You Must Be Born Again
John 3:1-7 says: “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and 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 unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him,
“Truly, truly I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 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
a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not
know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
This passage is the basis of one of the points I preached in Dominion Camp Meeting 2026. It is fundamental and foundational to the gospel—in fact, we may go so far as to say it is the gospel message. However, it has been neglected, ignored, and overlooked in many places and in many pulpits in the body of Christ today. It seems that many preachers and people have moved on to something that is newer, more exciting, and more culturally correct than talking about being born again.
Just because something is new does not mean it is better. Exciting may be a term that describes the newest doctrinal fashion or fad making its way through the body of Christ, but I would rather have something enduring than exciting. As for culturally correct—I wrote a book titled Culturally Incorrect many years ago, so I will not reiterate how I feel about conforming to the culture here.
When Nicodemus encountered Jesus on that fateful night so long ago, he had questions for which there seemed to be no answers. He presented his dilemma to Jesus, but the response he received surprised him. Jesus did not explain His mission in theologically abstract terms. He did not quote Greek philosophers or Jewish sages to bolster His claims. He spoke very simply and succinctly. His words were forthright, direct, and revolutionary.
Born again. Nicodemus, in touch with his history and culture, was baffled by what this simple term could mean. So many people, when confronted by spiritual truth, have difficulty thinking in anything but natural terms. Nicodemus only thought in terms of natural birth, when Jesus was describing something else altogether.
In contrast to the efforts of every other religious system, Jesus said that the God kind of life was not available by means of natural processes or human effort. Man could not be reformed from the outside in—he had to be reborn from the inside out. You must be born again.
This concept was not without precedent in Jewish thought. Ezekiel 36:25-27 says, “Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean. From all your filthiness and from all your idols, I will cleanse you. Also, I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”
Ezekiel identified the heart of the human problem, which is the problem of the human heart. In order for man to have peace with God, he could not just be reformed in morals or renewed in purpose—he needed to have a new heart—a new spirit—and that could only come about by the agency of God alone.
Born again—born from above—born from heaven—means relinquishing your life for His life. You cannot have His life without forfeiting your own. You must be born again—made new—made alive by the activity of the Holy Spirit at work within you, giving you life for death, righteousness instead of sin, and light rather than darkness.
Being born again begins with a new heart, or a new spirit—that is, the innermost part of your being, the aspect of your three-part person that came directly from God. Without a new heart, any attempt at change will ultimately fall onto the rocks of wreck and ruin.
The lie that many religious people believe is that if they just add some kind of spiritual sounding language or activity to their routine, they will be all right with God. The problem is that they have not addressed the real issue, which is that their hearts are not supernaturally made new and aligned with His heart. Regardless of what kind of decision they have made or confession they have recited, they continue to be cold, callused, and content in their separated and stagnant state. People the world over by multiplied multitudes go to church, but their lives testify that they are virtual strangers to the Christ they claim to serve.
The answer to this dilemma is to be born again—to allow the life of God to transform you into a different person than you were formerly. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, and His influence alone is sufficient to take a soul that is separated from the life of God and supernaturally transform it into one that has God’s life in it in time and for eternity.
When someone is truly born again, they will demonstrate their newfound life in at least three areas. They are allegiance, attitude, and activity.
Allegiance means that when you are born again, you are no longer attached to whatever motivated you before. You no longer worship whatever it was that demanded your time and attention. Now you worship the God who created you and redeemed you from sin and its ultimate penalty, which is eternal death —separation from God.
Being born again means that your attitudes will change. You won’t think the same way about what is important any longer. You will think differently about what is important and what is unnecessary. Your thinking may not be overhauled immediately in every area, but your realignment in terms of attitude will be unmistakable.
Being born again will also affect your activity. You won’t want to go to certain places that you used to go, become involved in some things that you used to do, or say some things that you used to say. Your behavior will conform to God’s expectations of you, instead of what the world dictated was preferable or acceptable.
With a new heart or a new spirit that comes from God, your mind will be influenced by the Holy Spirit who lives within you, and your body will demonstrate new life as well. Being born again is not a casual reformation—it is a radical transformation that affects every moment of your life as well as your eternal destiny.
One of the reasons the gospel message of being born again is not popular is that it calls people to a radical new life—to God’s life, to eternal life. However, in order to live, you must die—die to self, die to sin, and die to separation from God. The message is just as necessary now as it ever was—in fact, it is more essential now than ever before as we see the end of the age approaching. We who name the name of Christ as Savior must proclaim it by every means at every opportunity. The world needs to know it. Your family members need to know it. Everyone needs to know it. You must be born again.
Yours for the Harvest,
Dr. Rod Parsley
Founder & General Overseer
This passage is the basis of one of the points I preached in Dominion Camp Meeting 2026. It is fundamental and foundational to the gospel—in fact, we may go so far as to say it is the gospel message. However, it has been neglected, ignored, and overlooked in many places and in many pulpits in the body of Christ today. It seems that many preachers and people have moved on to something that is newer, more exciting, and more culturally correct than talking about being born again.
Just because something is new does not mean it is better. Exciting may be a term that describes the newest doctrinal fashion or fad making its way through the body of Christ, but I would rather have something enduring than exciting. As for culturally correct—I wrote a book titled Culturally Incorrect many years ago, so I will not reiterate how I feel about conforming to the culture here.
When Nicodemus encountered Jesus on that fateful night so long ago, he had questions for which there seemed to be no answers. He presented his dilemma to Jesus, but the response he received surprised him. Jesus did not explain His mission in theologically abstract terms. He did not quote Greek philosophers or Jewish sages to bolster His claims. He spoke very simply and succinctly. His words were forthright, direct, and revolutionary.
Born again. Nicodemus, in touch with his history and culture, was baffled by what this simple term could mean. So many people, when confronted by spiritual truth, have difficulty thinking in anything but natural terms. Nicodemus only thought in terms of natural birth, when Jesus was describing something else altogether.
In contrast to the efforts of every other religious system, Jesus said that the God kind of life was not available by means of natural processes or human effort. Man could not be reformed from the outside in—he had to be reborn from the inside out. You must be born again.
This concept was not without precedent in Jewish thought. Ezekiel 36:25-27 says, “Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean. From all your filthiness and from all your idols, I will cleanse you. Also, I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”
Ezekiel identified the heart of the human problem, which is the problem of the human heart. In order for man to have peace with God, he could not just be reformed in morals or renewed in purpose—he needed to have a new heart—a new spirit—and that could only come about by the agency of God alone.
Born again—born from above—born from heaven—means relinquishing your life for His life. You cannot have His life without forfeiting your own. You must be born again—made new—made alive by the activity of the Holy Spirit at work within you, giving you life for death, righteousness instead of sin, and light rather than darkness.
Being born again begins with a new heart, or a new spirit—that is, the innermost part of your being, the aspect of your three-part person that came directly from God. Without a new heart, any attempt at change will ultimately fall onto the rocks of wreck and ruin.
The lie that many religious people believe is that if they just add some kind of spiritual sounding language or activity to their routine, they will be all right with God. The problem is that they have not addressed the real issue, which is that their hearts are not supernaturally made new and aligned with His heart. Regardless of what kind of decision they have made or confession they have recited, they continue to be cold, callused, and content in their separated and stagnant state. People the world over by multiplied multitudes go to church, but their lives testify that they are virtual strangers to the Christ they claim to serve.
The answer to this dilemma is to be born again—to allow the life of God to transform you into a different person than you were formerly. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, and His influence alone is sufficient to take a soul that is separated from the life of God and supernaturally transform it into one that has God’s life in it in time and for eternity.
When someone is truly born again, they will demonstrate their newfound life in at least three areas. They are allegiance, attitude, and activity.
Allegiance means that when you are born again, you are no longer attached to whatever motivated you before. You no longer worship whatever it was that demanded your time and attention. Now you worship the God who created you and redeemed you from sin and its ultimate penalty, which is eternal death —separation from God.
Being born again means that your attitudes will change. You won’t think the same way about what is important any longer. You will think differently about what is important and what is unnecessary. Your thinking may not be overhauled immediately in every area, but your realignment in terms of attitude will be unmistakable.
Being born again will also affect your activity. You won’t want to go to certain places that you used to go, become involved in some things that you used to do, or say some things that you used to say. Your behavior will conform to God’s expectations of you, instead of what the world dictated was preferable or acceptable.
With a new heart or a new spirit that comes from God, your mind will be influenced by the Holy Spirit who lives within you, and your body will demonstrate new life as well. Being born again is not a casual reformation—it is a radical transformation that affects every moment of your life as well as your eternal destiny.
One of the reasons the gospel message of being born again is not popular is that it calls people to a radical new life—to God’s life, to eternal life. However, in order to live, you must die—die to self, die to sin, and die to separation from God. The message is just as necessary now as it ever was—in fact, it is more essential now than ever before as we see the end of the age approaching. We who name the name of Christ as Savior must proclaim it by every means at every opportunity. The world needs to know it. Your family members need to know it. Everyone needs to know it. You must be born again.
Yours for the Harvest,
Dr. Rod Parsley
Founder & General Overseer