John 3.3 records Jesus replying, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he

cannot see the kingdom of God.”

In the 1970’s the evangelical Christian Church spoke much about being born again. So much, that those words began to create negative emotions toward the Church and it’s Christ. Yet, being born again or born from above or being born of the Spirit is what God in human form, Jesus, stated was required for entering into His eternal dwelling place. Why?

Unique to Christianity is the belief that people are born separated from God and predisposed to rebelling against Him. This natural rebellion against God is manifest first in the small child who defies his parents as naturally as demanding its own way. This habit of being self-centered and selfish is never completely broken in our lifetimes though some learn to manage it better than others.

This is why we must be born again. We need a new nature from the one we are born with. Our first nature is alive to our own ends, means and ways but dead to God and His ends, means or ways. The new nature given by God to those who earnestly seek Him, begins to transform us into a people who serve God’s ends, means and obey His ways.

People today discuss believing in God as sufficient for being accepted by God. God in Jesus used this term often in describing what people must do to enter His kingdom. Unfortunately believing in Him was not understood by Him to mean what we understand today. Belief to us means mental agreement that something is true. Belief to God means adherence to that truth manifest in a lifestyle that demonstrates our belief. Thinking and doing are intertwined in God’s ways and not separated so much as they are today.

Think of it this way, most people believe they should eat healthier but they take no action to do so. They agree to the principles of a healthy lifestyle but by their behavior live otherwise. Modern belief takes no action whereas Biblical belief would practice dieting and exercise and avoiding all things detrimental to healthy living – in my example.

So how do we become born again? That was the very question asked of God in Jesus which He expounded upon in the Book of John chapter 3.