I am often amused when watching a congressional hearing. Often the witness will be asked a question, and they reply, “Thank you for that question”, and then proceed to never answer the question. How frustrating that must be for the person asking the question. In the Bible there was a man named Nicodemus who came to Jesus and asked several questions and to each of these Jesus gave him the answers.
These questions are perhaps some of the most important questions ever asked because they deal with eternity. Can you imagine if Jesus had just simply replied to Nicodemus, “Thank you for that question and then never actually gave an answer. The story of Nicodemus in found in the Bible in the book of John chapter 3.
Here are the questions that arise from this passage:
1. Who needs be born again?
2. What does it mean to be born again?
3. How can one be born again?
4. What does it mean to be born again?
Who needs to be born again? We all need to be born again. Everyone needs to be born again. This man, Nicodemus, was a religious leader and highly educated but he realized he needed to be born again. It does not matter who you are or what one’s background may be the truth is all people need a new birth.
Perhaps the better question may be, who doesn’t need to be born again?
What does it mean to be born again? Several kinds of life exist in this world. There is vegetable life, animal life, and human life. However, there is another life often referred to as spiritual life. This life is vastly different from human life. The human life consists of body and soul. Some would describe this as flesh and bones with a conscience. The spiritual life is not limited to a body and soul. The spiritual life extends beyond the physical world into another realm of connecting with God. It is also related to eternal life.
Eternal life is to be removed from limited conditions (time and space) and enter a timeless existence. To enter this spiritual life, one must be born into it or be born of the spirit. Which leads us to the next question.
How can one be born again? Our human life does not have a spiritual life. We are shut off from this kind of existence. Just as we are born into human life, we must be born into the spirit life. So how does this spiritual birth take place. We must believe in Jesus. Belief is not simply a mental decision. Believing involves a mental decision stirred by our inner being (heart). Belief is a spiritual act. When a person discovers their sinfulness and that Jesus Christ died to take their sinfulness then their mind and heart come together to BELIEVE.
There are several ways to describe believe- trust, turn, accept, receive, or have faith in Jesus.
What happens when a person is born again? One of the great marvels in the conception of life is hearing a baby’s heartbeat through an ultrasound. How amazing it is that when a new life is conceived there is a heartbeat. Then over the next nine months that baby will develop fingers, lungs, even fingernails. This same miracle takes place in the spiritual realm. As soon as a person believes (that is the spiritual act of the mind and heart coming together in trusting Jesus) then they get a spiritual heartbeat. A person with a spiritual heartbeat has a desire to know more about God and will seek ways to build a spiritual relationship with God through their faith (belief) in Jesus.
Have you been born again? If you confess with words and believe in your heart, you will be born again.
You can say it right now: “God, I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for me and I ask forgiveness. I trust Jesus as my Savior.”
Guess what, you have just been “born again” and have the promise of eternal life.
(Chuck Johnston has been the Pastor at Pleasant Point Baptist Church for ten years and pastored 42 years in total. He graduated from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry.)