When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus under the cover of night, He revealed a profound truth that would echo through the ages. Nicodemus was a religious teacher, a man respected for his knowledge of Scripture, yet Jesus immediately took the conversation beneath the surface of morality and religion and brought it to the issue of spiritual life itself. Jesus did not present the new birth as an optional “deeper experience” for a few, but as the necessary entrance into the kingdom of God. The question that confronted Nicodemus still confronts every person today: what does it truly mean to be born again, and how does that new birth change a life?
The Call to Be Born Again
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)
To be born again is not a mere alteration of one’s life but a complete transformation, a rebirth that transcends the physical and enters the spiritual realm. Nicodemus initially understood birth only in natural terms, asking how a grown man could be born a second time. Jesus was not speaking of a second physical beginning, but of a spiritual beginning, a work of God that brings a person from spiritual death into spiritual life.
This is why the new birth cannot be reduced to self-improvement. People often attempt to “turn over a new leaf,” break destructive habits, or adopt religious routines, and those changes can be meaningful at the human level. Yet Jesus taught that something deeper is required: the impartation of new life from above. Being born again means God does something in the inner man that we could never produce through discipline, education, or religious effort.
Paul describes this inner transformation as a new creation. The language is not that the old life is simply renovated, but that something genuinely new has come.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
This does not mean a born again person instantly becomes mature in every area or never faces temptation. It does mean that the person has truly entered a new spiritual reality. The old identity of being “in Adam,” dominated by sin and separated from God, is replaced by being “in Christ,” reconciled to God and made alive by the Spirit. The new birth signifies a radical change initiated by God’s Spirit, an infusion of divine life into the spiritually dead.
Notice also that Jesus stated the new birth as a requirement for seeing the kingdom of God. In the Gospel of John, “life” is not merely continuing existence, but fellowship with God through His Son. The new birth is about entering a relationship with God that is real, living, and personal. Without this spiritual birth, a person may be religious, moral, or informed, but still not possess the life of God within.
What Jesus Meant by “Born of Water and the Spirit”
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5)
Jesus went on to clarify that the birth He was describing is “of water and the Spirit.” The immediate point Jesus makes is the difference between natural birth and spiritual birth. Natural birth produces natural life. Spiritual birth produces spiritual life. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” (John 3:6-7)
This teaching guards us from thinking the new birth is primarily about external rituals. The core of regeneration is the Holy Spirit giving life. The Spirit does not merely assist an already-living soul to become better. He gives life to what is dead, opening the heart to God and producing a genuine inward change.
Jesus also compared the Spirit’s work to the wind. We cannot control the wind, nor can we fully map out its movements, yet we can see the results when it blows. In the same way, the Spirit’s work in the new birth is sovereign in the sense that it is truly God’s work, not man’s accomplishment. At the same time, it is not vague or imaginary, because the evidence of the Spirit’s work becomes clear in a changed life, a changed confession, and new desires toward God.
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)
In this same conversation, Jesus also pointed Nicodemus to faith. The new birth is not detached from the message of Christ. It is not a mystical experience apart from the gospel. It is intimately connected to believing in the Son whom God has given.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Everlasting life is not only duration, but a quality of life that comes from knowing God through His Son. The new birth is where that life begins. A person hears the word of Christ, is confronted with the truth about sin and the Savior, and responds in faith. God, by His Spirit, makes that person alive to Him. The result is not merely agreeing with facts about Jesus, but coming to Him as the crucified and risen Lord, receiving Him, and being made a child of God.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)
This receiving and believing is not presented as a work that earns salvation, but as the proper response to God’s gracious offer. The new birth is God’s work, and yet Jesus calls men to believe. Scripture holds these truths together without confusion: salvation is by God’s power and grace, and it is received through faith in Christ.
How the New Birth Happens: Cleansing and Renewal by the Holy Spirit
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:5)
Scripture speaks plainly about the source of the new birth. It is not achieved by “works of righteousness which we have done.” No amount of moral striving, religious history, charitable giving, or church attendance can create spiritual life. Being born again is “according to His mercy,” and it is accomplished “through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.”
This is not an argument against obedience or holy living. Rather, it puts obedience in its proper place. Obedience is the fruit of a living relationship with God, not the root that produces it. The new birth comes first. The new life then expresses itself through repentance, faith, and the beginning of a transformed walk.
The cleansing language is important. The new birth is not only about receiving life, but also about being made clean. Sin defiles. It clouds the mind, hardens the heart, and separates from God. The gospel announces that Christ died for sinners and that forgiveness is real. When a person is born again, there is not only a new direction but also a new standing. God justifies, forgives, and makes clean.
Peter describes believers as having been born again through God’s word, which endures. The Spirit uses the truth of the gospel to bring about this new life, and God’s word continues to nourish and shape the believer afterward.
Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever. (1 Peter 1:23)
This helps us keep the new birth grounded in Scripture. It is not defined by someone’s ability to tell a dramatic story, nor is it proven by emotion alone. It is defined by God’s promise, accomplished by the Spirit, and received through faith in Christ as revealed in the word of God. A person may have been born again in a quiet moment of prayer, or in deep conviction, or through a simple conversation, but the common thread is always the same: the Spirit of God bringing life through the truth of Christ.
When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, He was showing him that religious credentials cannot substitute for spiritual life. Nicodemus had knowledge, position, and discipline, yet Jesus told him, “You must be born again.” The same is true for anyone who has grown up around Christianity, who knows Bible language, or who respects Jesus as a teacher. The issue is not whether Christianity is familiar, but whether Christ has given you life by His Spirit.
A New Heart: The Promise Fulfilled
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)
The prophets of the Old Testament hinted at this profound change. Ezekiel spoke of God giving a new heart and putting a new spirit within His people. This is more than poetic language. It points to a real inward work where God removes a “heart of stone,” cold and unresponsive to Him, and replaces it with a “heart of flesh,” living and responsive.
Being given a new heart means our desires, motivations, and perspectives begin to shift. It is not mere behavior modification. It is heart transformation. This change is the work of the Holy Spirit who cleanses, renews, and draws us into a sincere longing for righteousness and truth.
Ezekiel’s promise also includes the idea of God enabling His people to walk in His ways. This does not mean believers never struggle, but it does mean the new birth creates a new direction. The born again believer is no longer content to remain in sin as a way of life. There is conviction where there was formerly indifference. There is a desire to please God where there was formerly resistance. There is love for the truth where there was formerly avoidance.
I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. (Ezekiel 36:27)
This is not teaching that salvation is earned by keeping statutes. The point is that when God gives life, He also produces change. A living tree bears fruit because it is alive. In the same way, a person who has received a new heart begins to bear the fruit of that new life. The changes may be gradual, and there can be seasons of growth and seasons of discipline, but the underlying reality is that God has done something real in the heart.
This new heart also reshapes how we relate to God. Before the new birth, many people think of God primarily as a distant authority figure, a concept, or a set of rules. After the new birth, God becomes known as Father, and Christ becomes precious as Savior and Lord. Prayer is no longer only a religious duty, but the expression of relationship. Scripture becomes more than information, because the Spirit uses it to speak, correct, and strengthen.
Paul’s description of believers as a “new creation” fits perfectly with Ezekiel’s promise. In Christ, God does not merely patch up the old life. He creates something new. That is why the born again life cannot be explained merely as adopting Christian ethics. It is the outworking of a new heart that has been awakened to God.
The Spirit’s Role: From Empowering to Indwelling
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. (Judges 14:6)
In the Old Testament, the Spirit of God often came upon individuals to empower them for specific tasks. The judges, kings, and prophets all experienced this task-specific anointing. Samson was empowered with supernatural strength. Prophets were moved to speak the word of the Lord. Kings were equipped for leadership. These moments were real and powerful, but they were not presented as the ordinary, permanent experience of every believer.
David is another clear example. When Samuel anointed him, the Spirit came upon him in a way connected to God’s calling for his kingship.
Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. (1 Samuel 16:13)
With the arrival of Jesus and the New Covenant, everything changed in a profound and personal way. Jesus promised not only that the Spirit would help His disciples, but that the Spirit would abide with them forever and would be in them. This is the language of indwelling, not merely external empowerment.
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him
blockquote>Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:16-17)
This promise is central to understanding what it means to be born again. Under the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit does not merely come upon a select leader for a moment of service. He indwells the believer as a continual, personal presence. That indwelling is not a poetic way of describing encouragement or conscience. It is the real work of God within the believer, making communion with God possible, bringing conviction of sin, illuminating the Scriptures, strengthening the inner man, and empowering a life that honors Christ.
Jesus also connected the Spirit’s indwelling to the believer’s union with Him. The Spirit does not replace Jesus, but makes Jesus known and present to the believer in a living way. That is why the born again life is not merely trying to remember Christ from a distance, but walking with Him in daily reality.
Paul describes believers as the dwelling place of the Spirit, which shows how personal and permanent the New Covenant reality is.
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19)
Calling the believer a “temple” does not mean the body is divine, or that the Christian life is about self-focus. It means God has made His home in the believer in a way that underlines both intimacy and holiness. Intimacy, because God is not far away. Holiness, because the One who dwells within is holy, and His presence is meant to shape our choices, our speech, our relationships, and even how we view our bodies.
The indwelling Spirit is also tied to belonging to Christ. In Romans 8, Paul speaks with plainness. If the Spirit of God dwells in you, you belong to Christ. If He does not, you are not His. This again shows why being born again is not the same thing as admiring Christianity or adopting Christian culture. The defining reality is the Spirit of God giving life and dwelling within.
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. (Romans 8:9)
This indwelling is not only for guidance and comfort. It is also God’s power at work in sanctification. The same Spirit who gives new life continues to work in the believer to conform him to Christ. The new birth is a beginning, not an ending. It is the start of a new life with God that grows, deepens, and becomes more fruitful over time.
Sealed with the Holy Spirit: A Mark of Assurance
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)
To be sealed with the Holy Spirit is to be marked as God’s own. Paul ties this sealing to a clear gospel pattern: hearing “the word of truth,” believing the gospel, and being sealed by the Spirit. The seal speaks of God’s ownership and God’s commitment. It is not a seal that rests on a believer’s fluctuating feelings. It rests on God’s promise and God’s faithfulness.
This is why Scripture can speak of assurance without turning the Christian life into presumption. Assurance is confidence in God’s saving work, not confidence in our own strength. The Spirit’s seal is called “the guarantee of our inheritance,” which means He is God’s pledge that what He has begun, He will bring to completion. The Spirit within the believer is not only the One who gives life now, but also the One who points forward to the full redemption to come.
Paul also mentions the Spirit’s seal in a way that connects it to holy living. The Spirit seals, and the believer is called to not grieve Him. This does not mean the Spirit leaves every time a believer stumbles. It means that because the Spirit is personal and present, our sin is not merely “breaking rules,” but grieving the One who dwells within us and loves us.
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)
The phrase “sealed for the day of redemption” carries great comfort. The seal is not described as temporary. It is tied to the day when redemption is fully realized, when what God has purchased is finally revealed in glory. The born again believer can rest in God’s intention and power, even while continuing to grow, repent, and mature.
This sealing is also a quiet answer to a common fear. Many sincere believers wrestle with doubts, asking whether they truly belong to God when they feel weakness or when they see areas of ongoing struggle. The Bible does not tell us to ignore sin, excuse sin, or treat holiness as unimportant. Yet it does teach that God’s salvation is real, and that His Spirit is the guarantee of what He has promised. The believer’s security is grounded in God’s work, and the believer’s growth is empowered by God’s Spirit.
The Assurance of Salvation for the Born Again Believer
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)
Because the new birth is a work of God and the sealing is a work of God, Scripture speaks powerfully about the believer’s assurance. Romans 8 does not base this confidence on human perfection. Instead, it points to God’s love “in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The believer’s hope rests in Christ’s finished work and God’s unchanging heart toward His redeemed people.
This assurance is also echoed in Jesus’ own words. He describes His relationship with His sheep as personal and protective. The security is not depicted as the believer gripping God with perfect strength, but God holding the believer with perfect strength.
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. (John 10:27-29)
Notice the simplicity of Jesus’ promise. He gives eternal life. He states that His sheep “shall never perish.” He speaks of His hand and the Father’s hand. This is not a careless invitation to live however one wants. It is a confident foundation for a believer who sincerely desires to walk with Christ, yet knows his own weakness. Assurance does not produce spiritual laziness when rightly understood. Rather, it produces gratitude, worship, and courage to pursue holiness because we are loved, not in order to be loved.
At the same time, Scripture’s call to live faithfully remains. The born again life is not passive. It is active dependence on Christ. The believer prays, reads the Scriptures, resists temptation, confesses sin, and learns to walk in the Spirit. These are not the price of salvation. They are the pathway of growth for those who already possess new life.
What the New Birth Produces in Everyday Life
Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)
The new birth is invisible in the sense that you cannot see the Spirit enter a person. Yet it becomes visible through the “newness of life” that follows. Romans 6 connects the believer’s union with Christ to a changed walk. Christ died and rose again, and believers are identified with Him. The result is a new direction, not merely a new label.
This is why being born again is more than making a one-time profession while continuing unchanged. The new birth creates spiritual appetite. A person begins to desire God’s word, to seek prayer, to value fellowship with believers, and to turn away from sin as a pattern of life. Again, this is not sinless perfection. The Christian still battles the flesh, still needs correction, and still depends on grace daily. But there is a new “set” of the heart, a new orientation toward God.
Paul expresses this clearly when he says the believer is God’s workmanship, created for good works. The order matters. We are created in Christ first. The good works follow.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
Born again people also begin to take seriously what they once dismissed. Sin becomes something to confess, not something to justify. Truth becomes something to love, not something to debate endlessly while refusing obedience. Christ becomes someone to follow, not merely someone to mention.
The apostle John speaks in practical terms about knowing God. His point is not that believers never fail, because he also teaches the necessity of confession and the ongoing advocacy of Christ. His point is that a true relationship with God produces a real change in how a person relates to Christ’s commandments and to Christ’s example.
Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps
the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. (1 John 2:3-5)
This kind of passage is meant to help us think clearly. It is possible for someone to be around Christian things and even speak Christian words while remaining unchanged inside. The new birth is not measured by a person’s ability to sound spiritual, but by the presence of new life. Where there is new life, there will be real movement toward obedience, even if that movement includes setbacks and seasons of growth.
John’s writings also highlight love for other believers as an evidence of passing from death to life. A born again person may still need to mature in patience, humility, and forgiveness, but the Spirit begins producing a genuine love for God’s people that was not natural to the old heart.
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. (1 John 3:14)
This love is not sentimentality. It is a Spirit-formed concern for the people of God, a willingness to serve, to pray, to forgive, and to pursue unity in truth. It also shapes how we view the local church. The born again believer does not see the church merely as an event to attend, but as a family to belong to, a body to serve, and a gathering where Christ is honored.
Another everyday fruit of the new birth is conviction of sin and a desire for cleansing. Before being born again, people often minimize sin or redefine it. After being born again, the believer learns to bring sin into the light, confess it honestly, and rely on God’s forgiveness. This is not living in constant fear, but living with a clean conscience through Christ.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
Confession is not a way to repeatedly earn salvation. It is the practice of an ongoing relationship where the Father cleanses His children and restores fellowship when they stumble. This is part of the born again life: not pretending to be sinless, but learning to walk in the light.
As the believer walks with God, the Spirit produces His fruit. This is not a manufactured personality change, but the result of God’s life within.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
The presence of this fruit can begin small, like a seed that grows. A person might not become instantly gentle if he has lived harshly for years, but he begins to see that harshness is not compatible with the Spirit of Christ. He begins to yield. A person might not immediately have steady peace if she has lived in anxiety for years, but she begins to learn God’s faithfulness, and peace becomes more real over time. This is the practical outworking of the new birth.
Receiving the New Birth: Hearing the Gospel and Believing in Christ
Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you
and your household.” (Acts 16:31)
This answer from Paul and Silas is simple, but it is not shallow. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” is not merely agreeing that Jesus existed. It is trusting Him as Lord and Savior, relying on who He is and what He has done. It means turning from self-reliance and coming to Christ for mercy, forgiveness, and life.
This fits perfectly with Jesus’ own teaching in John 3. The new birth is necessary, and it is received through faith in the Son who was given for the salvation of the world. The Spirit brings the new birth, and the sinner responds to the gospel by believing, receiving, and calling on the name of the Lord. Scripture does not present salvation as an elite achievement for those with special knowledge. It is God’s merciful gift to those who come to Christ in faith.
Paul describes this gospel response in Romans 10. There is an inward reality of believing, and there is an outward confession that naturally follows. Confession does not earn salvation, but it openly aligns a person with Christ.
That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9-10)
To be born again is not to trust in a prayer formula, but to truly come to Christ. That coming involves repentance in the biblical sense, which is a genuine turning of the heart from sin and toward God. Repentance does not mean you have fixed yourself before you come. It means you stop defending sin, stop excusing rebellion, and you agree with God about your need. You come honestly, trusting that Christ is sufficient to save.
The Gospel of John also emphasizes receiving Christ personally. This is not merely joining a religion, but becoming a child of God through faith in Christ.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)
If you are unsure whether you have been born again, Scripture encourages honest self-examination. This is not meant to trap sincere believers in endless doubt, but to bring clarity and truth. It is better to face the question plainly than to assume everything is well while remaining spiritually unchanged. God’s purpose is not to condemn those who come to Him, but to bring them into the light so they can have real life in Christ.
Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you are disqualified. (2 Corinthians 13:5)
The good news is that Christ is willing and able to save completely. The new birth is not reserved for those with a spotless past. It is the gift of God to sinners who come to Him. If you have trusted Christ, then do not attempt to live the Christian life in your own strength. The One who gave you life also intends to lead you, strengthen you, and keep you. The born again life is a life of daily dependence.
My Final Thoughts
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)
Being born again is not a peripheral idea in Christianity. It is the heart of the faith. Jesus did not present it as a label to wear, but as the necessary beginning of true spiritual life. The new birth is God’s work in the inner man, bringing life where death once reigned. It is the fulfillment of God’s promise to give a new heart, and it is the beginning of a real relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
This is why it matters to keep the meaning clear. Being born again is not merely learning Christian vocabulary. It is not simply becoming more disciplined. It is not a temporary emotional experience. It is regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit, received through faith in Christ, producing a new creation life that grows in obedience, love, and holiness.
When the Holy Spirit indwells the believer, God is not distant. He is present. He guides, convicts, comforts, and empowers. And when Scripture says the believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, it gives strong assurance that salvation is not held together by human strength, but by God’s faithfulness. That assurance is meant to produce worship and steady confidence, not careless living.
If you have been born again, then rejoice in what God has done. Continue in His word, stay close to Christ in prayer, and learn to walk in the Spirit day by day. If you have not been born again, then do not settle for anything less than the real thing. Come to Christ, believe the gospel, and ask God for the new life that only He can give. This is the essence of being born again: a complete, transformative encounter with the living God that changes everything, now and forever.
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