“Ye Must Be Born Again”
John 3:1–7
1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
5 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.
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 unto thee, Ye must be born again.
President James E. Faust said:
“The Savior taught us that all men and women must be born again. Nicodemus, one of the rulers among the Jews, came surreptitiously to the Savior by night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
“‘Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’ [John 3:2–3].
“Nicodemus was bewildered and asked: ‘How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?’
“Jesus explained that He was talking about being born spiritually. He said:
“‘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.
“‘That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit’ [John 3:4–6].
“All of us need to be born spiritually, from 8 to 80—or even 90. When Sister Luise Wulff of the German Democratic Republic was baptized in 1989, she exclaimed, ‘There I was—ninety-four years old and born again!’ [“Born Again at 94,” Tambuli, June 1994, 24.] Our first birth takes place when we are born into mortality. Our second birth begins when we are baptized by water by one holding the priesthood of God and is completed when we are confirmed, and ‘then cometh a remission of [our] sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost’ [2 Nephi 31:17].”
(“Born Again,” Ensign, May 2001, 54.)
