"Ye Must Be Born Again"

By Dr. Max Barton
Pastor, Peoples Baptist Church, Greenville, North Carolina

Article copied from Sword of the Lord
(Disclaimer: Referral to this Web site does not necessarily indicate an endorsement by Jesus On the Web of all its contents. Any quotation of scripture on that site NOT from the authorized King James Version is the choice of the author and NOT the webmaster.)

"There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: "The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

"Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

"Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

"The wind bloweth where it list-eth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."—John 3:1-8

This is probably one of the simplest presentations in all the Bible of the fact that people have to be saved. It is a sobering reality for all of us to consider: we must be born again.

At this moment some do not know Jesus Christ as Saviour. But all, saved and lost, need to understand the teaching of the Word of God: "Ye must be born again."

I. What Are the Bible Truths Concerning Being Born Again?

There are some unchangeable truths in the Word of God.

Man changes. Preachers change. Churches change. Society changes. Our nation changes. But the Word of God does not change.

"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" (Matt. 24:35).

One of the great truths of God that does not change is found in Ezekiel, chapter 18: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (vs. 4). You cannot educate that verse out of the Bible. It is a truth of God that will last forever because God said it and so it is: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Everyone has been appointed to that.

But there is another great truth in the Bible that never changes: "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Num. 32:23). No matter how modernistic one may become, or how liberal, or how worldly the church becomes, the truth of God is: "Be sure your sin will find you out."

A third truth which never changes, a truth of God that will always be steadfast: "Ye must be born again."

Thousands of people in this city need to hear the message, "Ye must be born again." In my judgment, some of the messages that go across America under the name "Gospel" are atrocious. The power of positive thinking is not, "Ye must be born again." Possibility thinking is not, "Ye must be born again."

The truth is, we had better get back to the old-fashioned, fundamental truths and proclaim to every person we find, "Ye must be born again."

Let’s do some expositional thinking through these verses. As I look into them to examine them closely, they teach me

A. The "Must" of the New Birth

A lot of people have gotten into the church who did not come by way of the new birth. They got into the church, but not into the family of God. They got their names on the church roll, but the only way you can get your name in the kingdom of God and have the gift of eternal life is the "must" of the new birth.

You can join the church, be baptized, turn over a new leaf, and straighten up your life. But the only way you can have your sins forgiven, the only way you can have your name written in the Lamb’s book of life, is by what Jesus told Nicodemus —"Ye must be born again."

There is a second thing I learn when I look into these verses:

B. The "Mystery" of the New Birth

Here was a very learned man; very intellectual. Some people believe you cannot be both intellectual and fundamental; however, you can be. You can read the Bible to see what God says and believe in the old-fashioned, fundamental truths of the Word of God.

Here is a mystery. Nicodemus probably had great education, great social standing, prestige. But Jesus said to him, as He says to all, "Ye must be born again." That was the mystery. Nicodemus didn’t understand it. He asked, ‘Do You mean to tell me that I must enter my mother’s womb again and be born a second time?’

Jesus said, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh." We are of the flesh. But Jesus said the fleshly birth will not get us to Heaven. There must be a tremendous transformation in order to become a member of the family of God.

The mystery is how God, in all of His holiness, can reach down and transform the life of a worm like me, a sinner like all of us, into the very image of His own dear Son. That is a mystery. Nicodemus did not understand it, so he asked, "How can these things be?"

Jesus said, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth." You could not get enough theological understanding to be able to teach or explain the mystery of the new birth—how one moment we can be lost and on our way to Hell; then in a split second, the moment we receive Christ as Saviour, all of our sins are forgiven, hidden in the depths of the sea, and we are made pure in the blood of the Lamb. When the Father in Heaven looks at us who are saved, He does not see our sin; but He sees through the blood of Jesus Christ.

The mystery is how God can change a sinner. Lest any of us be exalted in pride, thinking about what we are today, we need to be aware that were it not for the grace of God and His goodness and mercy in transforming us and putting in us a desire to serve Him, we might be out in the slum district, out in the world serving the Devil instead of in church worshipping and praising His name. That is the grace of Almighty God. It is a mystery how God can save sinners like us.

"Ye must be born again."

Not only are there the "must" and the "mystery;" there is

C. The "Might" of the New Birth

It is a transforming message. It is amazing how the Gospel of Christ can make a harlot pure, a thief honest, a drunkard upright. It can make a cheat a man of integrity. I am not talking about church membership or baptism or turning over a new leaf or trying to build up a false veneer in your life. I am talking about the genuine born-again experience that God gives from within. It is a message of might.

I remember "Bad-Mouth Mayo" who came to my church. Mr. Mayo was a most foul-mouthed individual. Bad-Mouth Mayo (his name at the company where I worked) talked, oh, how filthy! He could not speak without taking God’s name in vain.

God led me to accept the pastorate of a little church where Bad-Mouth Mayo lived. He had not gone to church in a long time, but he started coming. He would always sit on the back row. I preached without fear or favor. (I am not afraid of anyone when I preach.) I could tell the Gospel was getting to him. He came under conviction. I preached and cried. He would cry. I would beg, and he would hold onto the pew in front of him but would not come forward. I witnessed to him a number of times, but he was coldhearted. Though he would not respond, he still came to church.

I preached one Sunday morning, and I saw Bad-Mouth Mayo walking down the aisle of the church. He received Jesus Christ as Saviour! That night I baptized that huge man.

He said, "Preacher, I want you to come over to my house this week."

I went over to his house. He took me out to a little building behind it. He got out some bottles and said to me, "Here, take this hammer and burst all these whiskey bottles."

I said to him, "I refuse to break your whiskey bottles for you. You take the hammer and do it yourself."

I stood and watched this man, who had been foul-mouthed and had drunk constantly, as he took that hammer and burst those bottles. Whiskey ran everywhere. It smelled awful!

Oh, how I praised God that the once foul-mouthed Bad-Mouth Mayo now had the words of grace on his lips! Now he had a desire to serve God.

What brought that about? The might of the new birth. God had gotten in him. When God gets in us, when we have had a genuine experience of grace, our lives will never be the same.

I am afraid that many today who profess to be saved, don’t possess anything. We brag about our professions of faith, but we need to be concerned about getting people to possess. When they come and receive Jesus Christ as Saviour, they are under conviction of sin. When the new birth is received, their lives are changed.

If you want joy, real joy, wonderful joy,
Let Jesus come into your heart.
Your sins He’ll wash away;
Your night He’ll turn to day;
Your life He’ll make it over anew.
If you want joy, real joy, wonderful joy,
Let Jesus come into your heart.

But not only do we find the "must" and the "mystery" and the "might," there is

D. The "Means" of the New BirtH

"Ye must be born again." What is the means? What is the instrument?

God uses three instruments to save us. The first is the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.

You cannot be saved apart from Jesus. "I am the way, the truth, and the life." You cannot be saved by believing in Jehovah God, unless you recognize that He is Jesus.

It is not just the life of Jesus that is efficacious in salvation: it is His blood, the shed blood of the virgin-born Son of God. It was of necessity that Jesus, the virgin-born Son of God, shed His blood to provide the instrument of salvation.

There is another instrument, and that is the Word of God. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). You need to magnify the blood of Jesus, and then the Word of Jesus, because it is the Word that brought us the message of the blood of Jesus.

Then the third instrument is the power of the Spirit of God.

There is nothing this church can do to give a born-again experience to an individual but preach the Word, and we are commanded to tell every creature. Christians are commanded to share the message of the Gospel with all people. That is what we can do. We can live a good life before them, and we ought to; but if you expect to win them to Christ, you must give them the Gospel.

The Word of God bombards their soul and mind. The Word of God will bring peace. The Word of God will also bring conviction.

After the soul winner has gone home, and the gospel tract, though read, has been thrown in the garbage, the Word of God will not leave that lost person alone. It will follow him. That is the power of the Word of God. And that is why I stay encouraged about preaching.

And, soul winner, don’t get discouraged when you don’t lead as many people to the Lord as you desire, because it is the Word of God that saves. The Holy Spirit takes that Word and rejuvenates. Where there is deadness, He gives life.

That is why the Apostle Paul said, "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1). Sinners were dead, the Gospel was preached, they heard the Word, the Spirit of God came the moment they put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God regenerated them, and they were born again.

Have you had that born-again experience?

II. Why "Ye Must Be Born Again"

Reason number one, the condition of our first birth necessitates the second birth. All of us were born sinners.

I went by the nursery this morning. As a pastor, I do that most every Sunday morning. I like babies. They are beautiful! The ladies bring the babies out, I wave at them, pat them, kiss them. We once had four at our house—our own children. I love babies. But the truth about those sweet, little, cuddly things is, deep down in the heart of every one is that tendency, that seed, that urge to sin and do his own thing—even when he is in the cradle.

We must be born again because the state of our first birth necessitates the second birth.

While Nicodemus was a prestigious, learned individual, he was born in trespasses and in sins. The Bible says, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom. 5:12). The first birth necessitates the second.

Second, the reason we must be born again is that the curse of sin substantiates the fact that "Ye must be born again." No one ever evolves up the ladder of righteousness. Man always goes down, down, down. If you get away from God, if you do not stay in His Word, you are on a sure path going down, down, down. That is S-I-N for you. You never evolve. While living for the world you never say, "Well, I’m better today than I was yesterday." You get worse and worse and worse.

The reason our world is not getting any better is S-I-N, sin. Sin—it carries the hiss of the serpent and the groan of the damned. Sin—it deceives, defiles, disfigures, damns and destroys. Sin—it seduces, sears, scars, slaves, suppresses, shackles, strangles and slaughters. Sin—it will betray you, burden you, blight you, butcher you and bleed you.

Because all have that monster within, "[We] must be born again." If you hear the truth and reject it, your life is on a downward slide and is going to get worse and worse. Sin will destroy you. It is an unconquerable foe within.

Sometimes we minimize the power of sin. One reason I am against alcoholic drinks is that one sip of beer is just the beginning. I despise it.

It is time for us to stand for some old-fashioned decency, honor and right living and present to the world true Christianity.

Sin will lead you deeper and deeper, and there is no hope apart from the mighty mercy of a gracious God.

There is another reason why we must be born again. You fathers, listen closely. The case of our influence intensifies the fact that we must be born again. Every one of us has some influence upon some person. To think of the tragedy of influencing someone to do evil! Father or Mother, the awful tragedy of influencing your own children to go to Hell! "Ye must be born again," because the case of your influence necessitates that you get saved so that you will not influence others to go to Hell.

Read I and II Kings and you will discover that twenty-four times it talks about King Jeroboam. He was one who did his own thing. He was a person who did whatever his eye saw to do. The Bible says twenty-four times in the books of Kings, talking to someone else about King Jeroboam, ‘Thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin.’

What a way to be remembered, when others can look at our lives and say, "You have walked in Jeroboam’s way and in his sin!"

Oh, parents so often lead their children to the very pit of Hell, where they will burn forever and ever—influence! If you are a parent, you need to be born again.

Then there is a last thing that I share with you about why you must be born again, and it is this: "Ye must be born again" because of the consequences of facing death and eternity. Death is reason why we must be born again. We are going to face death, and we are going to face eternity.

I have in my church a lady almost 95 years of age. If she lives to be 100 or 110, her life is just as James said: "For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away" (Jas. 4:14).

A week ago Friday, in 103 degrees, I stood in the cemetery and watched the burial of a nineteen-year-old boy. I preached his funeral and went with the family to the cemetery. There I said words over that young man, killed in an automobile accident the previous Wednesday night while riding with his drunken brother—riding without Christ, with no hope in the world. Before he was buried, he was already looking God eyeball to eyeball without any hope whatsoever.

The case that we face death and eternity is reason why we must be born again.

I want to come to a simple conclusion: "Ye must be born again." God is inviting you, pleading with you. He wants those of you who are lost to come to be saved. The Bible is a Book of invitation. Constantly Christ Jesus says, "Come unto Me." To Zacchaeus He said, "Come." To Noah He said, "Come." Throughout the Bible God says, "Come. Come to Me."

The last words a man says before he dies are important. And the last chapter in the Bible gives us the real heartbeat of God Almighty: "And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17). God gives us a reminder before He closes the last page in the Book—"Come and be saved."

The reason He said that is the serious inadequacy of our sin. The reason He said that is the simple invitation, "Come." He said that because of the sufficient installment: the price of salvation has already been paid. Let every man come freely.

If you are lost in your sin, all you have to do to be saved, to be born again, is to come and receive Jesus Christ by faith. Confess the fact that you are a sinner and that, if you died today, you would die without any hope in the world.

Thank You, Lord, for loving me and dying for me upon the cross of Calvary!

I beg you to trust Him as your Saviour. That is as simple as it can be: Trust Him.

John 1:12 says, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Are you saved? Are you born again? Do you know your sins are forgiven? Is your name written in the Lamb’s book of life?

Today is the day for you to come and trust Jesus as Saviour and let God transform you inwardly, giving you that new birth.