Born from Above!: How the Spiritually Dead Come to Life . The Story of Nicodemus

Born from Above!
Every person who is born into this world experiences spiritual death and, one day, physical death. When death touches us all, many experience great sorrow for the loss of a loved one. While some see death as an end, others see death as the passage to eternal life.

Though we live in this physical world, many are oblivious to the spiritual world. In the spiritual world, many are indeed the "Walking Dead." The Bible says, "The natural man understands not the things of God; to him they are foolishness because they are spiritually discerned, and he is spiritually dead."
Today, there is profound blindness that engulfs the souls of many human beings. We were all born and infected by original sin. All men and women are born with a sinful nature, and because they carry a sinful nature, we are separated from God and have fallen short of the glory of God.
Sin is our "pathogen" that causes mankind to be slaves to sin and Satan. Sin, evil, pride, and selfishness infect us all. So, what is mankind's response to the evil within? Some people love their sin or make excuses, "The devil made me do it." At the same time, others try to do their best. Some will become involved in a religion, trying to avoid the evil within.

Which religion is the correct one?
Today, there are thousands of religions. Every person has a religion, whether they want to admit it or not. Most scholars define religion as a personal set or an institutionalized system of attitudes, beliefs, and practices. Whether a person is a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Mormon, Christian Scientist, Buddhist, Hindu, Agnostic, or Atheist, he or she has a religion and worships something or somebody. He or she might worship the true God or false gods, including idols, the supernatural, the state, Mother Earth, science, money, or even man.
Many sub-religions under each dominant religion make religions even more complicated and confusing. Why are there so many religions? There are 7.5 billion human beings in this world. Some philosophers and religious leaders believe each religion seeks its path to God, and paths vary because people vary. Others, like most Muslims, Buddhists, Orthodox Jews, and Christians, do not subscribe to this explanation. They believe their religion is the correct one, and the others are following a false religion. Many people are desperate to discover the way to eternal life and happiness.

Human Achievement vs. God's Divine Grace and Accomplishment
What are your choices today? How can you be saved from eternal hell and enter God's kingdom? We have a choice. We can continue to follow the false teachers of this world, or we can seek the Lord Jesus with all our hearts and ask for mercy and forgiveness. We must abandon the apostate systems of the world.
True Christianity teaches a person cannot be good enough to gain a righteousness that satisfies God. If any man is saved, he is saved by God's divine grace; the reason for man's salvation is not to be found in him but in God. We are not saved as the result of anything that we do. We are saved as the result of God's good pleasure and the work of His grace in our hearts. Jesus says, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him on the last day" (John 6:44).

In Jesus of Nazareth's famous "Sermon on the Mount," he taught the characteristics and virtues of those in His kingdom who practice the true religion based on divine accomplishment. During his ministry, Jesus shared that true religion is based on faith, grace, and the mercy of God. It is the work of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It is where salvation, acceptance, and heaven depend on what God did, not what men and women do.