John 3:9-21 – How to be born again?

There is something radical about the born again experience. First there is a radical repentance, then there is the radical work of the Holy Spirit. And finally there is the radical transformation of one’s life till the whole being be brought into a discernable life change. Jesus maintained that our best effort devoid of the Spirit is grossly insufficient. This is essentially the work of the Holy Spirit and not the exertion of human will.

In verse 9 we see Nicodemus’ final question, “How can this be?” Nicodemus saw Jesus’ analogies but he still grappled with the concept of new birth. What brought about the born again experience? Jesus gently rebuked him, telling him that he had all the learning yet he did not understand. In all that Jesus said to Nicodemus in verses 12-13, He was revealing to him that He came from heaven and that’s the source of His authority.  

Then using the Old Testament, the Lord went on to illustrate the underlying forces of spiritual life, going back to the accounts recorded in Numbers 21:4-9. There Moses was instructed by God to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole. It was this very snake on the pole that saved many, bitten by the fiery snake, from death. All they had to do was to look at the snake on the pole. What Jesus was pointing to was the fact that the new birth is not a result of man’s effort. It came about by simple faith. Just like the people affected by the snake bite had to have faith by gazing on the snake on the pole, so also must one come to Christ in simple faith to have the new life.

This illustration of what happened during Moses’ time showed us what is necessary for God to work in our life. It is appropriating by faith, the provision God has made to bring about our deliverance. So we come back to the questions that Nicodemus asked, “How can this be? How can one be born again?” The answer is pure and simple – don’t try to depend on your effort to gain the new birth. No human cleverness or self-help method can help us achieve that. All of us must depend on Christ and appropriate what He has provided for us at Calvary, for that’s the only man through whom you and I can be saved. So we look to Him, Jesus our redeemer. It is by simple trust and faith in the atonement of Christ that bring about our new birth.