5th September 2026

Alex Buabeng-Korsah

TOPIC: BORN FROM ABOVE

THEME SCRIPTURE: "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." —John 3:3

PREPARATORY QUESTION
Have you ever tried to improve your way into God's presence instead of being remade?

Notice the weight Jesus places on this statement. He doesn't say "verily" once — He says it twice. Double emphasis in Hebrew and rabbinic speech was the strongest way to underline certainty. Jesus is not offering an opinion or a suggestion to Nicodemus, a respected religious leader. He is declaring an unbreakable law of the spiritual realm.

Nicodemus came at night, credentials intact — a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, a teacher of Israel. He expected theological dialogue. Instead, Jesus bypassed his resume entirely and confronted his root problem: he was working from the wrong starting point. Nicodemus assumed access to God's kingdom came through moral effort, lineage, or religious performance. Jesus corrected him — access comes only through new birth.

This is the timeless truth: reformation is not regeneration. You cannot polish what needs to be replaced. Being born again is not self-improvement; it is a supernatural act of God where the Spirit gives a person a new nature, not just a new resolution. Nicodemus's confusion — "how can a man be born when he is old?" — reveals how instinctively we default to human effort. But Jesus insisted this birth is "of water and of the Spirit" (v.5), entirely God's initiative, received by faith.

This truth remains unchanged today. Church attendance, moral behavior, and religious knowledge — however sincere — cannot substitute for this new birth. Every generation faces the same requirement Nicodemus did.

Key Takeaway
No one enters God's kingdom by self-effort or religious credentials. New birth by the Spirit is the non-negotiable entry point, then and now.

Precious one, examine your foundation. Are you relying on being good, being religious, or being born again? Only one of these grants you sight of the kingdom.

Remain blessed.

 

FURTHER READING
John 3:1-8; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Titus 3:5

 

QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU MEDITATE ON THE WORD
1. Have you ever mistaken religious activity for genuine spiritual rebirth?
2. What evidence in your life points to a new nature rather than just new behavior?
3. Is there someone in your life, like Nicodemus, who needs this truth explained clearly rather than assumed?

 

PRAYER
Father, thank You for making new birth possible through Your Spirit. Strip away any reliance on my own effort or religious performance. Give me the assurance that I am truly born again, and use me to lead others to this same life-giving truth. In Jesus' name, Amen.