WEEK 32 “WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE BORN AGAIN?” (JOHN 3:1-8)

READ JOHN 3:1-8

CONTEXT: Our saviour Jesus spoke this to a Jewish Pharisee named Nicodemus who came to Jesus at night. (We see his process of growth in his faith in Jesus in John 7:50-52 and John 19:39. This reminds us that our faith in Jesus can’t stay hidden! It must come out for everyone to see! (Mark 8:38)

Secondly we learn from vs 2 that we shouldn’t base a persons godliness on miracles alone but on the truth they preach. At this stage Nicodemus based his perception of Jesus purely on the miracles rather than what Jesus has said and taught. The danger with this is that even satan can do false miracles (2 Thessalonians 2:9-11)!!!

(Interestingly John 3 records Jesus’ first quoted discourse in the whole book of John and fittingly in it, Jesus talks about the importance of being born again!!)

It is here that Jesus now makes the declaration to Nicodemus: “I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

1.We see that the fact that Jesus says “BORN AGAIN” here in vs 3 means that there must be a FIRST BIRTH. From Nicodemus’ response in the next verse (vs 4), we therefore understand that the first birth is referring to our PHYSICAL BIRTH, being born into this life from our mothers womb!!

For the Jewish people, their thinking was that just by being born into the Israelite nation and being physical descendants of Abraham, this allowed them passage into the kingdom of God! (See Luke 3:8 and John 8:33-41, Romans 9:6)

So now we see in this passage that Jesus, speaking to one of their religious teachers, declares to them that being born a physical descendant of Abraham does not automatically qualify them to enter the kingdom of God. They must be BORN AGAIN. (Romans 9:6)

How does this principle apply to us as Christians today? Just because you are born into a Christian family, does not automatically mean you are saved! Just because your parents are Christians and saved or just because you parents might be pastors doesn’t automatically mean you are saved!! We too must be BORN AGAIN in order to be saved and enter the kingdom of God!! The reason we need to be born again is because we are all born as sinners with a sinful nature (See Psalm 51:5, Romans 3:9-23). It is only once we are born again that we become a NEW CREATION (2 Corinthians 5:17, Colossians 3:9-10) where sin is no longer our master (Romans 6:6-14)!

2.What does it actually mean to be BORN AGAIN? In vs 5, Jesus declares again that “..No-one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the spirit.”

So, what could it mean to be BORN OF WATER?

Firstly, within the context of this passage (vs 6) and Nicodemus’ response in vs 4, being BORN of water could possibly refer to being physically born into this life (as mentioned above), since a baby is born within a sac of water in the mother’s womb. In the very next verse (John 3:6) Jesus seems to equate being born of water with “FLESH GIVES BIRTH TO FLESH”, while equating being born of the Spirit with the “SPIRIT GIVES BIRTH TO SPIRIT.”

So the point Jesus could be making to this Jewish rabbi named Nicodemus, was that in order to enter the kingdom, YOU MUST HAVE 2 BIRTHS!! Just being born into the Israelite nation is not enough to get you into the kingdom of God, you must be born again of the Holy Spirit to enter the kingdom of God!! (See John 1:12-13)

Alternatively, When we put together the declarations that Jesus made in vs 3 and 5 that sound very similar, we can see that to be BORN AGAIN could possibly mean to be BORN OF WATER AND THE SPIRIT!!

Therefore a second possible explanation within the context of the rest of scripture, is that according to Ezekiel 36:25-27, Titus 3:5, Ephesians 5:26 and John 15:3, being BORN OF WATER could possibly represent being CLEANSED and WASHED for REBIRTH by the word of God/gospel at salvation! Both James 1:18 and 1 Peter 1:23-25 tell us that we are born again through the word of God that was preached to us!

Being born of The Spirit could represent receiving the Holy Spirit who comes in us at salvation once we hear and receive the gospel/word of God! (See Romans 8:9)

This would seem to make sense in light of passages like Ephesians 1:13-14 where the believers in Ephesus were reminded that it was when they HEARD THE WORD OF TRUTH, THE GOSPEL OF THEIR SALVATION (Romans 10:14) and believed that word of truth, that they (then received The Holy Spirit) were marked with THE HOLY SPIRIT as a deposit guaranteeing their inheritance!!

In Romans 1:16, the Apostle Paul says it is the GOSPEL that is the power of God to bring SALVATION to everyone who believes!!

Therefore Jesus could be saying that in order to be born again, we must HEAR AND RECEIVE THE WORD OF GOD/GOSPEL (and in doing so we are being cleansed and washed by the word for salvation) and this then leads to us RECEIVING THE HOLY SPIRIT in us to complete the process of being BORN AGAIN!

WHO NEEDS TO BE BORN AGAIN?

If Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Jewish ruling council (vs 1) and teacher of Israel (vs 10) needed to be born again, then so do we!! Nicodemus would have been considered one of the most righteous among the Israelites based on his position (Matthew 5:20). Yet Jesus tells him he needed to be born again. This reminds us that there is no-one good enough to get into the kingdom by their own merits!! (Romans 3:9-24)

ARE YOU BORN AGAIN?