1For we know that if the earthly house of our tent is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens. 2For most certainly in this we groan, longing to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3if indeed being clothed, we will not be found naked. 4For indeed we who are in this tent do groan, being burdened, not that we desire to be unclothed, but that we desire to be clothed, that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5Now he who made us for this very thing is God, who also gave to us the down payment of the Spirit.
6Therefore we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord; 7for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8We are courageous, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 9Therefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well pleasing to him. 10For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
11Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are revealed to God, and I hope that we are revealed also in your consciences. 12For we are not commending ourselves to you again, but speak as giving you occasion of boasting on our behalf, that you may have something to answer those who boast in appearance and not in heart. 13For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God. Or if we are of sober mind, it is for you. 14For the love of Christ compels us; because we judge thus: that one died for all, therefore all died. 15He died for all, that those who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who for their sakes died and rose again.
16Therefore we know no one according to the flesh from now on. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no more. 17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. 18But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
You Must be Born Again
Jesus and Nicodemus by Lamplight
Jesus’ conversation with the noble Nicodemus gives us a deep theological understanding of God’s desire to save all men. Nicodemus had difficulty understanding Jesus as He spoke of a man’s need to be “born again.”“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?” (v3) The first time I heard the term “born again” in secular society was in 1974 when a peanut farmer named Jimmy Carter was running for president of the United States. He told an interviewer that he was a “born again”. The news commentators made great sport of this, as if it were some Pollyannaish claim. If I remember accurately, he was further ridiculed when asked a question about committing adultery, and he admitted that he had lusted after a woman in his heart. He explained that Jesus considered such thoughts to be adultery. Perhaps he was casting his pearls before swine, before those who had no spiritual eyes, but Carter was intent on being a very transparent candidate. He was elected in 1976, while I was earning my bachelor’s degree at Texas A&M University.
From that point on, people began to alter the phrase slightly, using the expression “born again Christian” to refer to an evangelical Christian. That moniker is an oxymoron. It displays a certain spiritual misunderstanding or ignorance. For if a person is a true believer, they must by definition be “born again” according to Jesus’ words. There is no such thing as a Christian who is not born again. Paul explains the results of this process of being “born again” when he tells the church in Corinth, “17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. [read that “born again” author’s commentary] The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17 WEB)
This beautiful dialogue gives all men a roadmap to eternal life. It is not based on anything we’ve done, but on the simple statement that God loves all in this world so much that He sent His one and only unique Son to save the world. And this is done through “believing in Him.” If you’ve never done this, let today be the day. To not do so is to stand condemned. That is not God’s desire for you or for anyone else. Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world but to give life to the world. The requirement is to “believe in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.” And that is Jesus. Put your faith in Him today and become a new creation. Experience the second birth in Him. In doing so, you will escape condemnation, and you will have eternal life.