If anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.
Those who believe in his name … were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
1 Corinthians 8, 2; John 1, 12.13.
Marion and Julia were good friends at their grammar school. Marion was a Christian, Julia wasn’t. Julia respected her friend greatly and decided to become a Christian. She asked Marion questions about the Bible and was interested in her faith. Finally she asked if she could accompany her to her church. She was sincere and truly sought to understand. But one thing was amiss.
Julia was trying to become a Christian intellectually. She wanted to master Christianity of a sort in ten lessons and belong to it in her mind. Her heart and her conscience were not affected. She lacked the thirst. A chemistry lesson on the molecular structure of water is interesting, but to appreciate a glass of water, you need to be thirsty!
True Christianity cannot be learned by the brain like a lesson; it brings about a profound change inside one. Nicodemus, a scholar with sound religious knowledge, once approached Jesus. With a few words Jesus brushed his knowledge aside and taught him that to enter the kingdom of God one must be born again (cf. John 3, 7).
Becoming a Christian means becoming a new being, receiving a new nature directly from God. No amount of intellectual effort can bring this about. The conscience must be at work. Do I recognize before God that I need His forgiveness? He is prepared to grant it. He forgives all who believe on the Name of Jesus; and whoever believes on Him has eternal life (cf. John 3, 16).