If you were to ask most Christians why you would need to be born again they would respond with “so when you die you can go to heaven.” Yet Jesus never ever talked about the need to go to heaven. Do any computer search and you will find out that the phrase “go to heaven” does not appear in any teachings of Jesus nor anywhere in the Bible. Does Jesus teach about the reality of heaven, absolutely! But the reason Jesus gives for why we need to be born again can be found in John:
- John 3:3-7 ESV – 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
Jesus did not tell Nicodemus that he needed to be born again for when he died, but for how he might live his life in the here and the now.
All Things Kingdom Related 