The “I’m Coming Back” Series: You Must Be Born Again
June 5, 2025
The “I’m Coming Back” Series: You Must Be Born Again – To Thrive in His Kingdom … Now
Jesus made four statements we want to be sure not to miss:
- I am coming back
- Only a few
- You must be born again
- Here matters there
Today: You must be born again to thrive …
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are
born again.” (John 3:3 Bold added)
Jesus says, “You must be born again to even see the Kingdom, much less live in it.” It seems to me that since he said we must, then we must at least try to understand what Born Again means, and, to know … if we are. But I also hear him saying, “And you really want to be, because the Kingdom of heaven will open immediately to you, and it is a wonderful place to live … now.”
You see, the old Gospel message is, “How to get into Heaven after you die.” The new message, which was actually Jesus’ message all along, is, “How to get into Heaven before I die.” 1
Recently, my phone rang and on the other end was a friend calling with this question, “Sam, you talk often about being born again. Exactly what does it look like? Because I sincerely want to know if I am or am not.”
How would you answer him? Understand, he’s not looking for a theological answer about “the indwelling of the Holy Spirit,” or something like, “the regenerated heart through justification by grace.” He wants to know how he can know if he is or is not.
What would you say to him? Is there evidence we could rely on?
Jesus made this often-overlooked observation:
“I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will
never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3 bold added)
The wording here for “unless you change and become like little children” is almost identical in the Greek to the language in John 3:3: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Born again means there is a change. A change that leads to transformation.
I told my friend on the phone that there is a change, a shift inside that is so significant you know you’ll never be the same again. You know equally well you will never turn your back on this change. You cannot. Oh sure, you may backslide, and you may, you will, do sinful and stupid things – you’re human.
But the shift inside you is so real and so deep and so penetrating to your core, you know it’s permanent, and you know it is not going to be just another emotional phase.
Many Churchians mistake this change for maturity. They’re more mature, more settled, and not as wild or as anxious or as competitive or as … whatever. And church feels good, too. It’s nice to be there on Sundays; the children like it; the family is involved. It’s all warm and fuzzy.
This is mere window dressing, not the inner ‘plate-tectonics’ shift to which Jesus is referring.
So the best question is not, “Have I changed?” but, “Have I been changed … by a power beyond my own power?”
1. Dallas Willard
Next Week: Here Matters There
If you want a little more:
You can actually live out the rest of your life with full assurance, unwavering and unassailable assurance, that your name is in the Book of Life. How? After your full surrender, and only you will know when it is a full surrender, listen to John’s assurance:
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how
love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day
of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But
perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one
who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:16-18 bold added)
