John 3:7 – Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.
Jesus introduced a new term when talking to the Pharisee, Nicodemus, that has come to define the modern evangelical movement; “you must be born again”. This is the very definition of how one becomes a Christian, enters the kingdom of God, and is awakened to spiritual things. This teaching puts its finger on man’s basic problem, man is separated from God because of his fallen nature. Mankind is deeply flawed because of the nature of sin that has passed down from our first parents, Adam and Eve. Our spirit is dead, separated from God and unable to perceive spiritual realities. This all changes at the new birth. Here is how Barclay describes this teaching from the Lord.
“When Jesus said that it was necessary to be born anew, Nicodemus misunderstood him, and the misunderstanding came from the fact that the word which the Revised Standard Version translates anew, the Greek word anōthen, has three different meanings. (1) It can mean from the beginning, completely radically. (2) It can mean again, in the sense of for the second time. (3) It can mean from above, and, therefore, from God (as in the New Revised Standard Version). It is not possible for us to get all these meanings into any English word; and yet all three of them are in the phrase born anew. To be born anew is to undergo such a radical change that it is like a new birth; it is to have something happen to the soul which can only be described as being born all over again; and the whole process is not a human achievement, because it comes from the grace and power of God.”
Barclay points out the three meanings of the phrase born again from the Greek New Testament. First it means a new beginning, a radical change of life. Secondly it means being born a second time. In that case we have a natural birth and later a spiritual birth. Finally this phrase means to be born from above. Jesus was saying that we must be born of God. Which meaning did Jesus most likely have in mind? He meant all three; a radical life change, a second birth that was spiritual, and finally this birth was supernatural. To be born again is a radical second birth that comes from God. So this is our message, you must be born again.
