Jesus replied, "I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life."
We are called to be spiritual people - holy, righteous, faithful, and compassionate like our Father in heaven. But our own efforts fail at achieving these spiritual characteristics. We need the power and presence of Almighty God at work in our lives to purify and sustain us in our desire to live to honor our Father. So God in his great
mercy gave us the gift of new birth and the
right to be born of God (
John 1:12-13). This gift is made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is at work in us through our faith and baptism (
Galatians 3:26;
Acts 2:38-39). The Spirit cleanses us and makes us holy no matter our past sin (
1 Corinthians 6:9-11). The Spirit lives inside us and identifies us as
children of God (
Romans 8:9). The Spirit powerfully works to conform us to Jesus (
2 Corinthians 3:17-18). Conforming to Jesus is certainly something that we could not accomplish
by our own abilities. We celebrate the Father's work in us through the Holy Spirit who has made it possible for us to be born anew
and to live for Jesus (
John 3:3-7;
Titus 3:3-7).
Thank you, Father of mercies, for the work of the Spirit to cleanse me and give me new birth into living hope as I seek to live the way of Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.
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