Born Again
...no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again...
In the Gospel of John, the concept of being "born again" is presented as a radical transformation that transcends mere outward change, touching the very core of our being. This transformation isn't just about a new perspective or improved behavior; it's about a fundamental renewal of our innermost selves. The urgency of being born again is founded in its connection to eternal life in God's Kingdom, while the warning of hell without it serves as a stark reminder of its significance.
Contents
Origin of the concept of being born again
In Greek “born again” is “γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν” “gennethe anothen”, while “born” in Greek has mainly one meaning, we can get a little extra depth out of “again” which means: from above, again, from the beginning, the top. Sometimes “born again” is translated as “born from above”.
John chapter 3 is the only place in the Bible where the phrase “born again” is found. If we look at the main points that Jesus makes about being born again, we’ll see that being born again is being born of the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit and that it comes hand in hand with believing in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.
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No one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again
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No one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit
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Flesh is born of flesh and the spirit is born of the Spirit
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Being born of the Spirit is unpredictable
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The Son of Men (Jesus) must be lifted up so that every one who believes in Him may have eternal life
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were not with him.” 3 Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” 4 “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time to be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. 10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, and yet you people do not accept our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. 18 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever practices the truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen clearly that what he has done has been accomplished in God.”
The concept of being born again in the Old Testament
When you read the story about Nicodemus in the book of John, you will notice that Jesus expected Nicodemus to know what being born again is because Nicodemus was a pharisee and knew the scriptures well. So we should be able to find the concept of being born again in the Old Testament.
Regeneration in the Old Testament
Even though the phrase “born again” is not used in the Old Testament, there are different descriptions of the concept of being regenerated by God:
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Circumcision of the heart
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Creation of a clean heart
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Renewing of the Spirit
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Spirit being poured out
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Law being inscribed on the heart
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Replacing the heart of stone with the heart of flesh
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Putting of the Spirit of God within
Deuteronomy 30:5-6 (Romans 2:29)
5 And Yahweh your God will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply more than your fathers. 6 Yahweh your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
9 Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from Your presence; take not Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You.
14 For the palace will be forsaken, the busy city abandoned. The hill and the watchtower will become caves forever—the delight of wild donkeys and a pasture for flocks—15 until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest. 16 Then justice will inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness will dwell in the fertile field.
33 “But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares Yahweh. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people. 34 No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares Yahweh. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
19 And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh, 20 so that they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose hearts pursue detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down upon their own heads, declares the Lord Yahweh.”
30 Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each according to his ways, declares the Lord Yahweh. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that your iniquity will not become your downfall. 31 Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?
24 For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you back into your own land. 25 I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.
Context and Timeline of Born Again Israel
The time when the church was first established after the resurrection of Jesus was the time of the First-fruits, the beginning of the harvest of the house of Israel. This time marked the beginning of God’s harvesting of souls for His Kingdom. When we read prophecies about the house of Israel getting a new heart and a new spirit in its context, it is talking about the time of the Millennial Kingdom, when Christ comes back, gathering the house of Israel from the nations and establishing His Kingdom on earth. That’s the time when the whole house of Israel will be “harvested” and given a new heart and spirit or “born again”.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
Born Again Gentiles
In the Old Testament prophecy, Born Again Gentiles are non-Israelites who embrace God's covenant by obeying His commands, referring to a future during God's Millennial Kingdom in which they will join the house of Israel in God's Kingdom on earth.
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The foreigners who keep the Sabbath and the covenant, Yahweh will bring to His holy mountain (Zion) and make them joyful in His House of Prayer
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He will except their burnt offerings and sacrifices
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His house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations
4 For this is what Yahweh says: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who choose what pleases Me and hold fast to My covenant— 5 I will give them, in My house and within My walls, a memorial and a name better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off. 6 And the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh to minister to Him, to love the name of Yahweh, and to be His servants— all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it and who hold fast to My covenant— 7 I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.” 8 Thus declares the Lord Yahweh, who gathers the dispersed of Israel: “I will gather to them still others besides those already gathered.”
The concept of being born again in the New Testament
In the New Testament being “born again” is synonymous with being “born of God” and being “born of the Spirit”, here’s a summary of all the different descriptions of being born again:
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Being a child of God
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Being born of God
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Being born of the Spirit
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Having the Spirit of God living in you
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Having Christ in you (John 6:56, John 14:20,23)
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Washing of new birth
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Renewal by the Holy Spirit
12 But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.
8 The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
5 Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.
3 For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 6 This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs with the hope of eternal life. 8 This saying is trustworthy. And I want you to emphasize these things, so that those who have believed God will take care to devote themselves to good deeds.
Evidence of Being Born Again
So how can we tell if someone is “born again”? Although it is a deep internal transformation there should be evidence of it for others to see. Lets summarise the following scriptures to get a general idea of what being born again comes with:
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Purification of the soul
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Obedience to the truth
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Genuine and pure love for one another
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Refusing to practice sin
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Practicing righteousness
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Believing that Jesus is the Christ
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Loving God by keeping His commandments
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Trusting God
22 Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves those born of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome, 4 because everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.
The Role of the Holy Spirit
Being born again is being born of the Spirit or having the Holy Spirit within (John 3:8), so when looking for the evidence of someone being born of the Spirit, we need to look for evidence of the Holy Spirit working in them.
Conviction of Sin
The first thing the Holy Spirit does in a person is convicts them of their sin, which leads to repentance, which in turn leads to sanctification and holiness. The spirit of God cannot coexist with sin, it grieves Him (Ephesians 4:17–32), He needs a clean vessel to dwell in.
7 But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate (John 14:26) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He comes, He will convict (expose, show to be guilty, reprove) the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment…
Fruits of the Holy Spirit
Once a person is clean of sin he can be filled with the Holy Spirit and can start producing His fruits. Lets see what these fruits are:
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Righteousness
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Truth
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Love
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Joy
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Peace
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Hope
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Patience
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Kindness
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Goodness
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Faithfulness
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Gentleness
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Self-control
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Humility
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Forgiveness
17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, 9 for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.
In the following scripture Paul give us a detailed description of what true love look like:
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. 6 Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be restrained; where there is knowledge, it will be dismissed. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways. 12 Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.
Backsliding
Backsliding refers to the regression or falling away of a believer from their faith after being born again, marked by a return to sinful behavior. So what if a born-again person persists in sin? Hebrews 6:4-8 warns of the grave consequences for those who fall away after experiencing enlightenment and tasting the heavenly gift. Similarly, 2 Peter 2:20-21 underscores the peril of returning to worldly corruption after knowing Christ. These passages highlight the severity of apostasy and the solemn responsibility of rejecting truth once embraced, portraying a final state worse than the initial condition of unsaved person.
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age— 6 and then have fallen away—to be restored to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame. 7 For land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is tended receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless, and its curse is imminent. In the end it will be burned.
20 If indeed they (false teachers and prophets) have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them.
Preventing or reversing backsliding
Living in a world full of sin it is very easy to start backsliding, it happens very slowly usually starting with small compromises and ending with big ones. Preventing or reversing backsliding entails building a strong spiritual foundation by staying connected to God through regular worship and prayer, Bible study, fellowship with other believers, and building accountability relationships, as well as remaining vigilant against temptation.
Prayer and Worship:
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James 5:16 - "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."
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Philippians 4:6-7 - "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
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Colossians 3:16 - "Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts."
Studying and Applying Scripture:
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2 Timothy 3:16-17 - "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
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Romans 15:4 - "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
Fellowship and Accountability:
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Hebrews 10:24-25 - "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
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Proverbs 27:17 - "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another."
Resisting Temptation:
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1 Corinthians 10:13 - "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."
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James 4:7 - "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
In conclusion, the concept of being born again stands as a distinctive cornerstone of Christian belief, setting it apart from other faith traditions. While many religions emphasize moral teachings, rituals, or philosophical doctrines, the Christian notion of being born again speaks to a deeply personal and transformative encounter with the living God. Through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, believers are granted new life, which includes freedom from sin, reconciliation with God, and a renewed purpose in their lives. Ultimately, the decision to accept or reject this gift rests with us; may we choose wisely.
Further Reading: