The kingdom of God belongs to those who are born again
We just saw how Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven belonged to people who were like children, and that we need to be converted and become like children in order to enter it.
So how does one get converted? One can get converted by being born again. When a person is born he has no sin in his account. When Jesus says that one must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven He is pointing out that one must have no sin in his or her account in order to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jn 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."
To see the kingdom of God you have to be in it. It is a hidden kingdom and it cannot be seen from the outside. That is why, in Jn 3:5, Jesus clarified what He said in Jn 3:3.
Jn 3:5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
When you are physically born you are born of water because in your mother’s womb you are enclosed in a liquid sac. But as you grow you lose your innocence. You are then held accountable for your actions, and then, when you disobey God’s law, you sin. This is what Paul alluded to when he wrote Rom 7:9.
Rom 7:9 I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died;
To be cleansed of your sin you have to be born again – of the Holy Spirit.
So we see that another way of saying that one must become like a child in order to enter the kingdom of heaven is to say that one must be born again. That is, in order to enter the kingdom of heaven one must be in the same sinless state that one was when one was born.
This was such a simple concept, but Nicodemus, a teacher in Israel didn’t understand it.
Jn 3:9-10 9 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can these things be?" 10 Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?"
The same situation exists today. Even today, not everyone understands that one has to be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven, or what Jesus meant by the term ‘born again’.
Getting born again takes away the sin from your account. In addition, before you finally enter the kingdom of heaven God also has to take away your ability to sin. That is, He will give you a new body – one that cannot be tempted – before you enter the kingdom of heaven. This will happen when Jesus returns. Consider 1 Cor 15:50.
1 Cor 15:50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
Mere flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God – you are just born of water. You also have to be born of the Spirit.
The reason why we need to have a new body – one that cannot sin – is because as long as we are capable of sinning we cannot remain in the presence of God since our sin would immediately result in us getting banished from the presence of God.
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