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I was born in a Christian family, and I was taught to read the Bible, pray, sing songs, etc. I went to Sunday School and the church choir. But it was only when I was 24 that I was born again! Before that, I behaved like a 'Christian' because of the training, and many people could have been fooled, but I did not have a real relationship with God. Without Christ in me, I was not a Christian at all, but I thought I was, and I gave people that impression.

Can some of you relate to Nicodemus, like I can now, who was a Jewish religious leader, but who did not really know God (Jn.3:10)? What he knew about God was only through training, but not in life experience.

At 24, I was aware of my sinful condition, but I tried to tell myself that I was not any worse than other Christians – till I came across some young people who had actually met with Christ and whose lives had been radically changed by this Jesus. Then I realised that I didn't have what they had. But I began to want it. I went and prayed to Jesus, asked Him to forgive me and change my life. That was when I was born again, by the unmerited favour of God (grace) through faith and in a way I could not boast about at all (Ep.2:8,9).

Now, this is one thing that is the heaviest on my mind, that like I used to be, there are crowds of people out there who do not really know Jesus, but who assume they are Christians. Perhaps they are banking on their Christian heritage, training, knowledge or even Bible college degrees, and assuming that they are no worse than any other Christians because they have not fallen into any gross sins. But Jesus has made it absolutely clear that unless we are born again, we will in no way be able to enter the kingdom of God (Jn.3:3).

We are not sinners because we have sinned, and there is no doubt that all of us have sinned. But we sin because we are born sinners (Ps.51:5). Our nature itself is sinful. In a real sense, sin is to live independent of God, living our own lives and doing what pleases us. Before being born again, we inwardly like to please ourselves, even when we know it is displeasing to God. It is when we are born again that God gives us a new heart that does not want to sin but which is dedicated to pleasing God (Ez.36:26).

When Jesus died He paid the penalty for our sins and made it possible for the righteous God to forgive us. But our salvation is not complete if we are going to continue in our sinful ways and expect God to keep forgiving us. What we also need is a new nature itself. That is what this new birth gives. In one way, it is simple – we have to acknowledge our sins, turn to God's grace and receive forgiveness. The hard part is to be truly sincere and honest about it. This requires a deep repentance on our part (2Co.7:10,11). But when it happens, it makes us a new person; God changes us inside and we are no longer what we used to be. Without this, we are not even Christians, leave alone going to heaven.

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