"In John 3:3, our Lord Jesus said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Void of spiritual understanding, Nicodemus asked these questions: "How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb?" Even though he was recognized as one of the spiritual leaders in Israel, Nicodemus did not have the faintest idea what the Lord Jesus meant. He had no understanding concerning the sovereign power of Almighty God in delivering His children from the power of darkness and translating them into the Kingdom of His dear Son (Col. 1:12 & 13).
Many of the so-called religious leaders of this generation are as ignorant of spiritual truths as Nicodemus was. Ask modern preachers about being "born again" and they will make statements that absolutely contradict what the Lord Jesus Christ told Nicodemus. Listen to the words of the One by whom all truth comes: "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth (pleases), and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:7 & 8). This clearly teaches that the new birth is the sovereign work of God Himself.
Many today are making statements like: "If you will believe on Jesus, you will be born again."; or, "You were born again because you exercised your faith in Christ." Brethren, we must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Our faith must be in Him, and in Him alone! But if we do believe, if we do have saving faith, this is the result of the new birth - not the cause of it! We are as passive in our spiritual birth as we are in our physical birth.
The inspired Word of God say, In James 1:18: "Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth." God is our Father - He begat us. By His divine providence He brings us under the sound of the gospel. The seed of truth is planted in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, and God sweetly woos us into the waiting arms of our wonderful Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. God makes us willing to come to Christ in the day of His power. Faith is God's gift to His chosen, blood-bought children that enables them to believe and trust in His Son, the One who paid the price in full for ous sins by His substitutionary death on the cross at Calvary. When the Holy Spirit enlightens the minds of His elect and reveals to them that the blood of Jesus Christ washes them clean in God's sight, we have been delivered from the dark womb of unbelief. Our desperate cry for mercy is then changed to an exuberant cry of joy as we acknowledge God as our Father, and echo the words of every one who experiences the new birth: "Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul!"
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