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The concept of being born again must have completely stumped the intelligence of the phariseic scholar Nicodemus. One can only imagine the bewilderment on the face of such a grown and knowledgeable man. In my years of leading people to Jesus Christ, I still see that look on the face of people when the concept of rebirth is discussed but today for different reasons than before.
When given the solution to seeing the kingdom of God, the man Nicodemus replied in John 3:4, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Such a literal take of the phrase drove him to confusion.
While not many take the phrase “born again” literally by thinking that we need to physically be born again, it can still be a confusing concept to many. Here are three ways the concept of being born again still bothers and confuses many today.
Confusion #1. That we need to be born again
So many reject the idea of new life because they feel they have no need for it. Even among those who already have some religious leanings, people can often feel that the way they are and the way they live is already good enough to be received by God. “I’m a good person”, “I haven’t done anything really bad” are common expressions. But Romans 3:23 makes it clear that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
We all need to be born into the Spirit of God because the flesh cannot do for us what only God’s Spirit can accomplish- the redemption of our souls and spirits from the grasp of sin.
Confusion #2. That we can be born again
To others still, they know what being born again means, but feel that their situation is far from saving. They think they are now too sinful, too broken, too old, too young to be born again. God makes His salvation and grace available to all. Just as Titus 2:11 states, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.”
We can all be born again, and it comes through God’s faithfulness and power, not our faithfulness and power.
Confusion #3. That we are born again not by our own strength
Many people have the urge to believe only in complete independence. We want to be our own saviour, the captain of our own fate and the author of our own stories. But to receive the fullness of life both here and in eternity calls that we take our own filthy, unreliable hands of the steering wheel and allow Jesus to do His redemptive work.
We can and will be made new, only not by our own works so that no one can be boastful and prideful of salvation because it comes by grace.
