“Among the Pharisees was a man named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to Him, ‘Teacher, we know that You are a Teacher who has come from God; for no one can perform the signs that You do unless God is with him.’

In reply, Jesus said to him, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a person is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wills, and you hear its sound; but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”^[1]

The main issue that Scripture raises regarding a person’s life is being born again. By nature, we are people marked by evil, and as we grow, our sins will multiply. Our heart is full of wickedness, and it cannot be patched up; rather, it must be renewed. God created man without sin, but man, of his own free will, chose to obey the evil one, thereby acquiring a sinful nature like that of the devil.

The first thing we must understand is that nothing good dwells within us; rather, we are born with a sinful nature. The Son of God does not have a sinful nature; neither do the angels in heaven, nor does anyone who has never fallen into sin have a sinful nature. There are only two categories of beings that have a sinful nature, and these are the fallen angels (unclean spirits) and man. Man’s sinful nature must be cut off at the root. The old man who lived in sin and impurity must cease to exist, and this is possible only through being born again.

When Nicodemus, a moral man, comes to the Lord Jesus, the first thing the Lord tells him is that he must be born again, renounce all the good thoughts he had about himself, and begin a new life through repentance.

A true Christian is one who is born again, who lives a life completely transformed from what it was before—a person who seeks God through sanctification. In America, for example, most people call themselves “Christians,” and yet that is where the highest rates of prostitution, murder, and all kinds of lawlessness are found. No one should be deceived in this regard, but should see themselves exactly as they truly are. Jesus tells Nicodemus, who was a teacher of Israel, that he must be born again, to start his Christian life from the beginning.

All those years of religion and traditions had to come to an end; he had to acknowledge that he had not been what he should have been because he lacked the essential thing that could truly transform his life: being born again. God will reject any deed we believe to be good if we are not reconciled to Him through repentance. No matter how moral we may be, God looks at our hearts; He knows all our hidden thoughts, all the desires and lusts of our hearts. Being born again happens by renouncing everything we thought was good within us. Nicodemus, who had understood the Lord’s words, realized that this was very difficult at his age, after so many years spent in a form of religion. That is why he asked the Lord Jesus this question: “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”^[2]

There was a restlessness in Nicodemus’s heart; that is precisely why he came to the Lord Jesus. His conscience was accusing him, and he saw that he needed a change. The Lord Jesus knew that Nicodemus was not sure he would enter the Kingdom of God. Every person should have this unease in their heart. God knows all the sins we have committed, but it is not too late to repent of our deeds as long as we live on this earth.

When the Lord Jesus wanted to emphasize something of the utmost importance, He would say, “Truly, truly, I say to you….” God has only one way of dealing with our fallen nature, and that is death—the death of our old nature. The old man must die so that the spiritual man may live: “For if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, all things have become new.”^[3]

The true Christian is recognized by the fact that his mind is renewed, his aspirations are different from those of the world, his heart is set on heaven and not on earth, his anger ceases, harsh words no longer exist in his vocabulary, and his way of being and behaving changes radically. God wants to change everything that is wrong within us; He does not accept that we compromise with sin, but that our whole heart be set on Him.

Every genuine new birth begins with this inner turmoil in which a person asks himself what he will do when he stands before God’s judgment seat and is condemned because of his sins. A person must repent with tears and sorrow for his evil deeds and for his godless way of life. If we do not feel remorse for our sinful past, we will not be able to escape it. The sins we have committed must cause pain and tears so that we may repent. After repentance, a person must be unrecognizable. All who knew him before must be amazed by the change that has taken place in his heart, which is reflected in every outward aspect of his life.

Another sign of a person who has been born again is that those around him will revile him. But even the Lord Jesus, though He was the Son of God, endured the same reproach because, through His life, He brought to light the darkness in people’s hearts caused by sin. A born-again person has new desires to know God more deeply, to pray, and to sing. He praises God and desires to share His Gospel with all people. He desires only God and eternal life lived in His presence. Whoever does not completely transform his life is not living according to God’s truth. If a person allows sin to continue in his life, he is not a true Christian, but is deceiving himself. There is no Christian who is not delivered from sin, for the Lord Jesus says: “For sin shall no longer have dominion over you, since you are not under the Law but under grace.”^[4]

When Paul found himself face down in the dust, the Lord told him that he must renounce his entire form of Christianity in order to start over through repentance.^[5] It took Paul four days to meditate on the Lord’s words, and he chose to erase everything he had known about God from his past in order to be born again.

Religiousness saves no one; only repentance and a life transformed by the power of God do. According to the Law of Israel, no one could prove that Paul had sins, but these sins were hidden in his heart, and the Lord Jesus saw them all. After Paul’s new birth, he began his life of faith anew. The Spirit of the Lord enters the life of the one who repents and gives him the power to live a life of righteousness. Every child of God must be like his Father. The born-again person lives for God through the power given to him by the Holy Spirit.

We will take nothing with us when we leave this world. All things are given to us by God and belong to Him. We are stewards of all the things we think we possess: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it!” ^[6] We will possess only the things we store up for eternity: “Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters,”^[7] says the Lord. Whoever is not for God in this life squanders their eternal life and loses themselves. The treasure of the born-again person is the Lord Jesus: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”^[8]

^[1] John 3:1–8.

^[2] John 3:4.

^[3] 2 Corinthians 5:17.

^[4] Romans 6:14.

^[5] Acts 9:5.

^[6] Psalm 24:1.

^[7] Matthew 12:30.

^[8] Luke 12:34.