Born Again

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” — John 3:3 (KJV)

Moody’s next chapter is about Jesus’ conversation with a man named Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a respected religious teacher, probably one of the best people in Jerusalem. He came to Jesus at night, and Jesus told him: “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Moody says he is glad Jesus said this to a respectable man like Nicodemus, and not only to tax collectors or outcasts. Otherwise people would think, “Those people need to be born again, but I’m a good person.” Everyone needs it.

Moody calls being born again “the A B C of the Christian religion.” Then he explains what it is not.

It is not going to church. It is not trying to do what is right. It is not “turning over a new leaf” with a new resolution. It is not saying your prayers regularly. Moody also says it is not something that happens just because you have been baptised or taken communion. He calls those things good and important, but warns against putting them in the place of being born of the Spirit.

Christians from different traditions understand baptism in different ways. But all of them agree with Moody’s main point: going through religious ceremonies is not a substitute for actually trusting Jesus and receiving new life from God.

So what is being born again? It is God’s Spirit giving us a new life from above. It is something God does, not something we manage by ourselves. We can’t make ourselves born, physically or spiritually.

Moody tells of a man who brought a long list of questions to a friend of his and said, “If you can answer these questions satisfactorily, I have made up my mind to be a Christian.” His friend suggested he come to Christ first and look at the questions afterwards. The man did, and when he looked at his list later, it seemed as if they had all been answered.

Questions are good, and you should ask them. But sometimes we use questions to keep God at arm’s length. Moody says that night was “the most blessed night” in Nicodemus’s life, because he met the one who could give him a new beginning.

One thing to do this week: read John 3:1–17 slowly this week. Ask yourself Moody’s question honestly: “Have I been born again?” If you are not sure, tell God that, and ask him to give you new life by his Spirit.