Jesus said that those who can enter the kingdom of heaven are those who are born of the Spirit. What is the meaning of it and how can we born of the Spirit?
John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
“Unless” means there is no other way. Therefore, to enter into the kingdom of heaven we must be born of the water and the Spirit. Then how can we born of the Spirit? This can be found in the example shown by Jesus himself? Jesus taught that the true reality of the temple was his own body because God put the Spirit of God in the body of Christ. That is why Jesus said that his body was the temple of God.
John 2:19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
The temple of God is the place where the Spirit of God dwells, so if the body of Christ was the reality of temple, when did God put his Spirit in the body of Christ? It was when Jesus got baptized that God put his Spirit in Jesus.
Luke 3:21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove.
Whatever was done by Jesus was done to give us an example so that we can follow: “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (John 13:15) Jesus showed us the example of baptism to teach us that we can receive also the Spirit of God when we get baptized and through the Spirit we receive we can be born again as children of God.
Romans 8:14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.
Those who received the Spirit of God is testified as sons of God and they can inherit the kingdom of heaven as heirs of God. That is why the very first thing we must do to enter into the kingdom of heaven is to get baptized. We can witness through the book of Acts how people eagerly wanted to get baptized and they got baptized immediately after they realized that Jesus Christ is the Savior. Then what kind of God’s plan is hidden in the baptism? How can we receive the Spirit of God through the baptism? To understand this we must first take a look at the physical temple of God.
The temple of God is a holy place and for the Spirit of God to dwell in the temple all the things in the temple must be purified with the sacrificial blood of animals. It is the same with out body of temple. According to the bible, human beings were once angels in heaven who were cast down from heaven to this earth because of their sins. And the sins make their body of temple impure and unclean. Then what is the way we can cleanse the body of temple? Through the example of baptism Jesus was teaching that our body of temple can be purified from sins through baptism.
Acts 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of you sins.”
Baptism is the ceremony through which we can receive the forgiveness of sins and through the baptism of the forgiveness of sins our body of temple is cleansed and our body can become the holy vessel for the Spirit of God. Therefore, the forgiveness of sins is the most important condition to receive the Holy Spirit. We can confirm this through the Passover regulation. The Passover is the ceremony taught by Christ which can cleanse our body of temple of its impurities and uncleanness. 2000 years ago Jesus taught the disciples the true meaning of the Passover. On the night of the Passover, when they reclined at the table, he taught his disciples:
Mt 26:26 26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” 27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant,which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Just as the physical temple could be purified of uncleanness through the blood of animals, Jesus teaches that the spiritual temple our body can also be purified through the blood of Christ who is the reality of a sacrificial lamb. On the night of the Passover, he gave his blood so that the body of temple of his people could be purified through his blood. When they kept the Passover and their body of temple was purified, then the Spirit of God could dwell in the spiritual temple, the body of disciples.
John 6:53 53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.
By eating the flesh and blood of Christ through the Passover, our body of temple is purified and Jesus said that he would remain in us. What does it that he would remain in us? It means that he would dwell in us. Then how would Christ dwell in us? He would dwell in us by putting his Spirit in our body of temple. If we look at all the festivals of God, they were celebrated with the blood of animals such as bull, lamb, goat, birds. Through the blood of animals the temple of God could be consecrated and the Spirit of God could dwell in the temple. (Hebrews 9:22) Through this God was already teaching us how we would be able to consecrate our body of temple. Our body of temple can be purified with the blood of Christ. Then how can we receive the blood of Christ? Through the festivals of God. When we keep the festivals of God, our body of temple are cleansed of all our sins and impurities and finally God put his Spirit in us. And our body can be the holy temple of God where God dwells in Spirit.
And those who receive the Spirit of God are called sons of God who can inherit the kingdom of heaven. Even though once all the festivals of God was taken away by the work of Satan, Christ Ahnsahnghong appeared a second time according to the prophecies of the bible and he restored all the festivals of God so that we can be purified to be the temple of God. God’s true blessings are given through the seven festivals of three times: Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Many people are keeping man’s traditions such as Christmas, Easter, or Thanksgiving. But nowhere in the bible says that we can receive the Spirit of God through these things. Rather the bible says we must come to our Mother Heavenly Jerusalem to keep the festivals of God to receive the Spirit of God.
Zechariah 14:16 Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. 17 If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain. 18 If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The Lord will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.
Only those who go up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles will be able to receive the rain. Then what is the rain they would receive? In the Book of Joel Prophet Joel says the rain is the Spirit of God whom God’s people would receive in the last days. (Joel 2:23, 28) Therefore, the only way for us to receive the Spirit of God is through the festivals of God. Through the festivals of God we can receive the blood of Christ which cleanses our body of temple from all the impurities and we can become a holy temple of God where God’s Spirit can dwell. And those who received God’s Spirit are called children of God who can inherit the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus said, “Unless you were born of the Spirit, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Therefore, only those who come to Our Mother Heavenly Jerusalem to keep the festivals of God, can be purified with the living water and receive the Spirit of God. Let us come to Jerusalem our Mother!
Many of the Christians say that they are a born-again Christians. Whether they know the meaning of it or not, Christians knows that they must be born again to go to the kingdom of heaven. That is why Christians call themselves as a born-again Christian. Then what is the meaning of “Born-Again”? In the time of Jesus, there was a man who wanted to know how to be born again and he asked Jesus how he could be born again.
John 3:3 3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” 4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
Nicodemus could not understand what Jesus was teaching about the rebirth, and also he truly wanted to know how to be born again so that he can also receive salvation. Jesus felt compassion for this man and taught him that he must be born with water and the Spirit to be born again. This is also the same in our age. Many says that he or she is a born-again Christians, but actually they do not know what it means. Neither do they have the humble mind of Nicodemus who truly wanted to know the way of being born again. People believe what they want to believe and say that they are born again. Whatever people might say about themselves, it is God who will make a judgment to decide whether a person is truly born again or not. That is why we must have the humble mind like Nicodemus and ask God how to be born again.
The bible testifies that there are two different lives in human beings.
1 Corinthians 15:44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body….48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
We know we could be born on this earth into the natural body through our natural parents. We are aware of our physical body every moment of our life and we check our physical body if it is in good or poor condition, if there is anything lacking or full, etc…But since we do not see the spiritual body, we do not take much care of the spiritual body. Even many times we live without realizing the existence and the importance of it. While we provide good things such as food, water, exercise for our physical body, we do not know what to do to provide the spiritual body. But the bible says that we also have the spiritual body.
Therefore, we can conclude that “to be born again” means to be born into the spiritual body so that we can enter into the eternal kingdom of heaven. Apostle Paul teaches when we will receive the spiritual body.
1 Corinthians 15:51 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
At this time of transfiguration, our physical body will be changed into the spiritual body and we will enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Phil 3:20 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
The citizens of the heaven are those who would be able to receive this glorious body or the spiritual body. The perishable cannot inherit the imperishable; thus, with this perishable body we cannot enter into the imperishable world. To enter the spiritual world, our lowly body should be changed into the glorious body like Jesus and then we can enter into the kingdom of heaven. Then now the question is how we can receive the glorious body at the last moment. Many says, “I am born again,” but at the last moment in the time of transfiguration if nothing happens in their body, people will have a time of rude awakening, but there will be no chance for them any more at that moment. That is why we must know and make sure if we are truly born again or not when we still have time.
To make sure if we were truly born again or not, let us take a look at the teachings of Jesus Christ about the characteristics of the person who could be born again. Jesus said a person must be born of water and the Spirit. “Born of water” means to be baptized in the name of the Savior to receive the forgiveness of sins. Then what does “born of the Spirit” mean? When we receive the forgiveness of sins through baptism, our body of temple is cleansed and God pours his Holy Spirit in us and in this way we can be born again. Therefore, to be born again we must know the true Savior and receive the baptism in the name of the true Savior. In the age of Father it was Jehovah who could give salvation to his people, but in the time of Son now it was in the name of Jesus that they could receive salvation. Then what about us? Jesus said that we must also know the name of Savior in the last days.
Christ gave us an example to teach us how to be born again with water and spirit. He got baptized with water and anointed with the Holy Spirit after baptism.
Matthew 28:19 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Jesus taught that people who are living in the last days must be baptized in the name of the Holy Spirit. About this name of the Holy Spirit, Jesus also said:
Revelation 3:12 12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Jesus who is speaking as the Spirit prophesied that he would bring his new name in the last days. Therefore, in the last days, people must know the new name of Christ to be born again so that they can enter into the eternal kingdom of heaven.
Just as physically to be born on this earth we must have physical parents; in the same way to be born spiritually at least we must know our spiritual Father and spiritual Mother who can give us our spiritual body. That spiritual Father who can give us the new life is coming with a new name in the last days. This prophecy was fulfilled by Christ Ahnsahnghong by coming with a new name. He appeared for the second time as the Savior in the age of the Holy Spirit and let us know the name of Savior so that we can know who our Father and Mother are who can give us a new birth into the spiritual body. Let us accept our spiritual parents and be born again. Then we can truly say that we are born-again Christians. How can you say you could be born again without know your parents?
