Born Again

"I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." John 3:3

There are many people who believe that because they were raised in church, or because their parents were Christians and always "practiced" Biblical traditions in their home--that they are somehow automatically going to heaven. They may state something to the effect of, "I have always been a Christian." But is that possible? According to Jesus in the above verse, we must all come to a point in our lives when we are "born again," in order to spend eternity in heaven.

So what does it mean to be born again? In this passage Nicodemus (a Pharisee) asks how we can literally be born out of our mother's womb again. Obviously that is not possible. Jesus explains:

"I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." John 3: 5-8

Jesus's phrase "born again" literally means "born from above." In other words, being born again is an act of God from above where we are given eternal life when we make a decision to choose (and believe) Jesus as Savior and Lord of our life.

As I have stated before, we are saved not by any good deeds we do (or by anything we can do for that matter), but by faith. Ephesians makes it clear that we are "saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."

All the work was done by Jesus on the cross, the rest is up to us to make that decision for ourselves.