Acts 2
³⁶"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."  ³⁷When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"  ³⁸Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 6
Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ
¹What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ²By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

John 3
¹⁶"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 1
¹²Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- ¹³children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

John 3
³In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.

John 3
⁶Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

Romans 3
²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6
²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 2
⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast.

1 Peter 2
²⁴He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

Romans 5
⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 3
¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

Romans 8
Life Through the Spirit
¹Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

Acts 16
³⁰He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
³¹They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household."

1 Corinthians 15
The Resurrection of Christ
¹Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ²By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. ³For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Romans 10
⁹That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. ¹¹As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame

Revelation 3
²⁰Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

1 Peter 1
²²Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. ²³For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

John 3
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
¹Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. ²He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
³In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
⁴"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
⁵Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. ⁶Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ⁷You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' ⁸The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." 
⁹"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked. ¹⁰"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? ¹¹I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. ¹²I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? ¹³No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man. ¹⁴Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
¹⁶"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,  that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. ¹⁹This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

now is the time...

If you have never been "born again" - if you have never trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior and invited Him into your life - you can do it right now. If you are not sure you are a Christian, now is the perfect time to make sure.

Look back over the preceding Scriptures and understand that Jesus died for your sins. He defeated death and the devil; He rose again on the third day; He is now alive and well at the right hand of your heavenly Father. Because he lives, you can live too... forever with Him in heaven.

Trust the Lord right now and ask Him to save you. Pray something similar to this: "Lord Jesus, I know You love me, because you proved it by dying on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins. Thank you, Jesus, for doing that for me.

"I admit that I have sinned - against others and against myself, but most of all, against You. Please forgive me for my sins, and give me your power to resist the temptation to sin."

"I believe that you rose from the dead, and that You really are the only true God. I ask You to come into my life and live at the center of it. Please accept me. By faith. I accept You, Jesus. Thank you for giving me eternal life with You."

If you honestly mean your prayer, Jesus takes you seriously. He causes you to be born again or you could say, born from above.

This is not the end but rather the beginning of a brand-new way of living. Here are four hints that will help you live for Jesus:

1. Tell someone what you have done and be baptized. It is important to "go on record" that you have accepted Christ and are obedient to Christ in baptism. Baptism is the symbolic reception of what Christ did for us on the cross when He died that our sins might be washed away. Tell someone who knows you well enough to notice the difference that Jesus will be making in your life. If you have trouble explaining it, just say something like, " I can't explain all the details yet, but I have committed my life to Jesus Christ and from now on, I'm going to live the way He tells me in His Word."
    
2. Begin reading your Bible. Start with the Gospel of John. Read a bit of the Bible every day.
    
3. Pray every day. Prayer is simply talking to God. He wants to hear from you. Tell Him about your high points and ask Him to help you through the rough spots.
    
4. Go to church regularly. The Church is God's family here on earth. You'll want to be with your church family as frequently as possible for study and service, friendship, and fun.