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John 3:7
“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”
That verse is when Nicodemus had come to Jesus and said “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 went on to say that you MUST be born again to enter into Heaven. What does it mean to BE born again?
To be born again means to have your sins forgiven- and you can only have your sins forgiven if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
You see, we are all sinners. We are born with a sin nature which makes us give in the devil’s many temptations. Our earthly bodies are no good.
That is why Christ dies for us. He died on the Cross, sprinkled His perfect Blood on the Mercy Seat in Heaven and then rose again so you could have the forgiveness for your sins. As soon as you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and what He has done for you, all your sins, past, present and future, are forgiven- washed away- never to be remembered again. You have become born again.
It is a bad translation to say "born again". If you look at the
Strong's use of the word, you can see its primary meaning is to say "born from above" or "from the top", (uppermost). You can see some of the examples of the same word used in other scriptures too, and it gives more weight to that fact.
There is research that explains that
the Greek word does have potential to carry the double-meaning, but I am inclined to view that as John's theological efforts:
When
Nicodemus asks in verse 4 "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" (NASB), it shows us that he hasn't heard Jesus mention a second birth, because Nicodemus himself is introducing that idea of his own dexterity.
Jesus holds the course, without speaking an idea of a rebirth, explaining that there is a birth of the flesh and a birth of the spirit. It is the birth of the spirit that Jesus is teaching to Nicodemus: "what is born of flesh is flesh, but what is born of spirit is spirit" (John 3:6).
This whole conversation comes about because Nicodemus approaches Jesus to enquire of Him, saying "we know that you are a teacher from God because nobody could do the signs you are doing unless God was with him". Jesus took hold of the opportunity to teach Nicodemus, by saying (paraphrase) "You are looking at the signs because you don't see the kingdom of God. Truly, I tell you, nobody can see the kingdom of God unless they are born from above".
The main thrust of the passage, is to reinforce the doctrine of the spiritual reality, as found in 1 Corinthians 2:14-15 and Luke 17:20-21.
Furthermore, in John 15 we read Jesus speaking to His disciples, warning them to not slip back to their old ways. He says "remain in me and you will produce much fruit". One very interesting thing in this, is where He has said "you are clean because of the word I have spoken to you". So, it is His word that cleanses us, because "my words are spirit and life". The words of the spirit are sharp, discerning the very intentions of the heart. By following the words that give life, it brings our mind out of the darkness (the blindness caused by sin), and puts us in the right spirit to continue growing in His likeness (Romans 11:16).
The expression "you have been made clean" is directly related to the expression "unclean spirit" found in Matthew 12:43. The words Jesus was speaking to them, was bringing their mind and heart out of the corrupted way of thinking that they had been taught by the world, and into the pure way of thinking that is characteristic of Christ, the true vine. Only that spirit can produce fruit that glorifies God.
One final thing I have to say about this, is where you have said we are born with a sin nature, it isn't right. We are born with a flesh nature, that Adam and Eve had too (Genesis 2:16), but a baby has neither done right nor wrong, and it doesn't have any desire to do right or wrong because it doesn't yet know right from wrong (iow "law").
James writes about sin in James 1:14: that we are "tempted by our desires" (that is provided by the flesh nature being enticed by the ideas from the spirits in the culture around us) "and dragged out by them. When sin has conceived," (ie: sin does not exist in us until the moment it is conceived - when our desires have lured us from obedience into
unrighteousness), "then when sin has matured" (ie: by repeated decisions to keep denying the Holy Spirit's pleas to do what is right in accordance with our conscience), "it brings forth death".
That is the spiritual death that is responsible for the doctrines of salvation (eg: Psalms 23:4). Notice how James says in v13 "let nobody say they are being tempted by God when they are tempted to sin" - that is consistent with the meaning found in John 10:10 "the thief comes to steal/kill/destroy, but I have come that they may have life".
Whenever we choose to enter into sin, not through the fact that a sinful desire has happened, but the fact that we have allowed that desire to conceive and bring forth sin, then we are in fact choosing to not follow the Holy Spirit that pleads with us to remain pure. For example, do you remember what you had to overcome internally before you could kiss a girl? It is through peer pressure that the temptation to sin (ie: pride) takes root (Romans 5:12).
So it is not good doctrine to say that we are born as sinners, and when you look at what the original scriptures say, it becomes obvious that most English translations are missing the point. Romans 7:9 is a particularly strong statement to that effect, and maybe that's why no translator has yet succeeded to change what it says.
