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Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3
D.L. MOODY
If the words of this text are true, they embody one of the most solemn questions. We can afford to be deceived about many things rather than about this one thing. Christ makes it very plain. He says, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”—much less inherit it.
This doctrine of the new birth is therefore the foundation of all our hopes for the world to come. It is really the A B C of the Christian religion. My experience has been this—that if a man is unsound on this doctrine he will be unsound on almost every other fundamental doctrine in the Bible. A true understanding of this subject will help a man to solve a thousand difficulties he may meet with the Word of God. Things that before seemed very dark and mysterious will become very plain.
ERWIN LUTZER
We did not choose to be born physically, and this birth is described as being from “corruptible seed” (1 Peter 1:23, KJV), meaning we were born with a sin nature. Jesus taught we must be born again by God. Speaking of this new birth we read, “who were born, not of blood [not by our parents] nor of the will of the flesh [it was not because of your will power] nor of the will of man [it was not because of the will of others], but of God” (John 1:13). Our decision to receive Christ as Savior was the result of our Heavenly Father’s work in our hearts. A miracle indeed.
To summarize: The Word of God combined with the Spirit of God, creates within us the life of God. As Moody said, this divine work is foundational to all the hopes we have for the world to come.
PRAYER
Father, thank you for making me alive in Christ. Thank you that I have been born again by faith in Christ!REFLECTION QUESTIONS
What does it mean to be “born again?” What does the Bible say?
Why does Moody say that understanding what it means to be "born again" shapes how we understand the rest the Bible?