In John chapter 3, we are told the story of the secret conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. How do we become born again?
Jesus and Nicodemus – John 3:3-8, NET©
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?”
5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’
8 The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Jesus says, that we need to be born again to see the kingdom of God. Being born again does not mean a physical rebirth, but a spiritual one. A spiritual rebirth means that the spirit of a person who was previously dead now has come to life.
When our spirit is born again, it is the same as receive salvation. The rebirth consists of two things, water and spirit. We are saved through a cleansing bath, of the heart, and that we are renewed by the Holy Spirit.
Born of God
13 – children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God. John 1:13, NET©
When we are born again, it is not through the will of any man. But it is God giving birth to us again. We can not by ourselves, be born again, if it is not God who does it through his power.
A First Fruit
18 By his sovereign plan he gave us birth through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. James 1:18, NET©
We are a first-fruits to God when he births us again. We are born through the word of truth that sanctify us.
Not Born by Works
4 But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, 5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, Titus 3:4-5, NET©
We have never ever contributed to our own rebirth. It is God who has this given to us, thanks to his kindness and love.
There is nothing we can add, in order to be born again. Nothing of what we can do, will ever be in our favor, in order to be born again. Everything comes from God through his mercy.
Believe That Jesus Is Christ
1 Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loves him that begat loves him also that is begotten of him. 1 John 5:1, KJV
What characterizes that someone has been born again, is that they believe that Jesus is Christ. And that they also love all the others that God has given birth to.
It would be impossible for a born again believer not to love all the other spiritual siblings.
Born Unto a Hope
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1 Peter 1:3, NET©
The one who has been born again, is born to a new hope. It is, in and through the resurrection of Jesus Christ that God has birthed us. The hope that we now have, is that we will once rise from the dead to eternal life, and an eternity together with God.
An Imperishable Seed
23 You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. 1 Peter 1:23, NET©
We have been born of an imperishable seed. This is so that we get preserved until the end.