“He Who Has Ears, Let Him Hear!”
Jesus knows the eternal importance of His words. That is why He warns and encourages us, “He who has ears, let him hear!”
Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born of water and Spirit. Water and Spirit are two parts of the same birth. Both are involved in baptism.
There is immersion in water, just as Jesus commanded. There also is the Spirit, whose word we follow, whose power gives us life, and who becomes God’s gift to us.
We do not do it alone. The Holy Spirit of God lives within us, and empowers our new life. But we make the choice about receiving the new birth of water and Spirit, and about growing by the Spirit’s direction and power.
Memory Verses
1) John 3:5 – Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
2) John 1:33 – I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.”
3) 1 Corinthians 12:13 – For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
4) 1 Peter 1:21-23 – [You] who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God…
Thank you, God, for the promise of Your Spirit. We know that the Spirit is ready to remake and renew us. The Spirit will be with us in our new lives and bring us closer to You. Take away everything that keeps us from accepting that gift.
Lord, bring us into Your eternal life as we submit in faith to receive the birth of water and Spirit. Help us to respond as Paul did when he was told, “What are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on His name.”
Congratulations!
You have completed studying all eight lessons of Born of Water and Spirit.
Jesus challenged Nicodemus to make life-changing decisions. Now, you too must consider the same decisions.
Be prepared, with God’s help, to fulfill the decisions you make.