Romans 6:1-14
Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ
1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
Romans 8:1-17
Life Through the Spirit
1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Romans 7:7-25
Struggling With Sin
7What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." 8But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. 9Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.
11For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. 13Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
14We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Ephesians 2:1-10
Made Alive in Christ
1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
John 3:1-21
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
4"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
9"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.
10"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? 11I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 1:12-13
Becoming Children of God
12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
John 4:24
God is Spirit
24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.
Jesus tells us when He is teaching Nicodemus, we must be born again to get into the kingdom of heaven...This must be our goal to get into the kingdom of heaven...This is where God and Jesus are, in the Kingdom of Heaven, God's Kingdom...
St. Paul tells us that we die from sin...Since we are all sinners, how can we live again?...He tells us that Jesus has overcome death and has been resurrected...Since He lives after His initial physical death, He cannot die again...For us to live again, we must be born again...We must be born again in Spirit...God is Spirit...Since God is in His Kingdom, it must be a Spiritual Kingdom...The sinful mind of man is death, but the Spiritual mind of man is life...The Spiritual life is also peace...A different kind of peace, that Jesus brings us...If we live according to sin, we will die...But St. Paul says if we live according to the Spirit, we will live...We will be at peace and have life...But, it is very difficult to walk in the Spirit, when we are earth...We struggle with sin everyday...Even the great St. Paul wrote about his own struggles with his sins...I want to do good, I can't do good...I want to do what is right, but I can't do what is right...I want to be perfect, I can't be perfect...I want to be holy, I can't be holy...Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ our LORD, who frees me from my sins...
If we follow the ways of this world we are dead in our transgressions and in our sins...The wages of our sins, will be paid for by our death...But we can forever be eternally alive in Jesus Christ, who died for our sins...So we must follow the ways of Jesus and His teachings...Eternal life is about knowing the one and only True God, and the One He sent to earth...On earth, we can be physically alive, but spiritually dead...But because of God's great love, who is rich in mercy, He has made us alive even though we sin and struggle with transgressions each and everyday...Because we sin and transgress everyday, it is hard to get close to Him...He does not hide from us, we often hide from Him in our sins...We cannot and do not please Him when we sin...When do not live the lives God wants, our sins keep Him apart from us...Only the Father and Son knows our eternal potential...Only God can make us alive in the Spirit...No matter what we do, we are fallen in nature...This has been true since we ate the forbidden fruit in Paradise...Thanks be to God for His grace, that He expresses in His kindness to us in His Son Jesus Christ, our LORD...For it is by His grace, we have been saved, through our faith- and not from ourselves, but by the gift of God- not by works or deeds, so that no one can boast...Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to God must believe that He does in fact exist and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him...For we are God's work, created by Him- in His image, through Christ Jesus to do good works and deeds...The wind freely comes and freely leaves and we do not see it...God's grace is half like the wind...We cannot see it, but it is always here...He saves us when He wants to, and He saves us, where He wants to...
So we must be born again, to get close to our Father, who created us...Nicodemus asks how or what is the way to the second rebirth...If we stay the same as we are, in the flesh, it is impossible to please God...Something has to change for us to get close to God...We are that something, we have to change out of our fallen, sinful nature and into the Spirit...That is why Jesus tells Nicodemus, we must be born again...When we are changed, we will be different -and more in Spirit...We can hear and feel the wind, but we do not know much about it...This is like the ways of the Spirit, only God knows the ways of the wind and where it comes from...Jesus says we should not be surprised or shocked by this at all...God is Almighty...He knows when any sparrow falls, and even knows the number of hairs on our head...So we must be born again...We must change...We cannot go on sinning and transgressing...We will never get close to Him doing the same old thing...Anyone who knows Jesus, knows the Father...That is because Jesus is in the Father, and the Father is in Jesus...Jesus is the way, to get to the Father...No one gets to the Father, except through Him...When we have a personal relationship with Jesus, we change...We then get closer to God...When we are closer to God, our life gets changed...We look at life differently...
Nicodemus was a Pharisee...The word Pharisee means separate one...The Pharisees believed in the Ten Commandments and the Law of Moses...They had many ideas on the Sabbath and many ideas about Old Testament Scripture...They had many views, beliefs, and even writings on what could be done and what couldn't be done on the Sabbath...They had strict ways about the Sabbath that they followed, on what was work and what wasn't work...They also believed in the resurrection and life after death...The Pharisees had a strong sense of group identity...Nicodemus was smart enough to know that Jesus had more answers than he did, even though he also was a teacher of Israel...
Nicodemus was also a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling group of the the Jews...When he calls Jesus teacher, it is a compliment...Many of the Pharisees thought they knew more about the Sabbath and the law than many of the other teachers...However, Jesus is LORD of the Sabbath, and Nicodemus sees that He is from God, by the miracles he has seen Jesus do...Apparently Nicodemus had not been able to do any miracles, and thought God was with Jesus when He saw Jesus doing His miracles...It appears that Jesus' miracles was one of the reasons that Nicodemus came in the night to see this Teacher of Miracles from God...
Nicodemus and the Pharisees thought if they followed the Sabbath, and the Laws of Moses this would please God and thus they would be close to the kingdom of God...Jesus quickly begins His teaching and tells Nicodemus that it is not like that...We must be born again to be able to see the kingdom of God...Nicodemus, it seems, as soon as he hears this, doesn't understand the concept of being born again...Nicodemus immediately says, how can we be born again, I am old (he is thinking, my mother is much older), how can this be -how can I go back in my mother's womb, he asks?...When Jesus says, I tell you the truth or truly, truly we should take note, just as Nicodemus is trying to do...Jesus says, I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God, unless he is water and is born of Spirit...Flesh gives birth to flesh but the Spirit gives birth to spirit...You should not be surprised you must be born again...The wind blows wherever it wants to...You hear it blowing, you know the wind is there (after all if is an earthly happening), but no one knows where the wind actually came from or where it is going to go once it is done...So it is with the Spirit...And the Spirit is more important than the flesh...
Jesus is telling Nicodemus that the wind is originated by God, as well as the Spirit...It is God who creates...We need to change and something we cannot understand to get us to see the kingdom of God...Like the wind, which comes about by God, so does the Spirit...No one can see the kingdom of God by himself...We need God to see the kingdom...Again Nicodemus does not understand and asks how can this be?...Nicodemus wants Jesus to keep explaining this about the wind, water, and Spirit...We see so much of the earthly things and have much trouble with the Spiritual and heavenly things...
Again Jesus tells Nicodemus that "I tell you the truth."...Jesus continues and says when we speak of things of what we know, and we can testify to things of what we have seen, and "we" testify to what "we" have seen, but still "you people" do not accept our testimony...I have spoken to you of earthly things (like the wind), and you do not understand, how then can you believe when I speak of the things of heaven...No one has ever gone into heaven -except the One who came from heaven -the Son of Man...Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up on the cross, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life...If we believe in Jesus, we will have eternal life...
Jesus is telling Nicodemus He knows God personally...He has a personal relationship with God...He and the Father are One (John 10:30)...He has been to heaven...He knows He will soon return to heaven...Jesus is talking about "Another World" and not earth...When Jesus says "We", He may be referring to the Trinity or to the angels of heaven...The Ones from above, know both heaven and earth and can testify to these truths...The Ones from above know about this other world Jesus is talking about...This is the answer to how we can be born again...We must read the Scriptures and Words of Jesus to understand and to see the kingdom of God...It is hard, very hard to understand...We have trouble interpreting the weather, and the wind and it is all around us...How are we going to understand the words of heaven and the things of above, when we cannot even understand the things around us...Man's knowledge is limited...Man cannot understand the things of heaven, it is who we are...How can we be born again?...And we know, we cannot be born again without God and His help...
This discussion is related to St. Paul's writing on the struggles with sin (Romans 7:7-25)...We want to be perfect, we can't be perfect...We want to always help others, we don't always help others...We want to be just, we can't be just...We are just men and women...For what I do I do not want to do...And what I want to do, I cannot do...Again this is who we are...We are flawed...Flawed with sin...The "other world" that Jesus talks about is not flawed with sin...
Jesus is telling Nicodemus not to be be surprised by these things...Nothing is impossible for God (Luke 1:37)...Things we cannot see like the wind, we cannot explain...Science tries to give us good explanations of things we cannot see, but even the weather and wind today are not perfectly predictable...We have studied the history of weather patterns and have a sense of what the weather will do, and with great technology, and we are better and now predicting the wind and weather...We may use radar and satellites to try show the wind and its speed...But how does the wind happen, how does the wind get in the upper atmosphere, how did it get there, how does it start in one place and end in other?...The wind is under God's providence...We cannot know all the invisible and great things that God is over...We start out spiritually like a baby...But our faith can grow like the child...The water, like the symbol of baptism, is when we express and confess our lives to Jesus Christ...When we trust in the LORD, and allow Him to be in charge of our lives, we change...How could there not be a change -when we sincerely trust in Him and believe in Him?...How could we not be literally born again?...
But with God's help, we can see His kingdom...God knows we do not understand the wind...He knows we are limited...He knows we have trouble understanding Him...Even Job, who was without blame, had trouble with ever question God gave him...But we can see His kingdom since the Son of Man was lifted on the cross...Our Redeemer Lives (Job 19:25)...If we believe in Jesus and the One who sent Him, He will let us see the eternal kingdom, the kingdom of God...
Nicodemus had thought there was something, we must do or need to do in our lives to get to the Kingdom of God...St. Paul teaches us that no amount of deeds, or meditation, or financial success, or great courtesy to others, or mental enlightenment can get us to heaven...It is not something we must do or need in our lives to get to the Kingdom of God...We need God's grace to be saved...Because we are sinners, we must be forgiven by Him...Once we admit to our Father we are sinners, we must believe that He sent Jesus to atone for our sins...This is our repentance...Jesus is our Savior...Jesus died on the cross for each one of us individually...His death on the cross is what atones for each one of us, and each one of our individual sins...When we believe this, we then can have a personal relationship with Jesus...No one gets to the Father, except through Him (Acts 4:12 and John 14:6)...He was on the cross for each one of us, dying for each one of us and each one of our sins, this is why we need the Son to get to the Father...He is my Savior and the Savior of the world...Believing these things changes our attitude and our mentality...This change allows for us to be changed, to be reborn...We then have a new attitude for the Father and Son and have hope to get into the Father's kingdom...
By believing these things we become His children, children of God (John 1:12)...
This is how we are born again...God so loved the world that He sent His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life...Believing is being born again, believing in Him and His Son...Jesus explains to Nicodemus and tells us, "You see God so loves the world that He sent His One and Only Son to die for us...So that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."...That is how we are born again...
No matter where we live, or who we are, anyone can be born again...The change is made by God Himself, and no one else...Nicodemus wanted to know this, and we need to know this...We sin everyday...We are fallen...But God still loves us...God did not send Jesus into our world to condemn us, but to save us, with His death on the cross...Believe in His name and you become a child of God...Believe in Him and you shall have eternal life...
The complicated discussion that Jesus and Nicodemus had was about the kingdom of God and how we get there...It then went to being born again in the Spirit...The answer, to how we get to the kingdom of God, goes through Jesus, BELIEVE IN HIM AND THE ONE WHO SENT HIM...Now this is Eternal Life...
Mankind can only reproduce human life and have children (flesh comes from flesh), but only the Holy Spirit can give us new life from heaven and in heaven...Those who believe in Jesus knows He can make all things new (Revelation 21:5), so we should not be surprised that He tells us we can (through Him) be born again, and made new again...