Part 2 — You Must Be Born Again
Summary of the Previous Part
In the previous part, we looked at the righteousness of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were regarded as righteous people. They were very serious about keeping the Law and observing religious practices, even though Jesus showed us that many times their concern was with outward appearance and receiving recognition from people.
In Matthew 23, Jesus described them as whitewashed tombs—beautiful and clean on the outside, but unclean on the inside.
And this becomes even more important when we remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:20:
“For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
So we established that simply appearing righteous outwardly is not enough. The righteousness required to enter the kingdom of God must go beyond the outward righteousness of the Pharisees.
This brings us to where we are going today.
Nicodemus Comes to Jesus
Let's begin from John 3.
“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.”
— John 3:1
Notice something important immediately: Nicodemus was a Pharisee.
Remember what that means from our previous study. He belonged to the very group of people known for their strict observance of the Law. These were people who were seen as religious and righteous. They knew the commandments and devoted themselves to keeping them.
And Nicodemus wasn't just a Pharisee. The Bible tells us that he was also “a ruler of the Jews.”
So this wasn't someone who knew nothing about God or the Scriptures. This was a deeply religious man.
Nicodemus came to Jesus at night and said:
“Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.”
— John 3:2
Nicodemus was acknowledging Jesus. He recognized that there was something extraordinary about Him. He knew that the things Jesus was doing could not be done unless God was with Him.
But notice Jesus' response.
Jesus did not spend time receiving the compliment or flattering Nicodemus in return. He went immediately to the heart of the matter:
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
— John 3:3
Imagine how surprising that statement must have been to Nicodemus.
Here was a man who had devoted his life to religion and the observance of God's Law. Yet Jesus looked at him and essentially told him: If you are not born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus was confused.
He asked:
“How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?”
— John 3:4
In other words, What do you mean by being born again? As old as I am, am I supposed to somehow go back into my mother's womb and be born a second time?
But Jesus wasn't talking about another physical birth.
Jesus continued:
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
— John 3:5
Then Jesus explained further:
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
— John 3:6
Nicodemus had already experienced the first birth—the natural, physical birth. But Jesus was telling him that there was another birth he needed: he needed to be born again.
What Have We Learned?
There are two important things I want us to take away from this part.
First, outward righteousness and simply being a good person are not enough to get a person into the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus is a very good example of this. If religious devotion, knowledge of God's Law, and trying to live a morally upright life were enough, Nicodemus would have had no problem. He was already a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews.
Yet Jesus still told him:
“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
So being religious is not the same thing as being born again. Trying to be good is not the same thing as being born again. Keeping religious practices is not the same thing as being born again.
These things may have their place, but Jesus said a man must be born again.
Second, according to Jesus, being born again—Didi Atunbi—is necessary for anyone who will enter the kingdom of God.
Jesus didn't present it as one option among many. He said:
“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
And again:
“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
So this leaves us with some very important questions.
If Jesus says that a man needs to be born again, then we first need to ask:
What happened to the first birth?
Why is the birth that every human being already has not sufficient? If another birth is necessary, then there must be something wrong with our condition in the first birth.
And secondly:
What does it really mean to be born again?
Is being born again simply deciding to become a better person? Is it joining a church? Is it baptism? Is it changing our behaviour? Or is Jesus describing something much deeper that actually happens to a person?
These are the questions we are going to begin answering in the next part:
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What is wrong with our first birth, and why do we need another birth?
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What does it really mean to be born again, and what happens when a person is born of the Spirit?
Understanding these questions will help us understand why Jesus could look at a religious man like Nicodemus and still tell him:
“Ye must be born again.”
— John 3:7