What Does it Mean to be Born Again?
The Need to be Born Again
In John 3, Jesus is approached at night by a Pharisee named Nicodemus — this is the first real episode of Nic at Night. And as he speaks with the Lord, Jesus sees right through into his heart because He knows what is in man (John 2:24-25).
He knows the hearts of all people: that our hearts are sinful and vile (Mark 7:20-23). Meaning, who we are is the problem; our character, our person, is what needs to change from the inside out.
Jesus speaks so strongly that He tells Nicodemus “unless [you] are born again” you cannot “see the kingdom of God.” Jesus then states even more emphatically to Nic, “you must be born again,” (John 3:3, 5, 7, ESV). The Son of God says you must.
Because we are born at enmity with God and children of wrath, we need a new birth, a new start, and a new heart (John 8:44; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 John 3:10). Being born again is likened to your first birth: it gives new life, happens without your power, and is the beginning of a new relationship.
Therefore, according to Jesus everyone must be born again or you will be condemned (see John 3:16-18). To born again means to be a Christian, to be under new management, to love the Father.
The Work of the New Birth
First, we learn the order of events. In this late night encounter, Jesus tells us that seeing and knowing God don’t come prior to being born again, but is the result of being born again.
Unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. Meaning, the new birth precedes our faith/sight in God through the revelation of Christ.
Second, Jesus tells us that God alone is the cause of our new birth; He is the active agent, we are the receiving or passive one in this act of God. It cannot happen by man, for that which is flesh is only flesh (John 3:6).
It is not by the will of man nor by his power that we become sons of God, but only of God’s power and will (see John 1:12-13). The Spirit gives the new birth according to His pleasure and power (John 3:6-9). The Apostle Peter must have also heard these words (see 1 Peter 1:3)!
Thirdly, God the Spirit causes the new birth by making us new and cleansing us by His power. When Jesus speaks of being born again “of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5, ESV) He does not mean baptism (see John 3:16, 3:36; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:8-9).
Instead, Jesus likely had in mind Ezekiel 36:25-27 because He confronts Nicodemus’s inability to “not understand these things” as a “teacher of Israel” (John 3:9-10, ESV). The washing Jesus refers to is God’s cleansing work, the “by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,” (Titus 3:5, ESV).
The Evidence of Being Born Again
The Apostles worked out for us under God’s Spirit of inspiration signs that someone has been, indeed, born again. The sure evidence of conversion, is a life of Christ-likeness.
How do I know if I’m saved? What does this person look like?
1. They believe and treasure Christ by faith (John 3:16).
2. They have a new nature disposed to loving the light (righteousness) and hating darkness (John 3:19-20).
3. They have a new life of doing what is true and what pleases God (John 3:21).
4. They walk in the light (1 John 1:5-7).
5. They have assurance of the forgiveness of sins (1 John 1:8-9).
6. They confess and love the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22-23).
7. They don’t have a life patterned by sinfulness and disobedience (1 John 3:4-10).
8. They have a love for other Christians (1 John 3:11-18).
9. They have a love and desire to keep God’s Law (1 John 3:19-23).
10. They have the inner, ongoing work of the Spirit in their hearts (1 John 3:24).
Have you been born again? Are you a new creation in Christ Jesus? Is there an old you and a new you? Do you love God and the things of God? Do you have a hatred and displeasure of sin and lawlessness?
God causes us to be born again, and we must repent and believe the gospel. If you turn from your sins and put your faith alone in Jesus Christ, God will save you from your sins and make you new.
God causes the new birth; we live out the new birth.
