Spiritual Prescription INFORMATION OR COMMUNICATION
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. John 3:5.
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, you're a great teacher. You are a great miracle worker. Let's discuss something." Nicodemus came to Jesus with the idea in mind of entering into a discussion with Him. In so doing, he identified himself immediately as a potential pseudointellectual--one who used the Bible and religious topics primarily as a launching pad for discussion.
It is possible to keep God at an arm's length by talking about Him. There are people who are looking for a method of forgetting God that will pass as a method of remembering Him (The Great Controversy, p. 572). You can be a church member in good and regular standing, and yet be running from God through the pseudointellectual escape.
So Nicodemus came and said, "Let's have a discussion--let's dialogue."
And Jesus said, "What you need is to be born again."
Jesus allowed Nicodemus to lead the conversation wherever he chose, but whenever Nicodemus paused for breath, Jesus brought it back to the real issue: "You need to be born again."
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Since the new birth, or conversion, gives us a new capacity for knowing God that we didn't even have before, it is only after the new birth that the relationship with God can really begin. Before that time we find the Bible uninteresting, except as a basis for information. But when God has done His converting work through the Holy Spirit, then we will find meaning in studying the Bible for communication with Him.
An understanding of Bible truth depends not so much on the power of intellect brought to the search as upon the earnest longing after righteousness. But who longs after righteousness? It would have to be the converted person. No one is going to long after righteousness unless he has been born again. Paul says the carnal mind is at enmity against God. So the new birth precedes a meaningful devotional life.
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. John 3:5.
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, you're a great teacher. You are a great miracle worker. Let's discuss something." Nicodemus came to Jesus with the idea in mind of entering into a discussion with Him. In so doing, he identified himself immediately as a potential pseudointellectual--one who used the Bible and religious topics primarily as a launching pad for discussion.
It is possible to keep God at an arm's length by talking about Him. There are people who are looking for a method of forgetting God that will pass as a method of remembering Him (The Great Controversy, p. 572). You can be a church member in good and regular standing, and yet be running from God through the pseudointellectual escape.
So Nicodemus came and said, "Let's have a discussion--let's dialogue."
And Jesus said, "What you need is to be born again."
Jesus allowed Nicodemus to lead the conversation wherever he chose, but whenever Nicodemus paused for breath, Jesus brought it back to the real issue: "You need to be born again."
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Since the new birth, or conversion, gives us a new capacity for knowing God that we didn't even have before, it is only after the new birth that the relationship with God can really begin. Before that time we find the Bible uninteresting, except as a basis for information. But when God has done His converting work through the Holy Spirit, then we will find meaning in studying the Bible for communication with Him.
An understanding of Bible truth depends not so much on the power of intellect brought to the search as upon the earnest longing after righteousness. But who longs after righteousness? It would have to be the converted person. No one is going to long after righteousness unless he has been born again. Paul says the carnal mind is at enmity against God. So the new birth precedes a meaningful devotional life.
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