Born Again

Back at the keyboard! A month has gone by since my last blog post – I’ve been busy with a move, travelling, and a subsequent lack of internet connection. If all goes well, I hope to resume the habit of posting once a week. So stay tuned.

What does it mean to be “born again”?

2,000 years ago, a man named Nicodemus came to Jesus in the middle of the night. He was a part of the Jewish religious group called the Pharisees, who had a public dislike for Jesus; but Nicodemus had become convinced that there was more to Jesus than he had previously thought. So in the middle of the night he approached Jesus in secret. It was then that Jesus told him what he had to do: “Ye must be born again.” When asked to clarify, Jesus goes on to say, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6-7)

How is someone “born of the Spirit”? Nicodemus had the same question, to which Jesus responded by pointing to himself! Read on in John 3 and you will find the now best-known Bible verse: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) We are born again when we look to Jesus solely and wholly for our salvation, and are regenerated by his Spirit.

Do I have to be perfect to come to Jesus?

No. That’s the point – Jesus saves you because you can’t save yourself. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” (Titus 3:5). It’s purely an act of his grace that we can be saved, not by anything that we can do.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Too many people have the false impression that Christianity means joining a holy club and doing everything just right in order to please God. The fact is that each person has fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), but the good news (the “gospel”) is that Jesus did all the work that ever needed to be done, and he offers the results to us as a gift (Romans 6:23).

What happens after someone is born again?

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Being saved by God’s grace doesn’t mean you say a prayer one day and just go about business as usual. It means a life-changing decision to follow Jesus, listening to his voice, and allowing him to shape you from the inside out.

Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

Everything changes. Where the world says love your friends and hate your enemies, Jesus says, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you” (Matthew 5:44). Where the world values material possessions and wealth, Jesus says, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven… For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21).

Jesus calls us to a radical transformation where sin dies, love reigns, and priorities are realigned to God’s purposes.

Closing thoughts

You must be born again. If the concept is foreign to you, I hope this serves as a basic introduction. Check back to this blog later for further discussion on the Christian life! In the meantime, pick up a Bible (if you don’t have one, you can read for free online at websites such as biblegateway.org) and see what Jesus is all about! If you have very little experience with the Bible, I recommend you start with the Gospel of John.