In Bible Belt – there are two kinds of Christians.
You are born a Christian, and you become a Born-Again Christian.
Born-Again Christian – carries lots of meaning.
One survey says that 6, 70% of Americans do not want to have Born-Again Christians as their neighbors.

It is because we misunderstand what being born-again means.
What does it mean?
Is it some sort of spiritual change that one goes through?

Being born-again means living a new life.
One who lived a sinful life now has changed heart and live the life of grace.

It is like Saul, who persecuted Christians, met Jesus and changed 180 degrees to become Paul.
Augustine – “Augustine, it is I.” “Oh, but it is not I.”

A question – which is first: faith or being born again?
Regeneration or being born again is first.
Only when you are born again, can you have faith.
But doesn’t our faith allow us to change our lives?
Yes, in a way, we grow little by little every day in the likeness of Jesus through faith.
But at the fundamental level, it only happens after you are born-again.

Unless you are born again, you can’t have faith.
Why?
We are all born sinners and cannot live righteous life on our own.
The fruits of our lives are not for God, rather they are fruits of sin.
No matter how hard we try, unless we are changed at the core, we will not bear the fruit God is pleased with.

You plant an apple tree and ate apple for few years, and all of sudden you want peaches.
What do you do?
If you put more effort into it, then you get bigger apples.
So the next year, you prune better, fertilize it more…then you get even bigger apples.
If you want peaches, you need to cut down the apple tree and plant a peach tree.

Since we are under sin, no matter how much effort we put into it, we only bear the fruit of sin.
If we want to bear the fruit of faith, then we need to be born again.
Jesus is telling us today that our efforts are not enough.

Today, Nicodemus goes to Jesus.
He is a Pharisee and a leader of the Jews.
He probably went to talk to Jesus, because he wanted to accomplish something with Jesus.
v. 2 – “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
He came at night, but he came as a representative of several people who wants to do something with Jesus.
There were those who approved what Jesus was doing, although many in the leadership opposed him.

Here Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
He seems to change the subject, but he really is not.
This was what Nicodemus needed to hear.

Nicodemus lived a very good, fervent life up until now.
He just wanted Jesus to fill in the parts he lacked.
But what Jesus is saying is everything he has accomplished up until now, it’s worth less.

Who do we often say needs to be born again?
Drug addicts, murderers, those committing fraud, all kinds of sinners.
Yes, they need to be born again.
If there ever was one who did not need to be born again, it probably is Nicodemus.
But Jesus is saying, he must be born again.

We all need to be born again.
We need not think that I am okay.
Who’s we?
All of us – across the culture and generations – everyone.

All the religious activities, all our energy and efforts, even if those things were good things with in the church, if they were done just out of our fervor, then it’s worthless.
We need to be born again.

How do we know then whether the things we do is out of our own fervor or because we are born again?
Look at our hearts.
When you lied to someone…
• If you see Jesus as basically a good moral teacher
o I failed Jesus as a teacher – even though he said to speak the truth.
o I bend myself towards honesty out of fear.
• If you operate out of Savior paradigm
o There is sin beneath my sin of lie – that I value the approval of others more than what Jesus has done for me.
o So I repent of not only sin of lying, but sin beneath the sin.
Same thing when you are serving…

How then can we get born again?
There isn’t much you can do, except listen to Jesus’ words
Nicodemus – he speaks less and less.
Being born again – not something I can do.
Birth is not brought about by oneself, rather through the labor of the mother.
Jesus’ labor on the cross – John 3:16
Nicodemus got it – he listened and he also buried Jesus later.
Let’s live the life of the born again.