A Spiritual New Birth
When we have Jesus, we experience a spiritual new birth (John 3:3; I Peter 1:3, 23; I John 5:1). In his conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus expressed to him the necessity of being “born again”. He further explained that outside of this new birth, one could never experience the kingdom of God. The only access into the kingdom of God is by way of the new birth. In other words, Jesus was telling Nicodemus “You must be born again” (John 3:7).
Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a ruler among the Jews; and he was initially attracted to Jesus because of the signs that He did: Signs that Nicodemus saw as proof that Jesus was a teacher come from God. However, he was also a man of deep spiritual blindness.
Instructing Nicodemus in the basics of salvation: “Our Lord began with that which was familiar, birth being a universal experience. The word translated ‘again’ also means ‘from above.’ Though all human beings have experienced natural birth on earth, if they expect to go to heaven, they must experience a supernatural spiritual birth from above.” *
In verse 7: “The change from singular to plural in I said to you [singular], “You [plural] must be born again,” probably is meant to include Nicodemus and his fellow Sanhedrin members (cf. “we” in v. 2), but the plural also carries broader application to all people: everyone “must be born again.” **
As a prominent teacher of Israel, one would think that Nicodemus should be able to understand Jesus; but it all remained strange to him. The things of God are not intellectually discernable. “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
I have spoken with people, on occasion, who have not wanted to have anything to do with this “born again” thing. A coworker of mine once told me that he had been a Christian all his life (which is telling because there is no one who has been a Christian “all his [or her] life”). He went on to say that he just did not want to have anything to do with being “born again”.
In his book titled “What Does It Mean to be Born Again”, R. C. Sproul says: “At the outset, I must note that the phrase ‘born-again Christian,’ in a narrow, technical sense, is a redundancy. This is because, according to the New Testament, in order to become a Christian, one must first be born again (John 3:3–5). Therefore, if a person is born again, he or she is a Christian. So to call somebody a ‘born-again Christian’ is like saying that such a person is a Christian Christian. The New Testament knows of no other kind of Christian” ***
R. C. Sproul goes on to say: “Jesus gave a necessary condition in this conversation with Nicodemus. Anytime Jesus teaches necessary conditions, our ears should perk up, but that is especially true in this case because He articulates an absolute requirement for entrance into the kingdom of God. He said, ‘Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ That is, unless ‘A’ takes place, ‘B’ cannot possibly follow. Do you see why that is so important? With these words, Jesus laid out the necessary condition for coming into His kingdom. He interrupted this man who was highly trained in theology, who was a religious ruler, who was recognized and praised by his fellow citizens in Israel, and hit him right between the eyes with the truth: ‘You need to be born again.’ It’s as if I were to walk into a minister’s church, and while he was asking me a theological question or saying something kind to me, I said: ‘Hold it. You can’t even see the kingdom of God because you need to be born again.’ It is no wonder the Pharisees were so hostile toward Jesus.
To put it as simply as I can, if you are not spiritually reborn, you are not a Christian. It is necessary to be reborn to be a Christian. No one is born a Christian. No one enters into this world already incorporated into the kingdom of God. The Pharisees thought that they were born into the kingdom of God. They reasoned: ‘We’re the children of Abraham. We do all the right things. We have the law of Moses.’ But Jesus later would say to them: ‘You are not the children of Abraham. You are the children of those whom you serve’ (see John 8:39–47).” ****
Jesus makes it very clear: "Not to be born again is to be lost." *****
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* Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 295.
** Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2025.
*** R. C. Sproul, What Does It Mean to Be Born Again?, vol. 6, The Crucial Questions Series (Lake Mary, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2010), 2–3.
**** R. C. Sproul, What Does It Mean to Be Born Again?, vol. 6, The Crucial Questions Series (Lake Mary, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2010), 7–8.
***** William Evans and S. Maxwell Coder, The Great Doctrines of the Bible, Enl. ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1974), 153.