Born Again

Nicodemus said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above. …What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’”

To be “born again,” or “begotten from above,” means to enter into a whole new life. It is the completion of what began with repentance, or a “turning around.” When one repents, one makes a 180-degree reorientation, turning from the world to the kingdom, leaving behind worldly goals and taking on kingdom values. When one is oriented to the passing world, one takes on the spirit of the passing world. It is a mortal spirit, which must by necessity lead to death. Turning to the kingdom, one receives the kingdom spirit, the Spirit of God, which is immortal and leads to life. But you can’t have both.

To be born again means leaving behind every security and allowing ourselves to be carried away by the Spirit of God wherever it chooses.

In baptism we are born again. Baptism is about washing of our sins, it is a re-birth. But this event needs to be appropriated and re-appropriated again and again. We need to be converted again and again. We aren’t merely born again. We are born again and again and again. Accepting and acting upon that principle takes a lot of letting go. If we aren’t willing to move out of our comfort zones, it won’t happen. All great spirituality is about letting go: letting go of our comforts, of our egos, of our securities. Perhaps that is the only way we can mature spiritually.