The Born Again Experience

“Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3 NAS)

What do you think about when you hear the term “born-again”? What ideas come to mind? What does it mean to be born-again? What is this experience? For the answers to these questions, I would like to start off by examining John 3:3. This seems to be a verse that is often overlooked when preachers and pastors talk about the born-again experience.
            I want to you to see five points about the born-again experience in this one verse alone. It makes a statement, not of what we receive as far as love from God, peace, joy, eternal life, and Holy Spirit, but more of what we need here in this life. That is sight.
            First of all, Jesus makes a call for attention. The phrase “Verily, verily” in the King James or “Truly, truly” in other translations is a term that makes a solemn and formal declaration in place of an oath. This was important and understood in the day Jesus live here on earth. When Jesus is saying, “Truly, truly” He is saying, “hey, listen up, pay close attention, I’ve got something really, really, important to tell you, so be extremely mindful of what I’m about to say.
            Second, when Jesus states, “Unless one” or “Except a man be born again” He is talking about every man. This form of expressing oneself is all-inclusive. Every man, no matter his disposition or office or whether he was old or young or slave or free, Jew or Gentile needed to be born again of God. Although the Jews felt that being called of God, being God’s chosen people and the sons of Abraham were sufficient for them, Jesus stated to Nicodemus clearly that it was not. “For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” (Galatians 6:15 NAS) However, neither is being born into a church going family or even just to be a member of a local church is sufficient for salvation. It is also insufficient to only acknowledge Jesus Christ as a good man, a teacher, or just a prophet. Other religions do this. What is needed is for all men everywhere to experience the great change called the “New Birth” or the “Born-Again” experience. This is by accepting Jesus Christ as Who He really is, the Lord of Heaven and Earth, the Almighty God made flesh, the Savior of the world. So what does it mean to be Born-again?
            It is the regeneration of your spirit. This is the regeneration from the old sinful nature to the new holy one. It is the spiritual life of God that He wants to impart to us. Man’s fallen state has resulted in our spiritual death. That is our alienation from God because of sin in this world. For without the spiritual life that God gives us, we cannot see the kingdom of God or will we ever enter into His gates without being born-again.
            Every man, that is to use the term generically, must experience two births in this world. The first of these is to be born into the world. When someone is born into the world he or she is born into sin. Every man is made in the same pattern, male and female. We all have five fingers on each hand, and two hands, five toes on each foot, and two feet, two eyes, two ears, a nose, a mouth, and the rest of the body part in the right areas. That is God’s pattern.
            Unfortunately, while in the Garden of Eden, Satan was able to interject sin into the picture. So now, along with the God given pattern that was given to us when we where created, we also have the sin nature. Adam and Eve had it and it has been past down all the way to most recent child to be born to the human race.
            When man is born into this world he or she can see the light of the world, contemplate God’s creation, and interact with the world through the body. However, as he or she goes about life, the sin nature is every present and guiding their every action up unto the point when they are born-again. When this happens the born again experience enables them to interact with God, and to enjoy God’s creation. They can also “see” God’s creation and interact within it and the penalty of sin is dealt with through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Although sin is not immediately removed from the person’s life, the born-again experience does begin the process of dealing with sin in our lives. It is a process that will continue for the rest of our earthly lives.
            What is the Born-again Experience? Listen carefully. The Born-again experience is that moment when God through Jesus Christ reveals Himself to be our Creator and most importantly, our Father. When we accept the fact that sin is real, that God is real, and that we are indeed in need of a Savior, God adopts us in to His family as children of the Almighty and All Powerful God. John 1:12-13 states: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”(NAS)
            Not only are we adopted into His family, but also the new birth bestows on us the justification, pardon, and sanctification needed to live a godly life before God. Sin is what separates us from the Lord. Sin is the one thing Jesus wishes mostly to remove from us so that we can be reconcile to Him. In His love for us, He sacrificed Himself so that there would be no more separation. Sin must be forgiven and pardoned. The heart must be washed and be spotless before an Almighty Holy God, for the soul cannot possibly enter into the kingdom of God without being cleansed. Sin cannot stand before His righteousness.
            Now I have made a couple of references to “seeing the Kingdom of God.” It is necessary for us to understand the concept of seeing here. When a man is born-again, he is enabled to see, that is to be aware of or behold the Kingdom of God. This word seeing does not actually refer physical sight and it does not refer to when a person dies, if they will see heaven or not. It is very true that if a man is not born-again, he will not enter into heaven when he dies. A better way of translating this word would be “to perceive” or “understand.” The Kingdom of God is spiritually discerned here and now on earth. Look at Matthew 13:11-12 and Matthew 16:17:  

“And He answered and said to them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. "For whoever has, to him shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.” (Matthew 13:11-12 NAS)

“And Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17 NAS)

When you are Born-again, you literally enter into a whole new world of understanding. The unbeliever does not understand the Kingdom of God. He cannot perceive it, nor is he able to understand it. “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:5 NAS) He can see the works of God in nature and he can certainly read the Bible if he so chooses. However, to understand the Kingdom of God, it takes God Himself bestowing the new birth.
            So in light of all this, what must we do to become believers? First of all we are to understand this: “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:5-7 NAS)
            We are to first acknowledge our sins, that we have sinned, and that Jesus is Who He says He is and that He came for the very purpose that the Scriptures say that He came for. Once we have done this we are to except the free gift of salvation realizing that we could never work to get to heaven, or that we could qualify ourselves for the entrance to heaven.
            When we do this we received His revelation. The spiritual veil is removed and we can see the world as it really is and we can also see the Kingdom of Heaven. Along with this gift of sight, we also receive God’s grace, love, peace, joy, and the Holy Spirit, Who guides us into all righteousness. We will continue to grow in God as He shows us the new birth, yet we should not stop at the birth alone. Instead, let us not be content with being babes in Christ, but let us continue to grow into adulthood. We can do this by excepting Jesus Christ as our Savoir.