world, there are many who want to be born again by believing in Jesus. But I would like to tell you first that being born again is not up to us, in other words, it cannot be obtained through our deeds.


Is being born again related to
physical emotion and change?
No. Being born again is related to spiritual change.
It is for a sinner to be born again as a sinless man.

Most Christians have this misconception. They believe that they are sure to be born again because they have built many new churches, because some devote themselves to preaching Christ as missionaries among unreached peoples in the hinterland, because some refuse to get married and spend all their energy doing what they believe is the work of God.

And that is not all. There are also people who donate large amount of money to their church, or maybe they sweep the floor of the church every day. All in all, they devote their time and properties to the church. And they believe all these efforts will earn them the crown of life. They hope that God will recognize their efforts and allow them to be born again.

The point is that there are many devoted people who want to be born again. They are found everywhere. They work hard, hoping that someday God will bless them and allow them to be born again. They are found in the prayer institutions, seminaries, and sanatoriums. It is so unfortunate that they do not know the truth about being born again.

They all think in terms of their deeds, "If I do this perfectly, I will be born again." Therefore they put all their efforts into these works, believing that they are building the foundation necessary to be born again, and thinking, "I, too, shall be born again someday, like Rev. Wesley!" And reading John 3:8, they interpret the verse to mean that no one can tell where the blessing of being born again comes from or where it is going.

Therefore they can only work hard in hopes that Jesus will allow them to be born again some day. There are many who think, "If I keep trying like this, Jesus will allow me to be born again some day. I will become born again without even being aware of it. Some morning I will simply wake up born again and know that I am destined for heaven." Oh, how fruitless their hopes and their faith are!

We can never be born again that way! We can never be born again by staying away from booze and cigarettes, or by attending church diligently. As Jesus said, we have to "be born again of water and the Spirit" to enter the kingdom of God. And the water and the Spirit are God's only conditions for being born again.

Unless one is born again of water and the Spirit, all his efforts to be righteous before Jesus are in vain. One can never be born again with offerings, donations, or devotion. He may think that because only God knows who are the born again, he cannot know whether he is born again or not.

It might be a comfort to him to think this way, but being born again cannot be hidden under the table. He would definitely know it himself, and others around him would feel it also.

We would probably not feel it physically, but we would definitely feel it very well spiritually. The truly born again are those believers reborn through the word of God, the words of water, blood and the Spirit. But those who are not born again will not understand it just as Nicodemus could not.

Therefore we have to listen to the words of the truth, the redemption through the baptism and blood of Jesus. As we listen and learn the word of God, we can find the truth therein. Therefore it is very important to open our minds and listen carefully.

"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" (John 3 : 8 ).

When a person who is not born again reads this passage, he thinks, "Ah! Jesus said that I cannot know when I am born again! Nobody knows!" And the thought gives him comfort. But this is not true. We may not know where the wind comes from or where it goes, but God knows all.

Even among the born again, there are some who do not realize it in the beginning. This is understandable. But within such a man's heart, there is the gospel: the words of redemption through the baptism and blood of Jesus.

This is the testimony to being born again. He who hears the gospel and realizes, "Oh, then I am without sin. Then, I have been saved and born again." When he believes and keeps the gospel of the water and the Spirit in his heart, he becomes righteous, a child of God.

Someone might be asked, "Are you born again?" and he would answer, "Not yet." "Then, are you saved?" "Yes, I believe I am saved." But he makes a contradictory statement, doesn't he? He does so because he thinks that when a person is born again, he should also be changed in his flesh.

Such people regard being born again as something like a radical change in lifestyle. But the truth is that they do not understand the gospel of being born again of water and the Spirit.

There are so many who do not understand the meaning of being born again. It is such a pity. It is not only laymen, but most of the church leaders who are operating under this delusion. The hearts of those of us who are born again mourn for these people.

When we feel this way, how much more pain does it cause Jesus our God in heaven? Let us all be born again by believing in the gospel of being born again of the baptism of Jesus and His blood at the Cross.

To be born again and to be saved means the same thing. But there are many who do not know this truth. To be born again means that the sin in one's heart has been washed away through belief in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It means to become righteous through faith in the baptism of Jesus and His sacrifice at the Cross.

Before being born again, man is a sinner, but after, he is completely without sin as a new person. He has become a child of God by believing in the gospel of salvation.

Being born again means wearing the clothes of the baptism of Jesus, dying at the Cross with Jesus, and being resurrected with Him. It means that one has become righteous through the words of the baptism and the Cross of Jesus.

When one is born from the womb of his mother, he is a sinner. But when he has heard the true gospel of being born again of water and the Spirit, he is then born again and becomes righteous.

Outwardly he seems no different, but he is born again inside, in his spirit. This is what it means to be born again. But there are so few who know this truth; not even one out of ten thousand. Can you agree with me that there are so few who understand the true meaning of being born again?

Those who believe the gospel of the water and the Spirit and are born again can distinguish the truly born again from common Christians.


IT IS JESUS WHO CONTROLS THE WIND

who can know who is saved?
Only the 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." Jesus was talking about those who have not been born again. The born again know about being born again, but Nicodemus didn't. God knows who is born again, and the born again themselves also know it.

But those who are not born again do not know how a man can be born again just as they do not know where the wind comes from and where it goes.

Are you able to understand this? Who moves the wind? God does. Who created the wind? God in heaven did. Who controls the climate on earth, channels the wind and water? And who puts breath of life into all living things? In other words, who created all life in this world and made it thrive? It was none other than Jesus Christ. And Jesus is God.

When we don't know the words of the gospel of the water, the blood and the Spirit, we cannot be born again and we cannot teach others spiritually, either. Jesus told us that unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot be born again.

We must believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the powerful gospel that makes us born again. The Spirit enters and dwells in the minds of all those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

Jesus Christ was baptized to take away all the sins of mankind, and He bled at the Cross to pay for these sins. He has instilled the salvation of being born again in the hearts of all mankind. When we believe in this gospel, the Spirit enters our soul. This is the salvation of being born again. When we believe in the washing away of all sins through the baptism of Jesus and His blood, we are truly born again.

In Genesis 1:2, it is written, "The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." It is written that the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. The Spirit of God was moving outside the earth's surface.

It means that the Spirit cannot enter the hearts of sinners. The heart of the one who is not born again is in chaos, it is filled with the darkness of sin. Therefore the Spirit of God is not able to dwell in his heart.

God sent down the light of His gospel to illuminate the hearts of sinners. God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. Then, and only then, could the Spirit of God dwell in the hearts of man.

Therefore, in the hearts of the born again, those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, dwells the Spirit of God. That is the meaning of their being "born again." They are born again in their hearts because they listened to the words of the salvation of the water and the Spirit and they believed it!

How can a man be born again? Jesus explained it to Nicodemus, the Pharisee, saying, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said, "How can we be born again of water and the Spirit? Can we enter our mother's womb again and then be born again?" Obviously, he took it literally and couldn't figure out how a man could be born again.

And Jesus said to him, "You are a teacher, and you don't even know what it means?" Jesus told him that unless one is born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven nor even see it. Jesus told Nicodemus the truth of being born again.

It is true that there are many people who believe in Jesus without being born again. Most Christians like Nicodemus are not really born again.

Nicodemus was a spiritual leader of Israel at that time, similar to the leaders of the church today. In modern terms, he was comparable to a state congressman. By religious standards he was a teacher, a rabbi of the Hebrews, He was a religious leader of the Jews. He was also an accomplished scholar.

In Israel in those days, there was no institution comparable to the schools of today, so all the people went to the temple or the synagogues to study under "the learned men." They were the teachers of the people. Just as today, there were many false teachers then too. And they were teaching people without having been born again themselves.

Nowadays there are so many religious leaders, church officials, teachers, preachers, elders and deacons, who have not been born again. Like Nicodemus, they do not know the truth of being born again. Many even think that we have to enter our mother's womb a second time to be born again. They know that they have to be born again, but they do not know how.

And because of their ignorance, like a blind man touching an elephant to perceive with their hands, their instruction is based on their own personal feelings and experiences. They preach of worldly values in church. And owing to that, many faithful people are prevented from being born again.

Being born again has nothing to do with our good deeds. We are born again through belief in the words of the water, the blood and the Spirit that God gave us. It is God's gospel that changes us from being a sinner to being righteous.

Jesus spoke these words, "If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?" And indeed, people did not believe when Jesus told them the truth that atonement for all our sins was completed through His baptism. What didn't they believe? They didn't believe that their redemption was made possible through the baptism of Jesus and His death at the Cross. This is what He meant when He said people wouldn't believe Him if He told them about "heavenly things."

To cleanse us of all our sins, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and died at the Cross, and then was resurrected from the dead to pave the way for sinners to be born again.

Therefore Jesus explained it to Nicodemus by quoting the Old Testament. "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"(John 3:13-15). As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up to allow whoever believes in Him to have eternal life.

What did Jesus mean when He said, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up?" He quoted this passage from the Old Testament to illustrate how His baptism and blood would bring atonement for all the sins of man.

For Jesus to die at the Cross, for Him to be lifted up, He first had to take away the sin of the world by being baptized by John the Baptist. Because Jesus was without sin, He could not be crucified at the Cross. In order for Him to be crucified, He had to be baptized by John the Baptist and thus take all the sins of man upon Himself.

Only by taking on our sins and paying for them with His blood, could He save all sinners from damnation. Jesus gave us the salvation of being born again of water and the Spirit.

Therefore those who believe in Jesus as their Savior wear the clothes of His baptism, die with Him, and are born again with Him. Later, Nicodemus came to understand this.

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Thegospelman:
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Christianity is nothing but business of lies for so many.

Thegospelman:
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Thegospelman,let's look at what conspired between Jesus and Nicodemus again.
If you have read the whole events during Jesus life time on earth you will notice some key things religious people overlooked, because they are not supporting education of the mind
1. At the time Jesus came the Jews were already in captivity of the Roman empire
2. They needed a Messiah to come and save them from that captivity and they saw Jesus as the prophesied Messiah who will come and save them from that captivity, hence the coming of Christ.
3. The Messiah was to treck from Judea to Jerusalem, the capital where he was to conquer the Roman rule and be in charge of Israel, from there Israel will be saved, hence salvation.
4. During the period of his trecking to Jerusalem he requested his disciples to follow him, which they all did, so there were multitude of disciples following him to Jerusalem.
5. On getting to where he met Nicodemus, he needed Nicodemus to join with his disciples and treck with him to Jerusalem, hence the conversation you saw in John 3:1 to the ended of the chapter.

The summary of what Jesus meant by born again was to follow Christ to Jerusalem, that has nothing to do with Christianity or Christians.
Ofcourse Christianity was later established after Jesus must have arrived at Jerusalem and he was crucified.

Born again or born of water and spirit was simply to follow Christ to Jerusalem and nothing more.

The wind blows where it listed..
The wind there represents the multitude of disciples following Christ. Just as the wind have direction, their direction was towards Jerusalem where Christ was to be crucified

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