In my opinion, one of the most powerful and iconic conversations in the entire New Testament was recorded in the Gospel of John chapter 3. The verse of Scripture captured a secret meeting between the Lord Jesus Christ and a respected religious leader named Nicodemus. In that conversation, Jesus revealed a truth that remains central to the Christian faith: “You must be born again.”
John 3:1–3
That 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 and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
The background to this story is the fact that Nicodemus was not an ordinary man. He was a Pharisee and a religious ruler among the Jews, a teacher who had deep knowledge of the Scriptures. He knew the Pentateuch (the first five books of Moses), the prophetic writings, and the Psalms. He was a highly educated and respected religious leader.
Yet something about Jesus captured his attention.
It was not merely Jesus’ knowledge of Scripture. After all, Nicodemus himself knew the law very well. What truly struck Nicodemus was the functional power of God at work in Jesus’ life.
In the ministry of Jesus, unlike the Jewish religious leaders,
People were healed.
Demons were cast out.
Miracles happened wherever Jesus went.
His teachings accompanied by these supernatural works convinced Nicodemus that God indeed was with Jesus.
Curious and eager to understand the secret behind such supernatural life, Nicodemus came to Jesus privately at night to ask him salient questions.
But Jesus gave him an answer that he wasn’t expecting, an answer that was both simple and profound:
“You must be born again.”
From Jesus’s responses, we realise that to gain unhindered access to the Kingdom of God,being born again is not optional. It is the gateway to seeing and experiencing the Kingdom of God.
In other words, according to Jesus, the foundation of the supernatural life is not mere religious knowledge, social status, or good behavior,the foundation is the new birth.
Someone may then ask What Does It Mean to Be Born Again?
To be born again means to “be born of the Spirit of God”.
To experience a supernatural regeneration from Spiritual death, which is seperation from God to being a recipient of the life of God.
In others, to be born again means to be a possessor of the life and the nature of God within you.
Just as a human baby comes alive at physical birth, a person becomes spiritually alive when they are born again. This new birth is not physical,it is supernatural.
Being born again means receiving a new life from God,being connected to a supernatural source in God beyond the physical world.
It is experiencing an inward transformation through the Spirit of God.
This new life does not come from human effort or religious rituals,It comes directly from God Himself.
Why Do You Need to Be Born Again?
The Bible teaches that every person outside Christ is under the power of sin.
The word sin comes from the Greek word hamartia, which means “to miss the mark.”
Imagine an archer aiming at a target. If the arrow misses the center,even by a small margin,the archer has missed the mark.
Lets go a little bit academic, suppose a student needs 200 points to qualify for admission into a university.
If the student scores 199, they have still missed the requirement, even if they fall short by just a point.
That is the idea behind sin.
God’s nature is perfect:
His love is perfect
His holiness is perfect
His righteousness is perfect
Anything that falls below God’s perfect standard is missing the mark.
The Bible says:
Romans 3:23
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
When studying sin from a biblical perspective, it is important to understand the two perspective to the concept of sin:
We have:
The actions of sin
The nature of sin
Many people think sin is only about wrong actions. While that is true in a sense,the bible reveals something even deeper.Sin, as a spiritual reality is first a fallen nature, and from that nature come sinful actions.
According to Scripture, this sinful nature entered the world through Adam’s disobedience.
Romans 5:12
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men.”
This means sin is not merely wrong behavior,that is surface level,it is fundamentally a spiritual condition that leads people to continually miss the mark.
So what now happens When Someone Is Born Again?
When a person becomes born again, something supernatural happens.
They are separated from the nature of sin and death and receive what the Bible calls eternal life. To be separated means to be delivered from the power of sin in your life. And not only that,you become a possessor of the life of God.
Eternal life is not simply living forever. It is God’s very life and nature at work a person.
This means when a man is born again, they do not merely adopt a religion or a moral philosophy.
They receive the very life of God .
It may sound unbelievable to some, but that is the promise of the Gospel.
And this promise is available to every person, regardless of race, background, religion or past.
Now i don’t want you to be confused about the concept of salvation in Christ which is to be born again.
Being born again is not to be confused with being religious or “churchy”.
It doesn’t mean having a Christian name or Christian parents, or being a morally a good person.
While all these things is plausible, you can have this and still not be born again.
The new birth is a supernatural transformation that happens when someone believes in Jesus Christ and what he did for their sins in his death, burial and resurrection.
So the multi million dollar question would now be, how does someone Become Born Again?
The Bible clearly explains how a person can receive this new life.
Jesus said:
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Salvation is a gift of God, not something we earn by good deeds.
Ephesians 2:8–9
“For by grace you have been saved through faith… it is the gift of God, not of works.”
And the process of believing is simple:
Romans 10:9–10
“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved”
To be born again just means to:
Believe that Jesus is the son of God who came to died for your sins and rose again for your justification, which leds to confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior.
When you do this sincerely, instantly, the Bible declares you righteous,free from the condemnation of sin.
Jesus took the judgment of sin upon Himself through His death on the cross so that through His sacrifice, forgiveness and pardon have been made available to the entire world which includes you.
But this gift becomes yours only when you receive it by faith.
What Happens After You Believe?
When you believe in Jesus and confess Him as Lord:
You are delivered from the power of darkness
Colossians 1:13
“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”
You are rescued from the coming Judgement
1 Thessalonians 1:10
“…Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”
You become a child of God
John 1:12
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.”
The Greatest Decision You Will Ever Make is to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ.
If you have already believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, congratulations.
That is the greatest decision you could ever make in life.
But if you have not yet made that decision, today can be your day of salvation.
No matter how far you think you have gone, and no matter how good or religious you believe you are, God is calling you today!!!.
2 Corinthians 6:2
“Behold, NOW!!! is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
A Prayer to Receive Jesus
If you are ready to be born again, you can pray this simple prayer with faith.
“Lord Jesus, I believe you are the son of God,
I believe, You came to die for my sins.
I believe You died on the cross and rose from the dead on the third day for my justification.
I believe You are the Son of God, my Redeemer, my Lord and my Savior.
I receive You into my heart by faith.
I declare that I am saved, I am born again, and I have eternal life as a child of God.
Amen.”
If you prayed that prayer sincerely, the Bible assures you that you are now born again.
Welcome to the Family of God
You have received eternal life and become a child of God.
Your journey has just begun, and it is important to grow in your new life through prayer, studying the Bible, and fellowship with other believers.
May God bless you richly as you walk in this new life.
If you would like to learn more about this new life and have someone encourage, inspire, and gently walk with you as you grow without any pressure and at your own pace, please feel free to connect with any of these people. They would truly be happy to hear from you and support you on your journey.
Connect with Pastor Tobiloba Adewunmi:https://rebrand.ly/ConnectwithTobiloba
Connect with Pastor Happiness Abodunde:https://rebrand.ly/connectwithhappiness
You want to join our community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/FnMmr8gzWH910ewWpXno8K?mode=hq1tcla
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