John 3:1-17 (NRSV)
Read John 3:1-17 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 3Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. Verse 2He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." Verse 3Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Verse 4Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Verse 5Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. Verse 6What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Verse 7Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' Verse 8The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Verse 9Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" Verse 10Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? Verse 11"Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. Verse 12If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? Verse 13No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. Verse 14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, Verse 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. Verse 16"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Verse 17"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Devotion
“Excuse me!” the young man said. “Are you saved?” “Of course,” I said. “Tell me when and how it happened,” he said. But before I could answer, he told me he had been saved two months earlier, on April 3 at 9:33 p.m. at a Bible study in his college dormitory following a breakup with his girlfriend.
Well, I couldn’t top that. Or could I? Not in his way of thinking. I told him, “I was saved a little farther in the past than last April. I was saved about 2,000 years ago and I learned about it from my parents about 70 years ago.”
Jesus told Nicodemus that it is God’s action, not ours, that makes us born again. We cannot save ourselves. God saves us. God sets us on the path to the Kingdom. We are born again through the saving action of God in Jesus Christ.
Prayer
Thank you, God, for acting on my behalf in Jesus. Your actions relieve me of wasting my time or efforts to assure myself of eternal salvation, freeing me to serve you and my neighbor. Amen.