"Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God." (John 3.3).

At first sight these seem strange words and that is what the Jewish leader, Nicodemus thought to whom they were first addressed. But he has not been the only one to be puzzled by Jesus' curious expression and many who have claimed to be Christians have not fully realised what is meant by being "born again". Yet leaders in the Early Church, like Peter and Paul, based some of their teaching upon this conversation that Christ had with the "master in Israel". Various religions point men to a Creator and the Hebrew faith of Abraham did so too. Israel's basic teachings were enshrined in the Law given through Moses. Further enlightenment came through Israel's prophets. The moral and spiritual commandments which God's ancient people were given did much to sanctify their lives and direct their religious worship toward God. So it has been with many people during the last two thousand years. To them Jesus has been a great moral and social reformer, and in as much as His precepts have been observed they have produced better men and women.

Jesus did much more than interpret Israel's religion into the life and needs of His own day. He set forth in clear and direct language a way of salvation from sin that was new and distinct from any that men had ever heard. Yet it was not so different from Old Testament teaching that those who were familiar with it should have found it hard to understand. But their spiritual life had become stagnant and useless. The religious teachers of Jesus' day were more concerned with ritual and observance of their meaningless regulations than to care about the real issues of their faith. Hence the question from the lips of a leader of the people, "How can these things be?"

Before anyone experiences being "born again" they must realise that men are incapable of obtaining release from evil. They have sought remedies by social and moral education. They have endeavoured to explain away sin by theory. They have suggested using scientific ideas that humanity is getting better and better and therefore less sinful. Such suggestions lead men further from God, and result in death, because the only solution to human problems is to be found in the way God has provided. That way is in the teachings of the New Testament, which begin with the ministry of Jesus. This rebirth, as Jesus went on to show Nicodemus, is not birth in the natural or physical sense. It is new life, spiritual life, that begins in the heart of God and grows in the human heart.

Sometimes the translation of John 3.3 is questioned, perhaps because of the use of the Greek word 'gennao' in other places of Scripture, as for example in Acts 13.33 "You are my Son, today I have begotten you." which is a quotation from Psalm 2.7. This Greek word must take the meaning most fitting for its context which in Acts refers to the Father in Heaven. In John 3.3 however the reference in the context is to the mother because Nicodemus refers to the mother's womb. Williams translates the word in 1 Peter 1.3 as begotten like the AV but Rotherham goes along with several commentators by translating the word 'regenerated'. Professor Barclay comments on this John 3.3 in his Daily Study Bible. "Whatever else this means, it means that, when a man becomes a Christian, there comes into his life a change so radical that the only thing that can be said is that life has begun all over again for him". Such life can only come from God and He is our Father as Jesus taught us so to call Him.

Such life causes us to grow into the likeness of Jesus. But that life does not develop properly alongside sin. Those who follow Jesus and become His disciples must renounce what is wrong, repent and know that the only way to be saved from sin is through Jesus and His death on the cross. Then our old way of life comes to an end and we are, in a sense, resurrected into a new life in Christ.

A flagrant sinner is not the only one who is in need of "rebirth". There are many good-living folk, who may or may not claim to be Christians, who do not make a full and total commitment to Christ in every aspect of life. Maybe they are self-sufficient even self righteous people. They may have a vague idea that when they die, if they've been good enough they'll go to heaven along with all other good people instead of going to that other place about which they don't like to think too much.

"Being born again" requires certain conditions that are not popular since they conflict with natural pride and they are for the few. Old habits of thought, speech and manner of life will need more than reformation. What is needed is not 'reform' but a complete fresh start. Life in the home, the place of work, and the place of worship take on an entirely new look. The driving force of life is no longer selfishness but as Paul wrote in Galatians 2. 20 "1 am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for me". Paul meant by "crucified with Christ" that his old life as Saul of Tarsus had ended forever. He died as an ordinary man when he saw Christ on the Damascus road, and although there was no physical change, intellectual and spiritual transformation began at once. So it is with all who accept Jesus as their Saviour and become new men and women in Christ. They should if they allow Christ to do His work, become dynamic personalities, full of the vitality of love that was so apparent in Jesus.

Their outward appearance to other people may not seem such a dramatic change as occurred in Paul the apostle. He had wilfully committed the most violent and terrible sins against the Christian church. He completely reversed his former life and became the greatest champion of Christ. This "turning about" that Paul experienced was due to the radical change in his allegiance from Satan to Christ and this must be so for every believer. Ultimately the spiritual and intellectual revolution within the heart will bear a rich fruitage in the life. Being born again is not some difficult academic problem. It is only hard because human nature is stubborn and selfish, preferring outward pride and respectability rather than being broken and humbled, least of all at the foot of the cross of Christ. To the human heart the cross is nothing more than an obstacle to progress or something too debased to trifle with, yet to those who accept Jesus as their Saviour it is that which brings new light and joy into the life. It brings light because it releases men from their burden of sin, and joy follows in the discovery of hope.

What is sin? To the people of Israel sin occurred when they disobeyed God's Law. Sin is also anything that is not in harmony with the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is anything that will not submit to the will of God and which hinders the new life in Christ from proper development. The uncertainties and doubts of the human mind are swept away by the realities of Christ's love for mankind. This is not just a general love, but a great, far reaching and sympathetic love for every individual sinner. This new life begins in all who seek Jesus and it continues until the day dawns in resurrection glory and it has reached its ripened fruitage.

DN