Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
John 3:6 (NIV)
The terms born again and regenerated are fairly familiar to many people and are usually associated with becoming a Christian.
But what does it mean to be born again? Does it mean to have a fresh start to live a moral life? If that’s the case, does a person who is already good, upright, and ethical even need to be born again?
let’s look at what the Bible says about being born again.
Nicodemus and the Lord Jesus
Let’s look at the story of Nicodemus in John 3. Nicodemus was a moral man who was held in high regard in his community. He came to Jesus one night privately and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher.”
Nicodemus may have wanted Jesus to teach him how to improve himself even more so he could be perfect. But before Nicodemus could say anything else, Jesus told him in John 3:3 (ESV):
“Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus didn’t seem to have any moral or sinful problems. So this word may have surprised him. It might surprise us also, especially if we think only people who are obviously immoral or unethical need to be born again.
But it’s not only the sinful or immoral people that need to be regenerated. Every human being needs to be born again in order to receive the divine, eternal life of God.
No matter how noble, good, or upright we are, without being born again, we only have our human life; we don’t have the life of God. But God wants us to have His life. That’s why He created us.
So how can we have the eternal life of God? The Lord Jesus said we must be born anew, that is, born spiritually with the life of God.
Born of the Spirit in our spirit
When a baby is born, it’s born of its parents with the human life of its parents. To be born again, or regenerated, simply means we’re born of God with God’s life.
In John 3:6 (ESV), Jesus explained to Nicodemus how this can be:
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Note 2 on this verse in the New Testament Recovery Version helps us see what born of the Spirit is spirit means:
“The first Spirit mentioned here is the divine Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, and the second spirit is the human spirit, the regenerated spirit of man. Regeneration is accomplished in the human spirit by the Holy Spirit of God with God’s life, the uncreated eternal life. Thus, to be regenerated is to have the divine, eternal life (in addition to the human, natural life) as the new source and new element of a new person.”
Our human spirit is the deepest part of our being. It was created in a particular way by God with the ability to contact and receive Him. When we believed in Jesus, our human spirit was born of the divine Spirit. Now we have the life of God!
God doesn’t want ethical people who don’t have His life. He wants human beings to become His children, begotten with His life.
Being born again has nothing to do with resolving to be a better person or turning over a new leaf. It has everything to do with being born of the Spirit in our spirit with the life of God.