Bible Passage: John 3:1-16
In our text today Jesus references being born again five times. He made it explicitly clear that for anyone to enter the kingdom of God, to receive eternal life, to be saved from GOD’s wrath upon one’s sin, that a person must be born again. Friends, being born again is not a “Baptist thing” as some like to suggest; it is GOD’s work in salvation (the doctrine of regeneration), & without this new birth, no one will enter GOD’s kingdom. Now that’s serious, it’s not something to take lightly because the alternative is Hell. Hell is where sinners, those who have never been born again, will go when they die & spend eternity in their sins & be punished for them.
Not all types of belief are accepted by the Lord; some are rejected. Yet many think they are saved when they are not because they believe the facts & have repeated a prayer or they cling to some emotional experience that never bears spiritual fruit. But the reality is this — they’ve never been born again. Their prayer nor experience ever resulted in spiritual life which hungers for GOD, His righteousness, & His holiness. Though they “believe” they do not bear the fruit of real spiritual life such as the desire to live a sinless life, or an unending love for Christ that seeks to obey Him, or a longing to learn more & more about Christ, or the deep yearning to worship the Lord & be part of a local fellowship of other believers. Those are signs of life. Tragically, these believe they’re on their way to heaven when in reality they’re headed to eternal separation from GOD in hell.
