Being Born Again Is A Must

Being born again is a must

If we would ever see Jesus,

The requirement of faith and trust

As expressed to Nicodemus.

He came to Jesus by night

To be rid of a serious plight,

He thought it somewhat insane

When Jesus said, “Be born again.”

He was a man of the Pharisees

They were bent on strict decrees,

He was a ruler of the Jews

A sect who had some strange views.

“How could this happen?” he asked.

That is a rather incredible task

For a man to go back into his mother

What a strange and awful bother!

Nicodemus was way out of his depth

And had not known the truth yet

That being born again was a must

Instead of a whole lot of religious fuss.

One must be born of water and the Spirit

Nothing of the flesh is of any credit,

In flesh alone we are always in debit

Jesus made this plain and explicit.

That which is of the flesh is flesh

It caters to the fleshly at best,

That which is of the Spirit is spirit

With whom there is no deficit.

Being born again is not akin to form

By far it supersedes that norm,

Not ritualistic like the traditions of men

For of such is the heart of man’s problem.

Many attempt to explain its mechanism

Giving rise to more isms and schisms

Others reject it on lack of understanding

And conform to faiths far more demanding.

Being born again is centred on Christ

Not chance like the throwing of the dice,

It is God-appointed and confirmed

In the believer and in his spirit affirmed.

It is not a strange feeling and sensation

But one’s faith in God’s gift of salvation,

A coming to Christ by way of the cross

Acknowledging the fact that we are lost.

Crushed by sin under its heavy weight

A depraved soul at best in our sinful state,

A need to have expunged our life’s slate

So full of evil and malice and hate.

More critical is the sinner’s condition

Than his quest to comprehend salvation,

The daily breeze is still a puzzle to man

Far less the details of God’s salvation plan.

It cannot be dissected or analyzed

Not open to conjecture or surmise,

It is simply a matter of faith and trust

In the finished work of our Saviour Jesus.

Some argue it is this or maybe that

For some their opinion becomes fact

Upon which denominations are built

For others it is like the proverbial quilt.

Some add requirements; others subtract

Some make it a steep, treacherous track,

Some: a what-to-do list and rules to keep

Others: a guilt trip with troubled sleep.

Salvation is personal not denominational

It is one’s faith in Christ not creedal,

It is not one of the ways but the only way

To escape God’s wrath on judgment day.

In verse sixteen of John chapter three

Salvation is define in its simplicity,

For God so loved that He gave his Son

So have faith in Christ and the work is done.

Worry not about how God accomplishes it

Simply walk in faith as your daily habit,

Let God’s transforming power work in you

To make you like Jesus who is worthy and true.

Why not heed his words to Nicodemus?

Why not in Jesus place your trust?

Why not discard all the religious fuss

And accept being born again as a must?

Stewart Russell © 2016