BELIEVERS ARE BORN AGAIN

Just in case you have never put "two-and-two together," the passage that tells us we need to be born again, is part of the same conversation in which Jesus informs His listeners that salvation has been provided by God to all those who will simply trust Him.  John 3:1-18:

*  A Pharisee named Nicodemus approached Jesus under the cover of darkness.
    He knew Jesus was from God by His teaching and His miracles.
*  Jesus told Nicodemus he needed to be born again.
*  Nicodemus did not understand.
*  Jesus told Nicodemus that in addition to his physical birth, he needed a spiritual birth.
    His physical birth was a "water birth"; the Holy Spirit would give him a spiritual birth.
*  Nicodemus still did not understand?
*  So Jesus explained,

"...as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Today, churches are filled with people like Nicodemus.  While they obviously are not Jews, like Nicodemus, they know a lot about their religion.  They know what the Bible has to say about Jesus.  They know He died for their sins.  They know that He was raised from the dead.  They know all about the early Church, the Apostles, and that God wants them to be like Jesus.  The problem is, they constantly fail in their efforts to be like Him.  And they are devastated!

Why?  God is not surprised you and I fail.  In fact, some of His best spokesmen, men like Peter and Paul, were a long way from perfect.  Peter took ten chapters into the Book of Acts before he was able to accept that Gentiles could be saved, and fifteen chapters before he understood uncircumcised Gentiles who trusted in Jesus were saved.  Paul confession of his inability to live a holy life, even after being saved (Rom. 7:1-25 - notice all the present tense verbs), should comfort you and I in our struggle to be pleasing to the Lord.  James and John referred to Christians sinning, as well (Jam. 5:15-16; 1 Jn. 1:8-10).  Paul wrote in Galatians 3:2-3, "This only would I learn of you:

Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Are ye so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?"