December 21

When Nicodemus approached Jesus under the cover of darkness, he was searching for the truth and he believed that Jesus had that truth he was looking for. Without wasting any words, Jesus immediately informed Nicodemus, “unless you are born again, you can never see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Nicodemus’ logical question to Jesus was, “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” Jesus assured Nicodemus that humans can only produce human life, but the Holy Spirit is able to give us new life from heaven. It is a spiritual rebirth and not a physical rebirth.
The apostle Peter verifies that truth when he writes, “For you have been born again. Your new life did not come from your earthly parents because the life they gave you will end in death. But this new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God” (I Peter 1:23). Even as human life requires a sperm donated from a man impregnating an egg donated from a woman in order for human conception to take place, so the word of God is the “imperishable seed” of God (vs.23; NIV) that conceives spiritual life in our human hearts. Not every human life conceived results in a birth. Likewise, not every spiritual life conceived results in a birth. Jesus said that a person is “born again” by “water and the spirit.” Thus, baptism is an outward and visible sign that spiritual rebirth has occurred (I Peter 3:21; Acts 2:38&39; 5:32; 22:16).
Once, we have been born again, God sees us as “holy” and forgiven. It now becomes our responsibility to live out this new position in practical ways, on a daily basis (I Peter 1:16; Hebrews 12:10,14). The many exhortations in scripture on how to live are nothing more than practical suggestions on how we can be “holy as God is holy.” Since God has called us unto Himself and given us that position, let us make every effort to live up to our calling (Ephesians 4:1; II Thessalonians 1:11; Hebrews 3:11; II Peter 1:10).