BORN AGAIN REVISITED

 Born Again, Revisited

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

-John 3:3

It was to a very religious and well educated person named Nicodemus that Jesus spoke about the need to be “born again”. 

The Lord Jesus Christ spoke of  new birth and there are some born again believers who still suffer much ridicule when they speak about this spiritual awakening to the unregenerate mind. We hear such pejorative comments directed at them as “born against” a reference to a convert who abandons  his religious tradition by becoming a Christian.. 

There are relatively good, well mannered and considerate people who refuse to accept that they need rebirth as Christ said to Nicodemus. They say they live a decent life, they show concern or even love for others, they try to be kind and unselfish, they go to church and perform religious duties and submit to religious rites. They believe  they are doing pretty well so what is  all this business about needing to be born again?

In John 3:3 the Lord Jesus  tells the decent, respectable, religious man Nicodemus , “Unless a man is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

In Matthew 18:3 he tells his disciples, “Unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”.

This is childlike faith, humble trust and submission to  Christ.

The Bible reveals to us that man is “dead in his transgressions and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1) For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

Jesus describes a born again believer as one who has “crossed over from the death to life.” (John 5:24)

 The Bible is speaking about spiritual death. And because man is by nature spiritually dead he needs to receive spiritual life, in other words, to be born again.

This was hard for Nicodemus to comprehend. How can a man enter his mother’s womb the second time and be born again when he is old? Jesus isn’t referring to a physical birth. This conveys the idea of being “born from above”. (John 2:23)  Man must be born of the Spirit of God. It is the only way. The Holy Spirit brings conviction to man’s heart and through faith he believes in the finished work of Christ and is regenerated a new creature.

God and man are so different in essence, in character and in nature that the only way in which man can possibly enter into a living relationship with him is if God gives him a new life, a new nature. Jesus explained to Nicodemus, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You shoulld not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’”

Jesus reveals to Nicodemus there is a fundamental difference in the flesh and the Spirit. Those who have never experienced the spiritual birth remain in the flesh. There has been no change in their lives. When we are born again, we are born of the Spirit. The Lord makes a change within the heart, old things have passed away and all things become new. There will be a noticeable difference in the lives of those who are born again. 2 Cor.5:17- “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” We will still be apt to sin and come short of the glory of God, but there will be a drastic change in our lives.

Nicodemus was an educated Pharisee but he couldn’t grasp the truths of salvation. It is beyond our ability to grasp all Jesus has done for us and continues to do in us. The new birth is the supernatural work of God in the heart of man, a miracle that can neither be explained nor controlled.

Jesus gives a simple illustration: The wind blows where it wishes; we hear the sound of the wind and can even see its effects, but we cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with our salvation. We feel the conviction of the Spirit and we visibly see the effects of a changed life, and yet we have no idea all that the Spirit is doing in our lives or where He is leading us.

Much of what we’ve received is a wonderful mystery. 

As an illustration of man’s lost condition, dead men are blind and Jesus said that unless a man is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. The Apostle Paul adds that “the god of this age (the devil) has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4) Again dead men are deaf, and the Prophet Jeremiah says, of people who are not right with God: “ Their ears are closed so that they cannot hear.” (Jeremiah 6:10) And to take one more illustration, a dead body soon becomes decayed and unclean and the Bible teaches that even at our best we are unclean in God’s sight until we are born again.  

And who can say “ I have kept my heart pure, I am clean and without sin?”. (Proverbs 20:9) 

No one.

The Book of Revelation says concerning Heaven: “Nothing impure will ever enter it…” It would be obvious that for a man to get right with God something radical needs to happen. He must be born again.

Jesus reveals there is only one way to enter into the Kingdom of God. A man must be born again. The phrase “unless a man be born again” is imperative telling us “there are no other options;” Jesus is the only way! We must be born again. It is absolutely necessary. A person of the same stature as Nicodemus would presume he was likely to enter God’s Kingdom. But Jesus said, “You must be born again.”  The implication is clear. Nicodemus should not rely upon his own personal righteousness, merit and religiosity as his passage to God’s kingdom. He needs to repent of his sins and believe in Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord. 

And he did because he became a follower of Christ. ( See John 19:39, John 7:50-51)