A requirement to enter into the kingdom of heaven is to be born again. Jesus asked Nicodemus, “You’re a leader of Israel and you don’t know this?” What is being born again? If we compare scripture with scripture we should get a clearer picture. Jesus was always speaking in parables, so you can’t really take these things literally. The young man in Mat 5 when he asked what he should do to have eternal life,
in summing it up, Jesus told him keep the law and give to the poor. An interesting thing Jesus says, “If you want to be perfect…” In Jesus’ teachings being perfect is to keep the law and do good works to others. I’ve heard it said that nobody can be perfect. Jesus must have expected it since he said,
And he tells the rich young man:
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 Jesus and the young rich man |
In Mat 25 Jesus said that to enter into eternal life one had to be righteous and he defined righteousness, which is basically doing good works to others (Mt 25:34-40).
In Mar 10 Jesus said those who left everything to follow him had everlasting life. This is doing good works.
Jesus said that his Father loved him because he kept his Father’s commandments. (Joh 15:10)
Zacharias and Elisabeth were considered righteous because they kept the commandments of God. (Luk 1:6)
Summing it up, being perfect is keeping the commandments of God and doing good works. But you might say, the bible says that “he that believeth in me hath everlasting life”, that means all you have to do is believe without keeping the commandments and you’re “saved”. I’ll tell you what you believe when I see how you live.
Jas 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Jas 2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
From what James says your works show that you have faith and faith comes by doing the work. So what does all this have to do with being born again? Well, if being born again is necessary to enter into the kingdom of heaven, and keeping the commandments and doing good works is necessary to enter into the kingdom of heaven, then being born again has to do with keeping the commandments and doing good works also.
Jesus teaching Nicodemus
It doesn’t sound like being born again is anything like merely believing. What it sounds like is a complete change. And for that change kind of a change to happen it doesn’t happen in one lifetime. For a person to reach the stage of keeping the commandments and only doing good works — I don’t see many people accomplishing this kind of change in just one lifetime.
People take a long time to make those kinds of changes and reaching that is a state of perfection. Perfection is the whole purpose of being born into a new life. Even Jesus learned obedience through the things that he suffered (Heb 5:8).
No one is able to reach a state of perfection, you might say.
Didn’t Jesus tell the young man, “If you want to be perfect..” when he asked Jesus what he should do to have eternal life? Well, then if there is only one life to do this, there won’t be too many people interiting eternal life, will there? So this has to be what being born again is all about, being born into another life to have another chance to get closer to perfection and to lay up for himself more treasures in heaven.
That is impossible in one lifetime.