# 43 You Must Be Born Again

Joh 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

 2 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." 3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 4 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?" 5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Such a strange conversation. It seems like Jesus doesn’t even give Nicodemus an opportunity to state the reason for his visit. Nicodemus starts the conversation by telling Jesus that “we know You are a teacher from God.”  We aren’t told who the “we” are, we can only assume that Nicodemus is doing a little undercover investigation for some of the other Pharisees, who want to find out more about Jesus.

Jesus cuts him off abruptly by saying, “Most assuredly, ( emphasized truth) unless a person is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  The word “see” here means “know.” You can’t know, you can’t be intimate with the kingdom of God, you can’t be part of it unless you are born again!

Well then, I don’t know about you but I want to be a part of the kingdom of God! I want to know it! I want to experience all that it entails! Nicodemus also wants to know and so he asks, “how?”

I think sometimes we are a little hard on Nicodemus here and make him out to be some sort of Pharisaical dolt. In reality, his question could be rephrased as this: “Born again? What are You talking about? How can that happen?”

Jesus replies, “Most assuredly, (emphasized truth) One enters, (one is allowed entrance) through the gates of the kingdom by water and the Spirit”

The combination of “water and Spirit, ought to turn our thoughts to the Sacrament of baptism. Coupled with God-granted faith, it is a necessary element to entrance into the kingdom. Mr 16:16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”

To be born again is to be regenerated and   Tit 3:5 tells us that this regeneration  is “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,” Again, a referral to baptism!

In this meeting with Nicodemus, Jesus stresses this vital part of the gospel message. Read the Book of Acts and see the inseparable connection between the preaching of the gospel and water baptism.

The disciples knew what Jesus was emphasizing to Nicodemus and they took Him literally at His Word when He commissioned them with these words: Mt 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

The gist of the Greek here is that disciples are made, (students are enrolled) by baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” The church’s responsibility is to enroll souls into the kingdom, and then teach them about kingdom living!