“She doesn’t drink, she doesn’t smoke, she doesn’t
sleep around. She must be a born-again Christian.”
How many times have you heard that? Too many people
in our post-modern culture would agree with that statement. Too many people are
wrong. The truth is that our world is filled with many morally upright people
who believe that their good behaviour equals good standing with God. The term
“born-again” has been associated with strict moral conformity and conservatism.
As a result, many people view any kind of liberalism as an enemy of the
Christian faith. Today I’d like to debunk this falsehood for you. We shall look
at the origin of the term “born-again” and deduce what it is and what it is
not. Let’s read from the Gospel of John.
John
Chapter 3 (ESV)
1 Now there was
a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This
man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know
that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you
do unless God is with him." 3 Jesus answered
him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again
he cannot see the kingdom of God." 4 Nicodemus said
to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time
into his mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus
answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of
water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be
born again.'
Nicodemus walks into
the scene to meet the new prophet in town. He is a fan of this newbie’s work.
How could he not? Dead raised to life, blind with sight restored, lame healed,
demons fleeing in his presence. This was the old school stuff of Moses’ time.
The Galilean’s religious CV was good and Nicodemus wanted to do some
networking. As Nicodemus comes into the scene, we can clearly see who he is.
Let us start with verse one.
VIP
in the House!
Verse 1 Now
there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the
Jews.
This
verse speaks volumes. We already know so much about Nicodemus from this
statement. One, he was a man. In his culture, men had higher status and
privilege than women. In fact, it was considered a blessing by some Jews to
simply be born a man. Two, he was a Pharisee. This means he was very
educated and intelligent. He had the degrees, the post-graduates, the masters,
the doctorates et al. Also, it means he was well versed with the scriptures.
Pharisees were made to know the scriptures from a very young age. He was
considered a spiritual leader because of this and a man who was in right
standing with God. This also means he
was a moral man. He did not drink and sleep around. He was faithful to his
wife. He had a high standard of moral uprightness. He was the zenith of
aptitude in behaviour. Thirdly, he was a ruler of the Jews. The NIV 1984
version says he was, “...a member of
the Jewish Ruling Council.” This means he had political clout.
Nicodemus was a public figure like a famous politician. This also means he was
rich. Money got you certain privileges among the Jews. This also means he was
old. Perhaps about 70 years old. Those in the Jewish Ruling Council were not
young hot blooded juveniles like the revolutionaries who started coups against
the Roman Government. By all means, Nicodemus was VIP high profile.
Now,
compare that profile to Jesus’. Jesus was probably unschooled. And if he was
schooled, he did not attend the Ivy Leagues of Israel. He most possibly went to
the local Government funded community college that had lots of strikes. Jesus
was a carpenter who quit his family profession to become a wannabe prophet. There
was hope in the first-born son to carry the family mantle. Jesus charted his
own path. Some historical sources suggest that Joseph, Mary’s husband, died
when Jesus was still growing up. If this is true, then you can imagine how
Jesus may have looked for not pursuing the carpentry full-time. Jesus was
young, possibly 32 or 33 years old when he had this conversation with
Nicodemus. Jesus was not rich. He hardly owned a horse to move around. He
walked often or used a borrowed boat or a borrowed donkey. Jesus is undoubtedly
the absolute opposite of a high profile citizen. He is the commoner. Yet,
despite all this, there is something about the Galilean that is causing a
frenzy in town. He has so many followers and he doesn’t even have a Facebook or Twitter account. Nicodemus, the Jewish Ruling Council (JRC) and the Pharisees, I bet, can sense
an upstaging. They either play ball with the Nazarene from Galilee or have a
face-off. Nicodemus chooses to play ball.
A
MAN WITH GOOD INTENTIONS
Verse 2 This
man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know
that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you
do unless God is with him."
In this verse we see
that Nicodemus comes at night. Most likely, members of the JRC and the
Pharisees would not approve of this meeting, so he chooses to come at a time
when he would not be accused of colluding with the enemy. In this verse, we
also know that Nicodemus is not hypocritical. His words prove this and we know
he was sincere. When the Pharisees spoke insincerely, Jesus responded to what
they thought in their hearts and not to what they said with their mouths. So,
Jesus' response tells us that Nicodemus is speaking what he truly believes. He
praises Jesus. He sees Jesus as a teacher from God. He endorses the
miraculous acts of the unmarried prophet. We can see that Nicodemus has good
intentions. He is not a spy.
HUMAN
GOOD INTENTIONS AND GOOD WORKS MEAN NOTHING
Verse 3 Jesus
answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one
is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."
This
verse has to be the non-sequitur of the year! What are you talking about,
Jesus? The man just said you are from God and applauded your ministry. What is
this born-again business you’re talking about? But you see, Beloved, it is not a non-sequitur.
In fact, we know this to be true because the scriptures say, “Jesus answered him.” Answered what?
Nicodemus did not ask any question! Well, not on the surface, but deep down he
did have a question. Every soul that is apart from God is asking a question and
Jesus has the answer. And the answer is what Nicodemus received: 'You must be born again.' Verse
3 tells us the definition of born-again. Jesus parallels it to seeing the
kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is heaven. Seeing the Kingdom of God is
entry into heaven. It is eternal security. It is eternal safety of our soul
after death. It is spiritual insurance. It is right standing with God. It is
forgiveness of one’s sins. It is being safe from the fires of hell. It is
salvation, Beloved. And Jesus says to get this salvation/ eternal security/
spiritual insurance/ forgiveness of sins/right standing with God, you must
be born again! And his implication in his conversation with Nicodemus is
that Nicodemus is NOT born-again. Nicodemus, the possibly-70-year-old,
respected leader, spiritual elder, political ruler, morally upright example,
church-attending, God-believing MAN is not
born again. Let that just sink in. How can you believe in God so passionately,
serve him in ministry, be a good person like Nicodemus but still not be born
again?
Jesus
is changing history here. Jesus is implicitly declaring to Nicodemus that none
of his goodness can inch him closer to heaven. In fact, he is hell-bound. And
if a good man like Nicodemus is hell-bound, what makes you and I think we are
going to heaven because we are good guys? Have you achieved moral uprightness
like Nicodemus? I doubt it! Are you 70-years-old, well respected, incorrupt and
religious? I doubt it. And even if you do surpass Nicodemus’ high moral record,
I say unto you today as Jesus did to Ol’ Nic, “You must be born again.” Good
intentions and good works cannot save a human soul, Beloved. In fact the
prophet Isaiah said in chapter 64 verse 6 that all our good deeds are but
filthy rags before God. Being born-again is morally radical. It’s beyond the
do-this and do-not-do-this. The Gospel of Jesus is not an addition to morality;
it’s a revolution of it. So when someone says, “She doesn’t drink, she doesn’t smoke, she doesn’t sleep around. She must
be a born-again Christian”, they have not grasped why Jesus came. Jesus came to
live the perfect life that Nicodemus couldn’t live and died the awful death
that Nicodemus should have died. And Nicodemus must see that despite his
goodness, his soul is still as black as coal and in need of salvation just like
the hooker making money by selling her body. So, if she doesn’t drink,
smoke or sleep around, it just means that she doesn’t smoke, drink or sleep around.
It is not a guarantee that she is in right standing with God. Wait a minute,
Ernest, you say. Are you saying you can be born again and live an absolutely
carefree sinful life? Absolutely not! A moral life is an inevitable RESULT of
being born again; but it is not the DEFINITION of being born again. All
morality outside the salvation of Christ is the product of a life that is still
spiritually dead. To be born again is a rebirth of your inner-man- it is a
renewed Spirit. Jesus even explains it to Ol’ Nic.
Verses 4-5 Nicodemus
said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second
time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus
answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of
water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
All morality that hails from that spirit-changed
life is purely focused on God and not on self. Being born-again is not a
spiritual CV of your accomplishments. Being born again is a spiritual pardon to
be free despite the sinful crimes you committed. Your morality is therefore a
response to the joy of freedom and not a response to your track record of being a good person. Nicodemus
is being told by Jesus that he must start his life all over again and that his goodness track record means nothing. For someone whose life is in order, being
born-again is an offensive insinuation. It suggests that they need God yet
their lives seem perfectly okay. As far as they are concerned, this born again
business is for the broken, desperate, drug junkies, poor, weak and
unsuccessful folks. They're wrong. being born again is for everyone. And for those who do not accept it, Jesus teachees in Matthew 21:31 "Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and
the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.”
(NLT). The Gospel is good news to the prostitute. If you tell the prostitute
that she must be born again, that she must start all over afresh, she will fall
down in awe because she needs a fresh life. But for the good guys, Jesus is just a
good teacher- period! In fact that is exactly what Nicodemus called Jesus in
verse 2- a teacher. And Jesus challenges him that he is more than Nicodemus
thinks. To suggest that Jesus is more, that he is God is offensive to many. Jesus, in verse 13 blatantly states that He is God, come from heaven and
not just another teacher. Beloved, at the heart of the gospel, you don’t become a good
person so that God can become good to you, rather, you are transformed into a good person
because God was good to you first.
HOW CAN I BE BORN AGAIN?
Assume you sat for
an important exam paper and failed. Imagine if the consequence of failing is a
huge fine or punishment from the school master. You seat several retakes and
make-ups of the exam paper but you still fail, some even worse than others. You
realize that this exam, no matter how hard you read, you will never pass. Now
imagine Christ Jesus comes into the exam room. He sits the same paper and he
scores 100%. Instead of writing his name of the paper, he writes ERNEST
WAMBOYE WAKHUSAMA. The paper is marked and the 100% marks goes to me- Ernest.
Then Christ takes all the papers I failed and erases my name and writes his own
name on them. The school master looks at the result papers and promotes me to
the next level because “I passed my exam”, but in reality it is Jesus who prepared perfectly and passed it. I get
recognized for the 100% but I did nothing to earn it. I win awards and I even
graduate. The school master takes all the papers I failed and sees Jesus’ name
on each of them. Jesus is forced to pay for the number of retakes and make-ups.
He faces the punishment I deserved. He misses all the blessings and awards he
should have gotten. He is punished for the papers I failed- every single one of
them. And the punishment for Jesus was not just a mere denial into university
or missing a graduation, Beloved; the punishment was his death. He died for you
and me. When you understand that your sins caused the death of God and his sacrifice
on the cross moves you to genuine repentance, you become born again- no matter
what you’ve done in life. Admit that you are a sinner. Admit that in light of
God’s holiness you cannot be saved. Realize that your goodness cannot save your
soul. Depend on the only good man that ever lived the earth- Jesus Christ, who
was God incarnate. Accept his punishment for your sins. Accept the
righteousness he gives you. Ask him for the forgiveness of your sins and for
eternal life.
An encounter with Christ Jesus is not a mere social
media friend request or a networking introduction. Every reaction to the real Jesus Christ is
extreme. Being born again is not reformation; it is transformation. Reformation would need more
10-commandments. But transformation requires blood to be spilled. When Christ
was crucified on the cross, he did not cry out “My hands, my hands!” or “My
feet, my feet!” Notwithstanding the ripped flesh, the punctured skin, the holed
limbs, the pierced brow, the split veins and the 110-pound crossbeam on his
weary shoulders, the pain of the cross was not a mere physical torment. The
separation of a son from his father because of an infraction-your infraction,
was a heavier burden to bear for Jesus. Why? The separation caused by our sin
went against the intimacy the Son and Father shared. It shattered a divine
relationship, it fractured a holy union, it broke an eternal bond, it tore a
spiritual muscle and it ruptured sacred tendons. He became sin so that you
could be the righteousness of God. And for that overwhelming pain of separation
that no physical suffering can match, it prompted the Son to cry, “My God, my
God! Why hast thou forsaken me?” The father forsook him for you. Christ was not
only tormented and separated physically from the father, but also in every
other way and mostly spiritually, so that you would be painlessly (in every way
and mostly spiritually) rejoined to God. The cost of repair for your soul was
staggering, Beloved. If the cost to make reparation for our souls was so great,
could we have the guts to admit that our sin that caused that restitution is
equally great? Beloved, our most moral acts could still put Christ on the cross
and make him go what he went through. All have sinned and fallen short of the
glory of God. And by all, we mean everyone (even the “good guys”) are
hell-deserving as far as God’s standard is concerned. The cross wasn’t a mere
death penalty that you would have endured if Christ didn’t come. The cross was a
solution for a price too high that you couldn’t afford. It was atonement for a
debt too high for which you couldn’t recompense. It was a clearance of the errors that you couldn’t mend so that you would receive a clean sheet and not
stand accused before your Creator. It was a divine shedding of blood that is a cost too huge to
compensate with any human moral effort, worldly riches or saintly kindness. The
cost for the repair of your soul was staggering. You must be born again!
The God of the Gospel
is both infinitely holy and infinitely loving. He killed two birds with one
stone on that cross, self-righteousness and sinfulness. He humbles us out of
our false sense of morality and he affirms us out of our inadequacy of
righteousness. The former restructures our hearts, the latter reverses our
values and they both remove our sin. “For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith and this not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works
so that no man can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9.
Being born-again is
not a change in leaves and flowers; it is a change in root. Focusing to make
the leaves and flowers pretty may work for a while but it will not bring
internal change. However, changing the root will give you brand new leaves and
flowers. Being born-again is a root transplant. "But the plant will die!" you
say. Exactly! When we get born again we die- the old is gone and the new has
come because we are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). If you want mangoes in
your orchard of oranges, you need new trees. You need new roots. Watering the orange trees, fertilising them and working very hard to prune them will only give you fatter oranges. Too many people are
trying to water more, farm more yet God is saying, "Stop! Let’s plant afresh." New
root! And new root gives you new motivation for a moral life. Any believer’s
passion to live a life pleasing to Christ should be primarily fuelled by love
for God and being moved by what he did for you on that cross. Nicodemus
understood this and in the end in John 19, we see him touching the corpse of
the Saviour. Despite the religious rules of his time on touching dead bodies
and being impure and cursed, Nicodemus realizes that his heart is far more
impure and cursed without the man that bled for him. You too are so without
him, Beloved. He came for you. He died for you. You must be born-again.