117. Why must every person be born again?

Jesus answers this question in the conversation with Nicodemus: John 3

1. Without being born again, I cannot enter the kingdom of God – heaven.
2. God cannot accept my natural being. It’s inherently bad and corrupt. Jesus calls it the “flesh” (John 3:6).
3. Neither Christian upbringing and instruction nor natural piety nor good role models can transform people.
4. I cannot change myself.
5. God cannot acknowledge a mere external improvement in my being.