You may have heard someone say they are a "born again Christian."  I have had a few individuals say to me, "you're not one of those "born again Christians," are you?  Well, what does it mean to be "born again?"  These two words are used by Jesus as recorded in John chapter 3.  Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.  As a devout Jew, Nicodemus is a very religious man.  Since he is a member of the ruling council, he is also well educated, particularly in the area of theology and the Jewish religion.  Here we have one Jewish teacher and theologian talking to another.  Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, possibly so others will not know that he has come or possibly just to have a private conversation.  He says to Jesus, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God."  Jesus, obviously knowing why he has come responds with, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."  Nicodemus is in the presence of a superior teacher because Jesus is the "exact representation of God."  Nicodemus has come face to face with the one who not only knows the truth but who is indeed the incarnation of "truth."  Ultimately, Jesus says to the very religious Nicodemus and to all of us, "You must be born again."

What does it mean to be "born again?"  "How can a man be born when he is old? Nicodemus asked.  Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"  "Jesus answered, I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.  Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit."  First of all, you cannot be half-born.  Either you are born again or you are not.  Some people talk about "born again Christians" as if it were possible to be some other kind of Christian.  Jesus is clear, "You must be born again."  There is no other way.  Anything other than spiritual re-birth is merely lifeless, dead religion.  Religion gets you nowhere.  Faith in Jesus Christ gets you "born again."  Many people are just playing a religious game with God.  They are being deceived by the demonic spirit of religion.  You can sit in a garage all day long and it won't make you a car.  You can sit in a church building all your life and it won't make you a Christian.  Second, you cannot birth yourself.  There's no amount of doing good or being religious that will make you right with God.  You cannot save yourself.  Salvation is completely the work of God.  It was accomplished by Jesus on the cross as He substituted His perfect life for our imperfect lives.  He paid the price for our sin.  All we do is acknowledge what He has already accomplished by believing in Him and accepting His substitution for our sin.  He takes our death sentence and gives us His life instead.  We deserve death but He gives us life.  When we surrender ourselves to Him and accept His gift of life, the Holy Spirit of God enters our life and brings about a new birth of spirit within us.  Third, being "born again" means there is a fundamental change that takes place within us.  When we are born physically, there is a change that takes place.  We were human before we were born and we are human after our birth.  The difference is that after birth we become a air-breather.  The Holy Spirit is often referred to in Scripture as "air" or "wind."  In the beginning, Scripture says that God created us and breathed life into us.  This re-birth is accomplished by God, once again, breathing new life into us.

Just like physical birth, we don't get born fully grown or mature.  There is a maturation process that occurs after being "born again" called Sanctification.  This is God maturing us as we depend upon His Holy Spirit to grow us into the "Christian" He would have us be.  It all begins with being "born again."  "You must be born again."

Alan L. Thomas <><