Being born again is God's main commandment to people
This topic is difficult, but very important for understanding the essence of Christianity, for God to save people and for believers to gain ETERNITY. Every person can gain kinship with God through birth from God by receiving the Holy Spirit into themselves forever. However, the question arises: why does the Bible say little about this and only in the Gospel of John. So, a little about the main Apostle John:
The son of the fisherman Zebedee, John was one of the first followers of Christ. He occupies a special place among the chosen disciples of Jesus Christ. John was one of the three disciples whom Jesus especially brought close to Himself. He loved John for his meekness and gentleness, for his purity and virginal chastity. Everything that Jesus did that was especially important happened in the presence of John.
Saint John the Theologian was a witness to the Transfiguration of the Lord on Tabor. During the Last Supper, he reclined next to the Lord and, at the sign of the Apostle Peter, leaning against the Savior's chest, asked about the name of the traitor. John accompanied Christ to the Garden of Gethsemane, where the Lord prayed in the last moments before His suffering; together with the Mother of God, Saint John was next to Jesus during His suffering on the cross. Jesus entrusted Saint John with the care of his mother. And John fulfilled the divine will exactly, he took the Most Holy Mother of God into his home and cared for Her until Her very Assumption.
So, the text from the Bible from John, the third chapter:
"1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
2 He came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said to you, ‘You MUST be born again.’”
Here is what A.P. Lopukhin tells us in his interpretation: "Nicodemus had not yet asked Christ anything, but Christ, Who Himself knew what was in man, directly answers his question, which Nicodemus wanted to ask him. And for what other reason could Nicodemus come to Christ, if not to learn from Him, if possible, about the path leading to the Kingdom of God? And Christ with special solemnity (truly, truly) tells Nicodemus that only he who is born again can enter the Kingdom of th or God"
Nicodemus did not understand how a person can be born for a new life, and Christ shows him two reasons under the influence of which this new birth is possible: water and the Spirit, and we have doubts about verse 3:5 "unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God." Here the word "Spirit" is written with a capital letter, and the word "water" with a small letter. Being born of God, which means having a common essence with God, certainly cannot include water. What the Born Again has in common with God is His Spirit, and the Lord speaks of this in verse 3:6.
Why does the Lord speak about water in verse 3:5? As we know from the Bible (Exodus 29:4, also Exodus 30:19,20) water is associated only with the rite of dedication TO SERVICE God. "This is what you must do for them, to dedicate them to be priests to Me... Then bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting and WASH them with WATER... and take the ANOINTING OIL, pour it on his head, and anoint him." Here the oil symbolizes the reception of the HOLY SPIRIT! Christ speaks about water and the Spirit in the verse John 3:5. To wash with water means purification, cleansing from everything that is not pleasing to God. Of course, Nicodemus (one of the Jewish leaders) knew about this. That is why Nicodemus did not ask the Lord about water.
Christ gives His Divine Spirit to man at the Birth from Above! Here is what the Apostle Paul says about this to believers: "But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, IF ONLY the Spirit of God dwells in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, HE IS NOT HIS" (Rom. 8:9).
The words "Born from above", which means being Children of God, we attribute to the time of the New Testament from the beginning of the ministry of Jesus Christ, although all believers and lovers of the Lord became Children of God during the Old Testament.
Being born again is not connected with the condition of whether a person is perfect or not. Being born again is not the improvement of a person, but the change of his human spirit, but his soul and body do not change, but his spirit changes. A person receives the Spirit of God into himself and this happens when he recognizes Jesus Christ as his God during REPENTANCE, by faith and with love for Him during REPENTANCE. During repentance, a believer CLEANSES his past spirit from unbelief and from everything that is displeasing to God, in order to receive the Spirit of God into his spirit.
This is spiritual perfection. After all, perfection can be different: physical, improvement in a specialty, spiritual perfection, but Being born again implies only spiritual perfection, only when God settles in a person in his spirit with His Divine Spirit and a person is born new. The main thing in a person is the spirit, not the soul and body. What a person's Spirit is - such is he himself before God and people. A person who is born again is a completely new person, he becomes the kind of person God wants him to be, and that is why the Lord says to all people through Nicodemus: You MUST be born again!
Where should our faith in the Savior Jesus Christ begin? Christ immediately began to speak about this at the beginning of His ministry to people after baptism, having experienced human temptations: “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: REPENT and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:14,15). Repentance before God gives the believer PEACE with God and ONLY by repentance can the believer become Born of God, receiving the Spirit of God in his spirit. “Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19). True faith leads to repentance and finding love for God - to the Birth from above.
The Apostle Peter told the people on the Day of Pentecost: “REPENT, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you will receive the GIFT of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). GIFT: “but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23)
So, Christ said to Nicodemus figuratively: one must be born of water and the Spirit. Water signifies REPENTANCE- spiritual cleansing, purity. Birth from above is accomplished through repentance by receiving the Holy Spirit of God. "...Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter 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 to you, You must BE BORN again" (John 3:5-7).
And further in John 10:28 Christ says about Himself that the time has come to BELIEVE Him. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). "And I give to them (those who believe in Jesus Christ) eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand" (John 10:28). "Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in Me" (John 14:1).
Being born again is accomplished ONLY in repentance and with a PERSONAL appeal to God about recognizing Him as Your God and Savior, as well as with a request to forgive your sins, but not through a church minister, but can happen in his presence. And ONLY being born again through repentance and receiving the Spirit of God into one's spirit gives salvation to the believer, and therefore forgiveness of his sins by God! And therefore the acquisition of eternal life!