you must

be born again

A man came to Jesus with one question: what do I have to do to be saved? Jesus didn't give him a list. He told him the truth: you have to be born again.

Not reformed.

Not religious.

Born. Again.

Without a new birth from above, a person can't even understand what the kingdom of God is about, let alone enter it (John 3:1-21). We're all sinners by nature, and that nature stands between us and God. But God made a way. Jesus went to the cross, and His death counted as our death. His resurrection counted as our resurrection from a dead way of living.

What does it actually require?

You personally acknowledge you're a sinner.

You personally repent and confess that Jesus died for your sin.

And you personally receive Him as Lord and Savior.

I have a friend who grew up Catholic his whole life, then had a radical experience with God and realized he had never really been saved. He had simply assumed that being Catholic was synonymous with being saved, as many people do. After that, whenever someone told him "I'm Catholic," he'd ask: "Yeah, but are you a born-again Catholic?"

I love to research church doctrinal statements to find out what they really believe. Sometimes I find out that their doctrinal statement is the Apostle’s Creed.

But a church's doctrinal statement is a group thing. It can't take the place of a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

I pray that if you have never personally acknowledged Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior in this way, you will. He is as close as believing this in your heart and speaking it out your mouth.