‘The 18-Inch War’
by Joshua Scott Zeitz

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) KJV

Nicodemus, was as the Bible described him, a ruler of the Jews, a Pharisee. Now the Pharisees were quite devout and devoted to their cause, stringent followers of the law, or at least the law their particular sect laid out.

In other words, they relied heavily on their own traditions and precepts as to what was right and wrong. 

Jesus had many run-ins with the Pharisees and religious rulers of His day because rather than relying on the Word of God to interpret itself, the religious peoples liked to set their own standards of conduct, to exert their own power and prowess amongst themselves and their underlings. 

Listen, the Bible says, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, but when we are led not by the Spirit, but rather by our own rules, standards, and traditions, our own moral code, this only serves to bring about condemnation and confusion. 

In John chapter 3, Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night and says to Him, “Teacher, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.”

I want to point out a couple of things here. 

First, notice how Nicodemus calls Jesus a teacher twice. He is attempting to exert his power on Jesus, letting him know just who they think he is.

Second, notice how Nicodemus says, we know…

Again, perhaps trying to exert authority using his position in the Pharisees, trying to skirt full responsibility. Either way, Nicodemus isn’t speaking for himself alone or from a place of total personal honesty.

Thirdly, I just want to point out that Nicodemus doesn’t really know who Jesus is, calling Him a man that God is with…

It is clear at this point that Nicodemus is curious, but also ignorant, relying on his position and pre-conceived notions.

I love how Jesus responds! 

He has such an awesome way of cutting right to the heart of the matter while also keeping it so personal!

He says to Nicodemus, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

In other words, Nicodemus, you think you know who I am, but had you truly known, you would know that I AM! 
 
And until you get born again, born from above, from the Spirit of God, you will never truly know who I am nor truly see the kingdom of God!

You see, Nicodemus knew about Jesus from the things he heard Jesus was doing. 

He heard about the miracles and it made him curious enough to come to Jesus by night to press Him further.

But He didn’t really know who Jesus was.

I want to stop right here for a moment, before we conclude, and talk for a brief moment about the 18-inch war. 

Many people sadly will miss Heaven by the space of 18 inches!

It may not seem like a huge distance, and it may also seem like quite the random or obtuse number, but in fact it makes all the difference in the world. It makes all the difference for eternity!

18 inches, is approximately the distance between the head and the heart. Or in more grim, but truthful terms, 18 inches is what separates us from Heaven and Hell.

Jesus is not a feeling, movement, or goosebump. He is a person. He is real. He is God and has always been God. 

It’s not enough to simply know about Him in our heads, we must know Him in our hearts and this happens when we get born-again.

The Bible says even the demons believe in God and shudder. (See James 2:19)

It’s not enough to simply believe there is a God or believe that Jesus is God. 

We must believe in Him and on Him, placin

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