St. Peter declares that to obtain eternal life we must be born again, since by nature we were born but to die.

“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away. But the Word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the Word which by the gospel is preached unto you” (I Pet. 1 :23-25).

Our Lord emphasized this same fact to the Pharisee Nicodemus. “That which is born of the flesh,” He said, “is flesh… Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again” (John 3:6,7).

Nicodemus was devoutly religious, and he even recognized Christ as “a teacher come from God” (John 3:2). But he was not saved. He had not been “born of the Spirit,” and “that which is born of the flesh is flesh,” even though it is “religious flesh.” Therefore it must die. Nicodemus, like many sincerely religious people today, needed to be born again — of the Spirit, by faith in the Word, of which the Spirit is the Author.

Some suppose that Paul did not teach the new birth, but they are wrong. He taught it consistently, and nowhere more clearly than in Titus 3:5, where he wrote by divine inspiration:

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration [re-birth] and renewing of the Holy Spirit.”

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For some years a little girl passed our window at Berean Bible Society each day on her way to and from school. Every time she passed she would smile, wave and throw a kiss.

Occasionally she would come in to tell me something special, and I was always impressed by her natural refinement. One would not have wished to meet a sweeter child.

One day she came in to show me a picture of herself, all dressed up for her “first communion!” “How pretty!”, I exclaimed. “But do you know what happened at the very first communion supper?” “Yes,” she said, “they killed Him.” “That’s right,” I agreed, “but there’s much more than that.”

She had given me a wonderful opportunity to breathe into her little ears, what St. Paul calls “the preaching of the cross”, “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth”.

If only we could persuade all of our readers of “the truth of the gospel”, (ICor.15:3), and that “by Him all who believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses” (Acts 13:39). This is why St. Paul could tell the trembling Philippian jailor: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.