Jesus said that we must be born again to see the kingdom of God. So what must we do to be born again?
The simple answer is that we have to believe with all our heart God’s message to us, and confess with our mouth what we know to be true in our heart.
What is God’s message? That He sent His Son Jesus to pay the price of our sins by taking our penalty, which is death. What is sin? It is falling short of God’s will for our lives by failing to love Him and to love our neighbour as ourselves.
Everyone has fallen short of God’s glory, so we are not alone. There isn’t a single person who has measured up to the love requirements that maintain right standing with God. We’ve either failed to acknowledge and love God, or we’ve sinned against other people in some way.
Let me stress that no one made it. We all miss the mark. Until Jesus that is. He was able to live the sin-free life that made Him worthy of God’s pleasure. He unerringly and unfailingly walked in love towards God and people.
Then, as a fully innocent person, He took our penalty and died on the cross, was buried, and then, because death had no claim on Him, He was raised from death on our behalf.
Good news
That is called the gospel–the good news. It is good news because it made the way clear for all of us to receive the free gift of eternal life through faith in the finished work of Christ. Where hear the good news message and accept the free gift of salvation we can acknowledge that Jesus is our new Lord, and be saved.
It is a gift. Please note that it cannot be earned. You cannot buy salvation, or perform enough good works to deserve it. You cannot pay your way into heaven, or perform enough penance to be accredited with salvation. It won’t work. Otherwise there would be people who could boast on their works or payment.
Salvation comes to us by God’s grace. This is His favour–undeserved, yes, but offered nevertheless. Be cause Jesus was obedient to the cross and gave His life, we can be saved from all sin, including our past, and be made right before God–completely guilt free and with out shame.
What’s next?
When we believe this, the next step is to speak it out–what we would call a confession of faith. e acknowledge that we are sinful, and that we need salvation. We acknowledge that Jesus has paid the price of our sin, and that we can be saved through faith in Him. We assent to His becoming the new Lord of our life. We call Him Lord. We renounce our past and accept the new life that is being offered.
This should be a public confession before Christian witnesses–believers. It doesn’t matter how many, one, two, or a hundred, or more. Where two or three are gathered in His name He will be in the midst of us. Therefore, He will also witness, by His Spirit, that were are acknowledging His Lordship of our lives.
We will be born again. We will be saved. We will be made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
A confession of faith
If you know in your heart that Jesus is real and has paid the price of your sins, and would like to accept Him as Lord and Saviour, you can make this confession before Him, and, if possible, one or two Christians:
Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I ask you to save me. I renounce my past sins. I acknowledge you as Lord. Come into my life. Save me, deliver me, wash me clean of sin. I accept your free gift of salvation. Thank you for saving me.
Confession of faith
The next step is to find a Bible-teaching church, to be baptised in water, and to begin living this life as a disciple of Christ.
