Introduction: If there is one thing that matter is this: “You must be born again”. Well, in this study we are going to follow this conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus and learn more about this wonderful theme of being born again. And God willing we will talk about the need of being born again, what happens in the New Birth and examine and test yourself to see whether you are in or out of the Faith.
1) Why do we need to be born again?
Let’s see what the Bible says about us:
a) God said to Adam and Eve if they eat from the fruit they would certainly die, we all know that they ate it and they died and as a result of sin, they were banished from the Garden of Eden, they were banished from the very presence of God (Gen 1:23).
b) Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned (Rom 5:12);
c) For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God (Rom 3:23);
d) As for you, you were dead in your transgression and sins… (Eph 2:1);
The Bible is very clear about our Spiritual condition, we are dead because of our sin, you might argue against that, but that is a fact, whether you accept it or not. And because this condition, in no way we are able to be part of the Kingdom of God. John 4:24 says: “ God is Spirit, and his worshipers must worship him in Spirit and in truth, how can we do that unless we are born of the Spirit? (Verses 5-6).
In order to be part of the Kingdom of God we have to born again, I will repeat verse 5-6.
2) What Happens in the New Birth?
What happens in the new birth? 1) What happens in the new birth is not getting new religion but getting new life. 2) What happens in the new birth is not merely affirming the supernatural in Jesus but experiencing the supernatural in yourself. 3) What happens in the new birth is not the improvement of your old human nature but the creation of a new human nature—a nature that is really you, and is forgiven and cleansed; and a nature that is really new, and is being formed by the indwelling Spirit of God. Let’s take those one at a time.
a) New Life, Not New Religion
What happens in the new birth is not getting new religion but getting new life. Read with me the first three verses of John 3: “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 are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’
John makes sure that we know that Nicodemus is a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. The Pharisees were the most rigorously religious of all the Jewish groups. To this one, Jesus says (in verse 3), “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” And even more personally in verse 7: “You must be born again.” So one of John’s points is: All of Nicodemus’ religion, all of his amazing Pharisaic study and discipline and law-keeping, cannot replace the need for the new birth. In fact, they may well make more obvious the need for the new birth.
What Nicodemus needs, and what you and I need, is not religion but life. The point of referring to new birth is that birth brings a new life into the world. In one sense, of course, Nicodemus is alive. He is breathing, thinking, feeling, acting. He is human, created in God’s image. But evidently, Jesus thinks he’s dead. There is no spiritual life in Nicodemus. Spiritually, he is unborn. He needs life, not more religious activities or more religious zeal. He has plenty of that.
Remember the parable of the prodigal Son. In his parable about the prodigal son, the Father says, “This my son was dead, and is alive again.” (Luke 15:24).
Nicodemus did not need religion; he needed life—spiritual life. What happens in the new birth is that life comes into being that was not there before. New life happens at new birth. This is not religious activity or discipline or decision. This is the coming into being of life. That’s the first way of describing what happens in the new birth.
We don’t need religion, we need new life. We don’t need a set of rules, we need to be make alive, and this is what happens in the new life.
b) Experiencing the Supernatural, Not Just Affirming It
What happens in the new birth is not merely affirming the supernatural in Jesus but experiencing the supernatural in yourself. In verse 2, Nicodemus says, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” In other words, Nicodemus sees in Jesus a genuine divine activity. He admits that Jesus is from God. Jesus does the works of God. To this, Jesus does not respond by saying, “I wish everyone in Palestine could see the truth that you see about me.” Instead, he says, “You must be born again or you will never see the kingdom of God.”
Seeing signs and wonders, and being amazed at them, and giving the miracle worker credit for them that he is from God, saves nobody. This is one of the great dangers of signs and wonders: You don’t need a new heart to be amazed at them. The old, fallen human nature is all that’s needed to be amazed at signs and wonders. And the old, fallen human nature is willing to say that the miracle worker is from God. The devil himself knows that Jesus is the Son of God and works miracles (Mark 1:24 – “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”).
No, Nicodemus, seeing me as a miracle worker sent from God is not the key to the kingdom of God. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
In other words, what matters is not merely affirming the supernatural in Jesus but experiencing the supernatural in yourself. The new birth is supernatural, not natural. It cannot be accounted by things that are already found in this world. Verse 6 emphasizes the supernatural nature of the new birth: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The flesh is what we are naturally. The Spirit of God is the supernatural Person who brings about the new birth. Jesus says this again in verse 8: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” The Spirit is not a part of this natural world. He is above nature. He is supernatural.
Indeed, he is God. He is the immediate cause of the new birth.
So Nicodemus, Jesus says, what happens in the new birth is not merely affirming the supernatural in me, but experiencing the supernatural in yourself. You must be born again. And not in any metaphorical natural way, but in a supernatural way. God the Holy Spirit must come upon you and bring new life into existence.
c) New Birth: A New Creation, Not Improving the Old
What happens in the new birth is not the improvement of your old human nature but the creation of a new human nature—a nature that is really you, and is forgiven and cleansed; and a nature that is really new, and is being formed in you by the indwelling Spirit of God.
In John 3:5, Jesus says to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” What does Jesus mean by the two terms “by water and the Spirit”? Some denominations believe that this is a reference to water baptism as the way the Spirit unites us to Christ. For example, one website explains it like this:
Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: “Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word.”
Millions of people have been taught that their baptism caused them to be born again. I do not believe it is true. So what then does Jesus mean?
- Why “Water” Is Not a Reference to Baptism in John 3
Here are several reasons why I think the reference to water here is not a reference to Christian baptism. Then we will see where the context leads.
–1) There Is No Mention of Baptism in the Rest of the Chapter
First, if this were a reference to Christian baptism and it were as essential for new birth as some say it is, it seems strange that it drops out of what Jesus says in this chapter in telling us how to have eternal life. Verse 15: “Whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” Verse 16: “Whoever believes in him [will] not perish but have eternal life.” Verse 18: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned.” It would seem strange, if baptism were that essential, it would not be mentioned along with faith.
–2) Baptism Does Not Fit with the Analogy of the Wind
Second, the analogy with the wind in verse 8 would seem strange if being born again were so firmly attached to water baptism. Jesus says, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” This seems to say that God is as free as the wind in causing regeneration. But if it happened every time a baby is sprinkled, that would not seem to be true. In that case the wind, would be very confined by the sacrament.
–3) Baptism Does Not Fit with Jesus’ Scolding of Nicodemus
Third, if Jesus is referring to Christian baptism, it seems strange that he would say to Nicodemus, the Pharisee in verse 10, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” That makes sense if Jesus is referring to something taught in the Old Testament. But if he is referring to a baptism that will come later and get its meaning from the life and death of Jesus, it doesn’t seem like he would have scolded Nicodemus that a teacher in Israel does not understand what he is saying.
–4) Water and Spirit Are Linked in New Covenant Promises
Finally, that same statement in verse 10 sends us back to the Old Testament for some background, and what we find is that water and spirit are closely linked in the New Covenant promises, especially in Ezekiel 36. So let’s go there together. This text is the basis for the rest of this message.
- Water and Spirit in Ezekiel 36
Ezekiel is prophesying what God will do for his people when he brings them back from exile in Babylon. The implications are much larger than just for the people of Israel, because Jesus claims to secure the New Covenant by his blood for all who will trust in him (Luke 22:20). And this is one version of the New Covenant promises like the one in Jeremiah 31:31ff. Let’s read it together.
Ezekiel 36:24-28:
I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
I think this is the passage that gives rise to Jesus words, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” To whom does he say, “You shall be my people, and I will be your God” (v. 28)? Verse 25: To the ones to whom he says, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses.” And verse 26: To the ones to whom he says, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.” In other words, the ones who will enter the kingdom are those who have a newness that involves a cleansing of the old and a creation of the new.
So I conclude that “water and Spirit” refer to two aspects of our newness when we are born again. And the reason both are important is this: When we say that a new spirit, or a new heart, is given to us, we don’t mean that we cease to be the human being—the morally accountable self—that we have always been. I was the individual human being Udo before I was born again, and I am the individual human being Udo after I was born again. There is a continuity. That’s why there has to be cleansing. If the old human being, Udo, were completely obliterated, the whole concept of forgiveness and cleansing would be irrelevant. There would be nothing leftover from the past to forgive or cleanse.
We know that the Bible tells us that our old self was crucified (Romans 6:6), and that we have died with Christ (Colossians 3:3), and we are to “consider ourselves dead” (Romans 6:11), and “put off the old self” (Ephesians 4:22). But none of that means the same human being is not in view throughout life. It means that there was an old nature, an old character, or principle, or bent, that needs to be done away with.
So the way to think about your new heart, new spirit, new nature is that it is still you and so needs to be forgiven and cleansed—that’s the point of the referring to water. My guilt must be washed away. Cleansing with water is a picture of that. Jeremiah 33:8 puts it like this: “I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me.” So the person that we are—that continues to exist—must be forgiven, and the guilt washed away.
- The Need to Be New
But forgiveness and cleansing is not enough. I need to be new. I need to be transformed. I need life. I need a new way of seeing and thinking and valuing. That’s why Ezekiel speaks of a new heart and a new spirit in verse 26 and 27: “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” #
Here’s the way I understand those verses: To be sure, the heart of stone means the dead heart that was unfeeling and unresponsive to spiritual reality—the heart you had before the new birth could feel. It could respond with passion and desire to lots of things. But it was a stone toward the spiritual truth and beauty of Jesus Christ and the glory of God and the path of holiness. That is what has to change if we are to see the kingdom of God. So in the new birth, God takes out the heart of stone and puts in a heart of flesh. The word flesh doesn’t mean “merely human” like it does in John 3:6. It means soft and living and responsive and feeling, instead of being a lifeless stone. In the new birth, our dead, stony boredom with Christ is replaced by a heart that feels (spiritually senses) the worth of Jesus.
Then when Ezekiel says in verses 26 and 27, “a new spirit I will put within you. . . . And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes,” I think he means that in the new birth, God puts a living, supernatural, spiritual life in our heart, and that new life—that new spirit—is the working of the Holy Spirit himself giving shape and character to our new heart.
- Jesus Is the Life
I would like to make a crucial connection between being born again by the Spirit and having eternal life through faith in Jesus. What we have seen so far is that what happens in the new birth is a supernatural work by the Holy Spirit to bring spiritual life into being where it did not exist. Jesus says it again in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all.”
But the Gospel of John makes something else clear as well: Jesus is the life that the Holy Spirit gives. Or we could say: The spiritual life that he gives, he only gives in connection with Jesus. Union with Jesus is where we experience supernatural, spiritual life. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. In John 6:35, he said, “I am the bread of life.” And in 20:31, John says, “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
- No Life Apart from Jesus
So there is no spiritual life—no eternal life—apart from connection with Jesus and belief in Jesus. But let’s put it this way for now: In the new birth, the Holy Spirit unites us to Christ in a living union. Christ is life. Christ is the vine where life flows. We are the branches (John 15:5). What happens in the new birth is the supernatural creation of new spiritual life, and it is created through union with Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit brings us into vital connection with Christ who is the way, the truth, and life. That is the objective reality of what happens in the new birth.
And from our side—the way we experience this—is that faith in Jesus is awakened in our hearts. Spiritual life and faith in Jesus come into being together. The new life makes the faith possible, and since spiritual life always awakens faith and expresses itself in faith, there is no life without faith in Jesus. Therefore, we should never separate the new birth from faith in Jesus. From God’s side, we are united to Christ in the new birth. That’s what the Holy Spirit does. From our side, we experience this union by faith in Jesus.
4) Receive Him As Your Treasure
What happens in the new birth? In the new birth, the Holy Spirit supernaturally gives us new spiritual life by connecting us with Jesus Christ through faith. Or, to say it another way, the Spirit unites us to Christ where there is cleansing for our sins, and he replaces our hard, unresponsive heart with a soft heart that treasures Jesus above all things and is being transformed by the presence of the Spirit into the kind of heart that loves to do the will of God (Ezekiel 36:27).
1) Faith – Believed to be saved – Acts 16:31
2) Faith in the Gospel of Christ Jesus
- Who He is
- What He has done for you
3) Ultimate Actor, God.
Illustration: We know that fire produces heat and light, but which of these produce fire? We can’t tell, there are series of combinations necessary for a fire to start. In the same way the New Life in the Spirit, God is the one who produces or gives life, and then we have faith/believe and love for God, and then our eyes are able to see His beauty and Glory.
5) Examine yourselves – 2Co 13:5
Test yourselves [to see] if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you not recognize for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless you fail the test. Or you are disqualified, or you are counterfeit.
Are you born again? Does your life resemble the New Life that God has put in you?
How can we test to see if we are born again?
Here some questions that you can make yourself:
- Do we love more football than we love Jesus?
- Do we love more power than we love Jesus?
- Do we love more money than we love Jesus?
- Do we love sex, games, sin than more than Jesus?
- What your heart has to say about Christ?
- Do you put others over yourself?
- Do you love Christ, do you Cherish Christ more than anything else?
No matter what you were 50/30/20/10/ years ago if you were in the faith then, you should be passing the test now as well.
If you failed the test, you either need to be Born Again or you have some serious repentance to do.
That’s why I love about the Bible, there is no small talking about it.
I believe God is in the business of saving people and in the business of forgiving people, how would you respond to that?
Come to me Jesus Said, since the way you experience all of this is through faith in Jesus, I invite you now, in the name of Jesus and by the power of his Spirit, to receive him as the sin-forgiving, transforming Treasure of your life.
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Pastor Udo Mueller Jr. is the assistant pastor of Park Baptist Church, Merthyr Tydfil, married to Katia P Mueller and father of David (4). 