A Bible Reader’s Website

BSN: The New Birth

  • Jesus introduces the expression “born again” when the respected Jewish teacher Nicodemus comes to inquire of Him at night – Jn 3:1-21, particularly verses 3 and 7.
    • In His discussion with Nicodemus, Jesus uses a synonymous expression “born of the Spirit.”
  • Peter uses the exact same expression “born again” in his first letter. – 1 Pet 1:3, 23.
  • Although no one else in the New Testament uses that exact expression, there are variations on that expression that speak of the idea. These include:
    • The apostle John:
      • in his Gospel – Besides the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, John also mentions it on his own in Jn 1:12-13.
      • in his first letter – 1 Jn 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 6, 8, 18
        • As for verses 6 and 8, since Adam, all humans including Jesus were born of water, which is to say born of a woman. Jesus was the first to be born of blood, which is to say born from the dead. This is why He is called the firstborn from the dead (Col 1:18; Rev 1:5). See more below.
    • The apostle Paul
      • Paul alludes to it in Gal 4:29.
      • When you consider that sleep is a metaphor for death, Eph 5:14 speaks of the new birth from the dead.
    • James, without using the words “born” or “birth” still speaks of it in James 1:18.
  • This new birth is a birth from the dead, and the apostles describe Jesus as the first to experience it (Col 1:18; Rev 1:5). This is the point Jesus was making to Nicodemus – that since we were dead in our sins (Eph 2:1, 5), just as God had said (Gen 2:17), being born again – that is, being born from the dead – was the only way out. Jesus led that way, breaking out of the prison of death.
    • Mic 2:13 “The breaker goes up before them;
      They break out, pass through the gate and go out by it.
      So their king goes on before them,
      And the LORD at their head.”