The Born Again Experience
Bible Facts Newspaper Article (Ian C. Kurylyk)
“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (John 3:7). Jesus said these words to a very religious man named Nicodemus. It is obvious that one does not enter the kingdom of God by engaging in some religious activity but by what Jesus calls being born again. “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Those who have been serious about Christianity through the years have recognized that being born again is a “must” according to the Bible.
What some have not agreed about is what the Bible means by this term “born again” or “the new birth”. Some have equated it with an ecstatic emotional experience. Some think it happens in some way when a person is baptized. A popular singer even compared the experience of seeing a meteor shower with this. However there is no need for misunderstanding what it means since there is clear teaching about it in a number of Bible texts. It can be described and explained in good measure by careful Bible study.
The text in John 3 is certainly a key one for helping us understand what is meant by this term. First, Jesus made it clear to Nicodemus that it was a different kind of birth from the first birth (that brought us into this world). “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6) The new birth is an entrance into God’s kingdom and is of a spiritual nature. The attempt by psychologists to define it in terms of a natural experience is simply a denial of what Jesus taught. It is brought to pass by God’s Spirit rather than the natural processes of human life. Some call it a religious experience, but man has the capacity for religious experiences without the supernatural power of God being involved. God’s Holy Spirit must bring it to pass. The New Birth is a real experience, but it is in the realm of spirit, rather than flesh. If eternal life were a matter of birthright in this world, or things done in this body, men like Nicodemus would be all right. But even the religious leaders of God’s chosen nation needed to be born again.
Jesus also taught Nicodemus God’s plan to provide this new kind of life to sinful men. He would die on the cross to pay for the sins men have committed and rise from the dead to provide new life. He would then give this gift of eternal life which He provided to all that personally believe in Him. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). So the new birth is made a personal reality by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (I John 5:12).
The new birth is the beginning of a life that never ends but will be spent in eternity with God in heaven. It starts when a person believes God’s testimony in the Word of God about His Son and the salvation He came into this world to provide. The Bible is the seed of eternal life. “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (I Peter 1:23). When Adam first sinned in the Garden of Eden he made our natural life subject to death. By God’s salvation plan in Jesus Christ, God offers each person a new life that is eternal and finds satisfaction in the things of God. This life is in His Son and becomes your own when you recognize your sinful condition and believe in the Christ of the Bible for your own salvation. “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” (I John 5:12).
