Born of the Spirit
Are You Truly Born Again? What Nicodemus Can Teach Us About Salvation
What if you've been going to church your whole life, checking the boxes, saying the right prayers — and still missed the point entirely? It's a question worth sitting with, because Jesus himself confronted one of the most religiously accomplished men of his day with exactly that challenge. His name was Nicodemus, and his encounter with Jesus in John 3 might just be the most important conversation ever recorded about what it truly means to be saved.
The Question That Changes Everything
Let me come out of the gate hitting a little bit hard: Are you born again? Do you know what it means to be born again? Do you know what it means to be saved?
A lot of people are confused about that phrase. So let's start with what Romans 10:9-10 says: "If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."
Is salvation as simple as saying words, raising your hand, saying the sinner's prayer, and then sort of returning to your life where you left off — simply pocketing the get-out-of-jail-free card? Paul says, "believe in your heart." He's not talking about mental agreement. He's talking about allegiance. He's talking about a radical transformation of the entirety of who you are.
When we say, "Jesus, you are Lord of my life," that word Lord — in the Greek, kairos — means authority, ownership, submission. Everything in my life is surrendered under the lordship of Jesus Christ. My marriage, my finances, my struggles — all of it surrendered. If you're saved, you're surrendered.
Salvation Demands Change, Not Escape
When someone says, "I believe in Jesus," but admits their life hasn't changed, I want to gently but emphatically press you to ask yourself — are you truly saved? Because when we have an encounter with Jesus, there's a transformation that goes so deep and challenges us to the core of who we are, where we cannot help but be changed.
The Greek word for salvation is sozo — it means the unfolding of a change in your soul. It is to be saved and delivered. It's not simply a one-time event. Sozo is the ongoing transformation in our life at every facet — mind, will, and emotions.
As Romans 12:2 tells us, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." The things of this world ought to become something we say, "That's really just not who I am anymore."
If there is no allegiance, no turning, no transformation, the New Testament writers would probably struggle about whether that is truly Biblical faith. James 2:19 puts it plainly: "Even the demons believe." They have intellectual understanding that Jesus is Lord, but they don't give him their allegiance. Intellectual belief is not salvation.
Nicodemus: Religious, But Not Born Again
Now, open your Bibles to John 3:1-8. Nicodemus was probably the leading scholar, the leading theologian of his day. He was part of the Sanhedrin — a religious body of men who gave legal counsel and understood everything about the law. He was very zealous, driven by perfection and works. But somehow, I believe he was still empty.
Jesus cuts straight to the point: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3).
The encounter of Nicodemus with Jesus proves that it's possible to be religious but not born again. As John Piper says, "It is possible that you see God at work in Jesus without God being at work in you. You can be religiously impressed without being born again."
Maybe you've done church. Maybe you go because your parents insisted, or because it's just what you do. Can I just say — that gets really boring after a while? It's just unfulfilling, just religious exercise. Jesus is inviting you into something far greater.
Three Things Jesus Wants You to Consider
1. Regeneration — Being Made New
Listen to what God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel, about 600 years before Jesus walked the earth. In Ezekiel 36, God promises: "I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees."
Do you need a cleansing today? Do you have a hardened heart? This is what it means to be born again — a fundamental and permanent regeneration of your identity.
Jesus says in John 3:6, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the spirit is spirit." In other words, if you're born of the world, you're going to act and look like the world. If you're born of the Spirit of God, you're going to look and act like the Spirit of God.
Romans 8:5-6 makes it plain: "Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. The mind governed by the flesh is death. But the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace."
Anybody want life and peace?
Being born again means you are cleansed. What was once an idol in your life has been crushed. Your sins are washed away. Your heart changes. Your spirit changes. Your life changes. You begin to see things differently. Entering the kingdom of God does not happen by the works we perform, the church we attend, or the amount of scripture we memorize — but by the surrender of the entirety of who we are to Jesus.
2. Revelation — Learning to See the Kingdom
Can you see the kingdom of God? Nicodemus desperately wanted to see it. He'd seen it in Jesus's miracles. But I think there was something within him — and maybe something within you — that says, "I want to see the kingdom of God in my life."
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus went about preaching the kingdom of God and healing all manner of diseases. When he called the twelve disciples together in Luke 9:1-2, he gave them power and authority to drive out demons and to cure diseases, and sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God. Mark 1:15 records Jesus saying, "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel."
Jesus taught us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to us (Matthew 6:33). And when he taught us to pray, he said: "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." We are calling down heaven into our circumstances. We are asking that the rule and reign of God invade the earth around us.
When the kingdom of God is sought after and preached, people are healed, hope is restored, and there's triumph over the devil. You have power and authority when you're born again.
3. Reflection — Does Your Life Show Evidence?
Here's a final question: Is there evidence — or a lack of evidence — that God rules over your life?
Jesus says in John 3:8, "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." The proof of your born-again-ness — if I can say that — is something that should be clearly observable to the people around you.
People need to know. People ought to know there's something different about you. Maybe they don't understand where you're coming from. They're not sure where you're going. But they should be able to say, "That person is a believer in Jesus Christ. I can tell. There's something about them that's different."
As 2 Peter 1:4 tells us, God "has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires." We get to share in the divine nature of God. We ought to have the DNA of the Holy Spirit visible on us.
First Corinthians 2:16 tells us that we have the mind of Christ. Are you thinking like Jesus?
And 1 John 3:9 challenges us: "No one who is born of God will continue to sin because God's seed remains in them." John is contrasting a Spirit-filled life with a settled pattern of rebellion. Someone born of God has received new spiritual life. Sin should not be your normal.
But let's be real — we all fall short. As 1 John 1:8 reminds us, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves." A believer who grieves and confesses and fights it and returns to the foot of the cross and says, "Jesus, I made a mistake. Would you forgive me? I'm really struggling here, but I love you and I'm following you" — Jesus comes and meets us in that place.
The Most Important Invitation
Here's the verse that Jesus spoke directly to Nicodemus in this very conversation. You probably know it by heart — John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him would not perish, but would have everlasting life."
Whoever believes. More than words confessed in an emotional moment. More than intellectual exercise. More than a religious habit. It is a radical, transforming, surrendered faith.
One of the most sobering passages in all of Scripture is Matthew 7:21-23, where Jesus warns: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.'"
Notice — it's about relationship. You cannot enter the kingdom of heaven unless you've been born again.
Putting It Into Practice
So where does this leave you? Here are some honest questions to sit with:
Ask yourself the hard question. Are you truly born again, or have you been going through religious motions? If you're not sure, that uncertainty itself is worth taking seriously before God today.
Surrender what you're still holding back. What in your life is still not surrendered to the one you call Lord? Because if he's Lord and you're still not surrendering things, he's not Lord. Is there a relationship you're trying to force and control? A financial struggle? A habit you know isn't of God? Bring it to Jesus.
Pursue holiness above everything else. The pursuit of your identity should be a pursuit of holiness. When you pursue holiness above anything else, you get closer to Jesus. God begins to reveal things to you, peel away the old, and transform how you see yourself.
Walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5:16 says, "Walk by the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh." This isn't a technique or an emotional experience you produce. It's a surrendered heart and a surrendered will to the Spirit's moving. If your Christian walk is boring, just say, "Holy Spirit, get a hold of my walk." It's going to get exciting.
Come to the foot of the cross. If you haven't given your life to Jesus, let today be the day. Not to repeat words after someone else, but to have a real conversation with Jesus. You're not saying "I'm perfect and I'm ready." You're saying "I'm imperfect and I need you."
Jesus, radically transform me. Reach in and tear out my heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh. I want to be changed. I want to be new. I want to look different, think different, act different. I want everybody around me to see that I'm different.
That's the encounter Jesus is offering you today.