Born Again

by Scott Rossy
The term “born again” when used in Christian/religious circles tends to lead to a lot of misunderstanding. What is meant by this saying? Is it just another “type” of Christian? Just another denomination? Is being born again nothing more than a person deciding to start over again by turning over a new leaf in life? Some well meaning people understand it to be just that. They see it as something similar to making New Year’s resolutions. Taking stock of one’s life and determining to make some changes. Changes that attempt to clean up one’s life in the hope that these changes will make one more acceptable to God. These changes can include going to church, trying to do “good” things and trying to stop doing “bad” things. Maybe even volunteering and getting involved in church. But making changes in one’s life is not what the bible means when it speaks of being born again. Making changes like this is clearly the work of man, trying to improve himself by self effort.

The most direct portion of scripture that talks of being born again is in the gospel of John, chapter 3.   Here a conversation between Jesus and a man named Nicodemus is recorded. Their conversation, though taking place almost 2000 years ago has as much significance for us today as it did when these words were originally spoken. In this conversation Jesus talks of the need to be born again.

We all know who Jesus is but who was Nicodemus? Well, Nicodemus was a very devout, sincere religious leader in Israel. He is described as “a ruler of the Jews” and as “the teacher in Israel”. He was a member of the Pharisee’s who were the spiritual leaders and rulers of the Jews. Jesus tells this very sincere, devout religious leader what he is lacking and what is necessary to enter heaven. The necessary thing that Nicodemus and all of us lack and must have is the New Birth, also known as being born again or born of the Spirit.

John 3:1-10

“Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. "Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? “

I’ve been asked by people if it’s necessary to be born again or born of the Spirit to be a Christian. Whether it’s necessary to be born again or born of the Spirit to get to heaven. The words of Jesus leave no room for doubt. Jesus uses the words must, unless and cannot. He states: “You must be born again”, “Unless you’re born again”, “You cannot see the kingdom”. He says these things more than once. Unless! Must!, Cannot! But why? Why does Jesus say we must be born again? What does He mean by these things? The reason why Jesus said that it is necessary for Nicodemus and for all of us to be born again or born of the Spirit is because we do not possess spiritual life within us. He says in John 6: “you have no life in yourselves.” – John 6:53. Obviously, we all possess physical life but what Jesus is speaking about is spiritual life. We do not possess spiritual life within us when we come out of the womb. Our parents can give us physical life but they cannot give us spiritual life. To understand Jesus meaning, we must understand what the bible says about man’s true spiritual condition. The bible teaches unequivocally that all of mankind without exception is spiritually dead. This is the case of every one of us. We are spiritual corpses. Walking around in physical bodies but dead spiritually. None of us possess spiritual life within us. The reason for the spiritually dead condition of man is SIN. Sin brings about spiritual death. It is by the decree of God that the result of sin is death. He says: “when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” - James 1:15 “so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” – Romans 5:12. In Ephesians 2:1 we are described by God as being “dead in your trespasses and sin”. Spiritual death is what sin deserves, “the wages (earnings) of sin is death” – Romans 6:23. So all of us are dead spiritually. We do not possess the necessary spiritual life we need to enter into heaven. Only God, the Creator of life can give us the necessary, eternal, spiritual life we need. It must come from Him.

The new birth spoken of by Jesus is described in the 36th chapter of the book of Ezekiel. Here God says through the prophet: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh…"I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes.” – Ezekiel 36:26-27. This is the new birth. God places His Spirit in us, giving us the spiritual life necessary to enter heaven and to obey God. At this point, a person becomes born again or born of the Spirit. He has new life, spiritual life. He is no longer spiritually dead but is now spiritually alive! God’s Spirit is now permanently in Him and gives him the ability to know and understand the things of God. He now can perceive the beauty, the greatness, the holiness and the majesty of God. He now desires to obey God and walk with Him. He now delights in God. This spiritual life is permanent, making him fit to enter into and live in the presence of God for all eternity. He is now a child of God. He has experienced spiritual birth, spiritual renewal and spiritual regeneration. “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:5-7)

This new spiritual life comes only from God. He alone is the Author and Creator of life. We can’t inherit it. As stated before, our parents can give us physical life but they can’t give us spiritual life. This is why Jesus said: “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” – John 3:6 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” John 6:63

If being born again or born of the Spirit is absolutely necessary to enter into the kingdom of God, then how does one become born again? The Lord continually tells us throughout scripture to call upon Him. Repeatedly He says: call upon Me, seek Me, come to Me. Over and over again throughout the bible He continually calls on man to do this. Romans 10:13 says: “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

”Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” - Isaiah 55:7

“Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.” – Isaiah 55:6

“AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’ – Acts 2:21

“Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” – John 7:37-39.

Jesus promises: “The one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” – John 6:37. Whoever comes to Him in faith and repentance, believing that He is the only way to the Father has the promise that He will not be cast out. Jesus alone has provided salvation for His people “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” (I Peter 2:24). While He was bearing in His body the sins of His people, the Father in Heaven was pouring out His hatred and wrath towards sin on His Beloved Son. He was our substitute. He was punished in our place. "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." - I Corinthians 15:3-4. The debt of sin was paid and those who believe are now clothed in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is not their own self righteousness that they possess but it is “the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.” – Philippians 3:9. They are born again with God’s Spirit and are now clothed in white robes, representing the perfect life of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. They can now stand before God without the debt of their sin hanging over them and are now viewed by God as perfectly holy.

Psalm 14 states that one of the characteristics of the wicked is that they “do not call upon the Lord” – Psalm 14:4

The Test

Scripture declares that the new birth is the test of whether we are truly of the faith. It’s the test of whether we are a genuine Christian. Paul told the Corinthian Christians: “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?” – II Corinthians 13:5. The test of whether we are of the faith is if Christ is in us, if we’ve been born again. If Christ is not in us, if we haven’t been born again, we fail the test. We’re not of the faith. Similarly he says in Romans 8:9, “you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” Spiritual life is found only in Jesus Christ. He alone can give it. “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” – I John 5:12

A person who is still trying to gain acceptance from the Lord based on the “good” things he is doing has never been born again. It’s an indication he’s never received the new life Jesus spoke of. He is like the person who views being born again as turning over a new leaf in life. He is still spiritually dead. His works or deeds proceed from his spiritually dead condition and are nothing more than an attempt to try and reform his condition. It can’t be done. Good deeds cannot produce spiritual life. It can only come from above, from God.

 If you leave this life while still in your spiritually dead condition, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven but will be separated from God for all eternity. Jesus says; "Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." (John 8:24) “You must be born again!"

Nicodemus’ end

As a side note, Nicodemus did become a true believer in Jesus Christ. He is amongst those who have been born again. John 19:38-42 records that after Jesus was crucified, Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Christ, gained permission to take the body of Jesus from the cross to bury it. It then records that Nicodemus came also and brought with him “a mixture of myrrh and aloes” for Jesus burial. For many reasons, Nicodemus certainly wouldn’t have done this had he not become a true believer in Christ.