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You Must Be Born Again

by | Mon, Jan 30 2023

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Eternal life is more than just living forever. It’s also about quality of life, the people you know, and also what you know. To live forever, you have to know the one true God. How long does it take to know God, though? Because God is so great, it seems to take up all of time and space.

In this episode of On The Rock, Dr Kameel Majdali tells us that to be a Christian, we must be born again. But we’re such independent, autonomous people that nobody likes to be told what to do. And yet, if we’re going to grow in wisdom, if we’re going to be fruitful in life, then we have to be willing to listen to wise counsel.

We Need Wise Counsel

‘Wise counsel is not to be sugarcoated,’ says Kameel. ‘Wise counsel is straight and to the point. The kingdoms of this world have a use by date. They’re only here for a time. But there is a kingdom coming, and it’s from the Lord himself. When it comes, it will stay. It will last forever.’

But Jesus talks about the prerequisite to seeing the kingdom. He says we have to be born again. To enter into the Kingdom of God, we have to be born of water and of the Spirit. If we stay only in the temporal, what kind of future do we have?

‘If we want to be in a kingdom that has no end,’ says Kameel, ‘we’ve got to do things God’s way. The Bible teaches, particularly in the last days, that there will be false signs and lying wonders. We need discernment to know which is from God and which is not. Then, in John 3:3 we see the classic statement about the new birth. Jesus says, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.’

Word and Spirit

Jesus Christ is the truth, and He expects his followers to be truthful. We can trust Jesus when he says we have to be born again. It’s not our bodies that are being born again, it’s our spirit. When that happens, we who were once blind can now see the things of God’s kingdom.

‘In John 3:4, Nicodemus is absolutely bamboozled,’ says Kameel. ‘How can a man be born again when he is old? Can he re-enter his mother’s womb? He’s using his natural reasoning, and the answer to this question is no. Unless you’re born of water through the Word and of the Spirit, which is of course God, you cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.’

Living in the flesh or living by our carnal nature is going to be dangerous for our long term spiritual health. But being born of the spirit is of spirit. Leave the fleshly, misguided life behind and embrace a life that is walking with God. Even well-intentioned religious deeds of the flesh are not enough to be in favour with the Almighty.

‘Our lesson for life is this,’ says Kameel. ‘The new birth is the fundamental, non-negotiable, indispensable prerequisite first steps to the new life with God forever.’

Listen to Kameel’s full message on On The Rock below, and or more resources visit our Vision Store.