Among the Pharisees was a man named Nicodemus. He came to Jesus by night and said,
"Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who comes from God. No one could do what You do unless God were with Him."
Jesus answered, "Unless a man is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God."
Nicodemus asked, "How can a grown man be born? Can he go back into his mother and be born again?" Jesus answered, "A man must be born of water and the Holy Spirit to enter the Kingdom of God."
"How is that possible?" asked Nicodemus. "Here you are, a teacher in Israel, and you do not know these things?" exclaimed Jesus. All the Old Testament foretold the coming of Jesus the Messiah, and this was read very carefully by the Pharisees.
Jesus explained to Nicodemus, "God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that anyone who believes in Him will not be lost, but will live forever in God's love. God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world and condemn it, but to save it. No one who believes in Him will be lost, but whoever does not believe is lost already, because he will not believe in the Name of God's only Son."
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