“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)

A couple of verses earlier, the Lord Jesus Christ told the Pharisee, Nicodemus, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (3:3). The words “born again” literally mean born anew from above. Thus, Christ told Nicodemus that, in order to enter the kingdom of God, a person must receive a spiritual birth, a rebirth, a new life from above.

However, Nicodemus was taken aback and perplexed by Christ’s words about being born again, and he did not grasp their spiritual meaning. Understandably, he then asked the Lord absurd questions, expecting a negative answer, because surely Christ did not mean something as impossible as a second physical birth. Nicodemus 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?” (3:4). The Lord answered that “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit” (3:5), he can’t enter the kingdom of God.

Answering Nicodemus’s protest about being born after being fully grown or entering the mother’s womb a second time, the Lord pointed out to Nicodemus that there are two kinds of birth, of water and of the Spirit, meaning the natural and the spiritual. I believe that being born of water speaks of being born of the flesh, or physical birth. The breaking of the water in natural birth is what makes sense of the expression “of water and of the Spirit.” Being born of the Spirit (vv. 5-6) refers to the Holy Spirit’s work of renewal and spiritual rebirth. Thus, the Lord is describing birth and rebirth, being born and born again. He was saying that, unless one is born of a woman (“of water”) and born from above (“of the Spirit”), he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Referring to the two births, the Lord said in the next verse, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (3:6).

The old Christian adage, attributed to Martin Luther, is true: “Born once, die twice [Rev. 20:14-15]; born twice, die once.”

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“Do the work of an evangelist.” Paul’s Spirit-inspired injunction in 2 Timothy 4:5 applies indirectly to every believer in Christ. Are not our pastors simply leaders in the work of the Lord? Shall the congregation sit idly by as the pastor alone does “the work of an evangelist?” God forbid! The pastor is rather to be an example to his flock to go and do likewise.

How well this writer recalls the days of the so-called Darby-Scofield movement when multitudes all over the country thronged to hear Bible teachers like Gaebelein, Gray, Gregg, Ottman, Chafer, and Newell. These able men of God expounded the Word as the “blessed hope” of the Lord’s return was being recovered. But these Bible teachers were evangelists too, in the truest sense of the word, and their evangelism was contagious.

In those days almost all premillenarians, including the young people, carried New Testaments in their pockets wherever they went. Why? They hoped and prayed for opportunities to testify to others about God’s plan of salvation through Christ, and they wanted to show them the way from Scripture. In those days, if a Christian failed to have a New Testament with him, he was apt to be reproved with the words: “What! a soldier without a sword?” By contrast, few believers carry New Testaments about with them today, and they certainly don’t carry Bibles!

Some are telling us today that this brand of fundamentalism is out of date and ineffective in these fast-changing times. We reply that all of us ought to get back to this brand of fundamentalism, this earnest effort to personally win souls to Christ by showing them God’s plan of salvation from the Scriptures.

God help his people in general and each spiritual leader in particular to “do the work of an evangelist.”

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

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“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

Christ could return to catch away the Church, the Body of Christ, at the Rapture anytime, day or night. We are to be “looking” for Him always. We may somehow imagine that the Lord is going to come at noonday to catch us away to heaven. It may or may not be daytime in the United States when this great event takes place. It is going to be nighttime in a lot of places around the globe when the Lord returns. Thus, it may be in the evening, at midnight, or three o’clock in the morning in the United States when He comes.

As we are faithfully “looking for that blessed hope” and are always ready, we should remember when we go to bed that the Rapture could happen in the middle of the night when we are sound asleep. But what a great way to be awakened with “a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God” (1 Thes. 4:16)!

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.

“What is of predominant importance in your teachings, the gospel message or dispensational message? And which message brings salvation?”

This question is often asked of us by those who feel we are causing division through our teaching of doctrine. But we must ask, is causing division the correct test of right or wrong? Bad or good? Did Christ Himself not say, “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division” (Luke 12:51 cf. Matt. 10:35)? And cause division He certainly did (cf. John 7:40-43; 9:16; 10:17-21). The fact is, truth divides; it always has and always will, and short of not sharing the truth, nothing can be done to prevent it.

It is the truth of the gospel that divides the non-believer from the believer, and the truth will also create division within the church, and rightfully so. However, the Scripture doesn’t cast the blame on those who speak the truth; instead, the responsibility lies squarely on those who reject it – “Now I beseech you brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Rom. 16:17). Here we see that those “which cause divisions” are the ones who are not adhering to correct doctrine.

To be sure, the most vital message that any believer can share is the gospel, for it “is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Rom. 1:16; 4:5). But members of the Body of Christ are called to do more than share the gospel with the unsaved. We are called to edify the church and share “all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). If a saved individual asks about God’s Word or counsel on baptism, tithing, sanctification, the Rapture, or any other vitally important doctrine, a believer should not be more concerned about any resulting division than sharing the truth, nor should we find it necessary to keep our conversations solely about the gospel.

God’s will is for all to be saved “and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). This is why Paul said, “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Tim. 4:13), desiring that we be “nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine” (v. 6), and warned us to “take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them” (v. 16). To do those things we must “preach the Word…reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Tim. 4:2). We can and should speak the truth in love “that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14-15).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.