The New Birth

Article 6 of 13 in the Walking with Jesus Series

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, a man who had devoted his life to the study and practice of the law of God. By any religious standard of his day, he was exemplary. And yet when he came to Jesus by night, Jesus told him something that must have been deeply unsettling: "Ye must be born again." Not improved. Not reformed. Not more disciplined. Born again. Why would a man of such religious attainment need to start over? And what does it mean to be born again?

The exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3 is one of the most important passages in the New Testament on the subject of salvation. Nicodemus opens with a compliment, acknowledging that Jesus must be a teacher come from God. Jesus cuts straight to the heart of what Nicodemus actually needs:

Nicodemus is confused. He asks how a man can be born when he is old. Can he enter his mother's womb a second time? Jesus clarifies:

The new birth is a birth of the Spirit. It is not a physical event. It is a spiritual one - a transformation of the inner person that is as real and as radical as physical birth.

The phrase "born of water and of the Spirit" has been interpreted in various ways. In context, the most natural reading connects it to the Old Testament promise of Ezekiel 36:25-27, where God promises to sprinkle clean water on His people (cleansing from sin) and to put His Spirit within them (regeneration). The new birth involves both cleansing and the impartation of new spiritual life.

The reason the new birth is necessary is that the natural human heart is not oriented toward God. Paul describes the condition of the unregenerate person:

The problem is not merely behavioural. It is constitutional. The natural mind is at enmity with God. No amount of moral effort can change this fundamental orientation. What is needed is a new heart, a new nature, a new beginning.

This is precisely what the prophet Ezekiel foresaw when he recorded God's promise:

The new birth is the fulfilment of this promise. God removes the heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh - a heart that is responsive to Him, that desires His ways, that is capable of genuine love for God and neighbour.

The new birth is entirely the work of the Holy Spirit. It is not something a person does to themselves. It is something God does in them. Paul describes it in his letter to Titus:

The word translated "regeneration" is the Greek palingenesia - a compound of palin (again) and genesis (birth, origin). It means a new genesis, a new beginning. This is not a cooperative project in which God does His part and we do ours. It is entirely His work, received entirely by grace.

Jesus compared the Spirit's work to the wind:

The new birth is mysterious. We cannot fully explain how it happens. But its effects are as real and as observable as the effects of the wind.

How does a person know whether they have been born again? John's first letter was written precisely to answer this question - to give believers assurance of their standing before God. He identifies several marks of the new birth.

A changed relationship to sin. The person who has been born of God does not continue in a pattern of unbroken, unrepentant sin:

This does not mean the born-again person never sins. It means they cannot live comfortably in sin. The new nature resists it. When they fall, they are troubled by it and return to God.

Love for other believers:

Belief in Jesus Christ:

Paul uses a different but equally powerful image to describe what the new birth produces:

A new creature. Not a repaired version of the old. Not an improved edition. Something genuinely new. The values change. The desires change. The direction of the life changes. The things that once seemed most important begin to lose their grip, and the things of God begin to take on a new and compelling reality.

• "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3, KJV)
• "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:6, KJV)
• "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." (1 Peter 1:23, KJV)
• "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." (James 1:18, KJV)
• "Whosoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." (1 John 5:4, KJV)

"Being born again means having an emotional religious experience." The new birth is a spiritual reality, not primarily an emotional experience. Some people experience dramatic emotional conversions. Others experience a quiet, gradual awakening. The evidence of the new birth is not the intensity of the experience but the change in the life - new desires, new direction, new love for God and His Word.

"I was born again when I was baptised as an infant." Baptism is an important ordinance, but the new birth is a work of the Holy Spirit that cannot be administered by another person or guaranteed by a ritual. Jesus said that what is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:6). The new birth is a spiritual transformation that must be personally experienced.

"I don't need to be born again - I've always believed in God." Nicodemus believed in God. He was a teacher of Israel. Yet Jesus told him he must be born again. The new birth is not the same as believing in God's existence or being raised in a religious home. It is a personal, supernatural transformation of the heart by the Holy Spirit.

"Once born again, I can never fall away." The New Testament consistently calls believers to persevere, to continue in the faith, to hold fast. The assurance of salvation is real, but it is not a guarantee that cannot be forfeited. The evidence of genuine new birth is a life that continues in the direction of God, not a one-time experience that settles the matter regardless of subsequent choices.

1. Examine yourself. Paul wrote: "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves." (2 Corinthians 13:5, KJV). The marks John gives in 1 John - love for God, love for believers, keeping His commandments, overcoming the world - are the tests. Apply them honestly.

2. Do not confuse the experience with the reality. If you cannot point to a dramatic conversion experience, do not conclude you have not been born again. Look for the evidence in your life: changed desires, love for God's Word, genuine love for other believers, a conscience that is troubled by sin.

3. If you are uncertain, ask. The new birth is something God gives to those who ask. "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:13, KJV). Come to God honestly and ask Him to do in you what only He can do.

4. Nurture the new life. A newborn requires nourishment. The person who has been born again must feed on the Word of God, maintain a life of prayer, and remain in the community of believers. The new life will not thrive in neglect.

1. Read John 3:1-16. Why do you think Jesus chose the imagery of birth to describe what Nicodemus needed? What does birth suggest about the nature of the change required?

2. Read Ezekiel 36:24-27. This passage was written centuries before Christ. How does it describe the same transformation that Jesus calls the new birth? What does the continuity between the Old and New Testaments tell you about God's plan of salvation?

3. Read 1 John 3:1-10. John says that the person born of God "doth not commit sin" (v. 9). How do you reconcile this with 1 John 1:8-10, which acknowledges that believers do sin? What is John's point in 3:9?

4. Read 2 Corinthians 5:17. What does it mean that "old things are passed away"? What are the "old things" in your own life that have changed since you came to faith?

5. Is there someone in your life who is religious but may not have experienced the new birth? How would you explain to them, from Scripture, why religious observance is not sufficient?

• Faith and Acceptance in Christ - Article 5 in this series
• Growing Through Faith - Article 7 in this series
• Living the Christian Life Daily - Article 9 in this series

Primary passages: John 3:1-16; Ezekiel 36:24-27; Titus 3:5-6

Supporting passages: Romans 8:7; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 2 Corinthians 13:5; Luke 11:13; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 3:1-10; 1 John 5:1-4

Recommended reading:

• Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, Chapter 9: "The Work and the Life" (Review and Herald, 1892)
• John Wesley, The New Birth (sermon, 1760)
• Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Born of God: Sermons from John Chapter 1 (Banner of Truth, 1987)

Do you have a question about the new birth or what it means to be born again? Ask it here - your question may become our next article.

This article was adapted from the themes presented in the classic devotional book Steps to Christ. To access the original book, please click here.