I
love having the use of a thesaurus when writing in Microsoft Word. I find the
suggestions it offers extremely helpful, and I get to use some words that would
not normally be in my vocabulary. One such word offered by my helpful thesaurus
recently was ‘exacerbate’ which means to ‘make worse’.
My
wife says I am a natural when it comes to making things worse. I don’t set out
to make things worse or ‘exacerbate’ (my new favourite word) the problem, but
sometimes in trying to clarify something, we can find ourselves making
something less clear.
I
came across an example of this as I read about what Mormons teach concerning
Jesus’ famous words at John 3:3. Speaking to the Jewish religious leader
Nicodemus, Jesus said to him:
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I
say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
The
article began by saying that Jesus’ words have become a ‘matter of debate and
controversy amongst Christian believers.’ It doesn’t go beyond this statement
to discuss what these debates and controversies might be, rather the author sets
forth the idea that Mormon teaching can make clear, that which ‘other’
Christians fail to understand.
Before
we consider how Mormonism can supposedly help clarify Jesus’ words, let us
first seek to understand ourselves what Jesus meant when he told Nicodemus that
he must be born again.
SAY
WHAT?
To
begin we need to consider the first rule of biblical interpretation – context,
so let’s take a look at it:
There
was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came
to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher
come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be
with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith
unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is
flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said
unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou
hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it
goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (John 3:1-8)
Jesus
told Nicodemus that anyone who wanted to see the Kingdom of God, needed to be
born again. What did Jesus mean by this?
Born
again literally means to be born from above. Jesus was telling Nicodemus that
he needed a spiritual rebirth. This was not something that he himself could
generate. A person cannot be born again through greater effort or by rigidly
following a set of rules or commands, it doesn’t come about through affiliation
to a particular church, rather, it is an act of God. Earlier in John’s gospel
we read these words:
He (Jesus) came unto his own, and his own
received him not.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God. John
1:11-13 KJV
According
to these verses, God imparts this spiritual life to the person who believes, to
those who receive Jesus.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2
Corinthians 5:17
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but
according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and
renewing of the Holy Ghost. Titus 3:5
Jesus
informs Nicodemus that he needs a spiritual awakening. He is dead and therefore
needs to be made alive:
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses
and sins… Ephesians 2:1
Jesus
made sure that Nicodemus knew it was not about keeping the law and the wielding
of religious zeal, but about the One who, by the Spirit, awakens the dead making
a person a child of God, and assuring a person of eternal life.
As a
religious Jew, Nicodemus would have been striving to keep the law to make
himself acceptable to God, but Jesus is pointing him to the greater reality.
It’s not the law that saves but God Himself, and this through faith in His Son
Jesus.
A
Sinner in Need of Grace
Nicodemus
needed to understand that he was a lost sinner, a hopeless case before a holy
God.
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. Romans 3:23
But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our
iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Isaiah 64:6
It
is only when a person fully understands the depth of their depravity and the
holy nature of the One they are trying to please, that they will surrender
their effort, their striving, and their works and come to God for salvation.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man
should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
When
a person repents and cries out to God, his sins are forgiven. He is then born
again of the Spirit of God, declared to be a child of God, and assured of
entrance into the Kingdom of God. O what a precious truth Jesus is sharing with
Nicodemus.
Jesus
is here teaching that all must be born again to be saved. But how do Mormons understand what Jesus is
saying? In the next article, as we consider what they teach regarding the need
to be born again. What we will find is that, rather than making things clearer,
they exacerbate the situation, making it almost impossible to enter the Kingdom
of God.
Comments