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The Greatest Crisis in Our World

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“7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” - John 3:7
There is a crisis in our world today.  Everyone responds, “Which one?” It is an eternal spiritual crisis that effects everyone on this earth.  It is the same crisis Jesus brought up with Nicodemus in John chapter 3. It is about being born again, which Jesus says must happen if one is going to be a Christian.  Nicodemus, and many in world today miss what being born again is about.  Here are some of the most common misunderstandings of what it is to be a Christian:

Generally believing (in God).  Suppose someone believes in God, and we think, “Yay, they believe in God!” Does that mean they are born again?  Or saved? Or have new life from above? Not at all, One must believe specifically in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for their sin problem. James 2:19 19  You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 

Turning over a new leaf. Can I make new life happen by turning over a new leaf? If I am born again will it make a difference in my actions causing some people to mistakenly think that I have just turned over a new leaf or turned my life around?  Yes, but what is the problem? Even if I try harder to be good, It will never be good enough in the eyes of God.  Only the perfection of Christ graciously applied to us counts.

Being religious. Is it about trying really hard to follow God’s law and the reward is that I am born again? If you feed the homeless twice a week, serve in the church, love those people who are notoriously hard to love, post religious things and verses on you Facebook page and have a Christianfish on your bumper, do any of those things make you a Christian? No, being born again is not about being religious either. It will change the way you live your life because you are a completely new creation, but you don’t get there by trying to be spiritual.

Having religious credentials.  Let’s say you have a baptism certificate, you attend church every Sunday, you teach Sunday school, give and you serve and you would get a perfect score on the Old Testament history test, yet does that make you a Christian? No.  Being baptized means nothing, nothing at all, unless you are born again.  Unless you have trusted Christ as your Savior, your religious credentials, including your baptism, mean nothing.  This is what Jesus was trying to get at with Nicodemus.  You know all these things, Nicodemus, you have incredible religious credentials, you are a Pharisee, a teacher of the law, a respected Bible scholar and you have checked every religious checkbox, but you miss the most important thing. You are not born again.  No amount of religious credentials make you a Christian.  It is not about that, it is only about rejecting your religious credentials and trusting that Jesus Christ died in your place for your sin.

Having an intense spiritual experience. Some people have a life changing spiritual experience where something dramatic happened.  God saved them from a car crash or the like. They felt a peace and tranquility wash over them pointing to that experience as the time they were “born again.” This is dangerous ground to trust in. Does a spiritual experience save you? A traumatic or joyful moment can be and feel like a profound spiritual experience.  One can thank God or cry out to God for help in that moment, and yet still not be born again. However, if your spiritual experience was not about you believing in and receiving Jesus Christ as the Savior from your sin, you are not born again. No matter how amazing that spiritual experience was, if it did not culminate in or revolve around Jesus Christ and you trusting him to be your Savior, you are not a Christian. 

Believing that you are a Christian. Can you believe with all your might that you are born again, that you are saved and not be saved?  Yes.  That is why it is so important to consider whether or not we are born again. Was Nicodemus pretty sure that he was in with God?  Yes.  Was he? Had he trusted Jesus and what Jesus was about to do?  Not quite.  The same is true of us, can someone have heard the gospel their whole life and believe that they are saved and not be saved?  Yes.  Why is that?  You may not think you NEED a Savior.  You can know the Bible well and still not trust it with your heart, not actually have trusted Jesus Christ to save you from YOUR sin.  Being born again is not about presumptuously thinking you are a Christian. Do not be deceived, only those who trust in God’s only means of salvation, Jesus Christ on the cross, are born again.

So are you born again?  Have you trusted that Jesus Christ is your only hope? Have you acknowledged your sin before the holy God of the universe and trusted Jesus alone as the one who could pay for your sin before him?  Have you placed your trust, your whole weight on Jesus to save you, to pay for your sins and reconcile you to God through his death on the cross and resurrection?  If you haven’t you are not saved and are still in your sin. Can I lovingly plead with you? You will not live eternally with God but will suffer eternally away from God.  Those are your options.  God offers his salvation to you free of charge if you would admit your sin before him and trust that Jesus died for it.  It is up to you.

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