The New Birth, Part 2 (Onward Christian Soldiers #69)

John 3:3: "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Last week, we saw how Jesus Christ told Nicodemus, "Ye must be born again." Today, let us look at the three requirements for the new birth.
 
1. Faith is necessary for the new birth. The requirement for the new birth is faith in Jesus Christ who was crucified for our sins. The Lord Jesus explained this to Nicodemus by reminding him of something that happened to the children of Israel while they were in the wilderness.
 
The people had complained against God and Moses, so God sent fiery serpents among them. Those who were bitten by the serpents died. The people confessed their sin and cried to Moses for deliverance.
  
Moses prayed to God, and the Lord told him to make a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole so that everyone who looked at it might live. Moses did as God had commanded. The Bible says, "and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived." 
 
Then Jesus said, "...as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." 
 
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