John 3:3, “You MUST be born again…” A Bible Study Devotion.

John 3:3, “You MUST be born again…” A Bible Study Devotion. 

Read John 3:3.  In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

I remember hearing the term “born again” here and there throughout my life.  I remember that it always had a negative connotation, but I’m not sure where that came from.  I heard comments like this, “He used to be a great guy, but he became a born again Christian.”  I remember that Gary Gaetti, my favorite player on the Twins, (I’m from MN) became a born again Christian.  I remember telling my friend, “Gaetti just ruined the Twins.  He ruined the great chemistry they had in the club.”  I said that with authority like someone who knows, but I didn’t know one actual thing about being “born again,” yet I had very strong opinions on the matter.  Why?

Jump ahead 15 or so years.  A lot has happened.  Now I know what it means to be born again.  Now I am born again.  I’m even a youth group teacher.  One night the Holy Spirit took control of our typically chaotic group.  We were sitting in a circle and this is what happened:  I was a new teacher.  I had been there 2-3 times but always with the normal leader.  I typically just sat and listened throwing in a small comment here and there.  This time though, when I got to group I was told the normal leader couldn’t make it.  The class was all mine, yikes…  I decided to scrap the lesson plan and get to know my guys.  I went around the circle and asked them a few questions each.  Right around the circle, in order, the exact same questions.  I first asked them where they went to school, what city they lived in, etc; warm up questions.  Most of these kids were from families in our church.  They certainly had heard the Christian “language” before.  Then I asked them, again right around the circle, “Are you a Christian?”  Every boy said yes.  Then I asked them, “Are you a born again Christian?”  Every boy said no.  Fascinating!  Then I asked them what it means to be a born again Christian.  None of them knew.  None of them knew, but they all knew that they weren’t one.  How does that happen?

So there we were sitting in a circle, everyone a Christian, nobody a born again Christian, and I read them this verse:  In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”  …It was silent…  So I asked them, “What does that verse mean?”  …more silence…  I just had a group of guys tell me they were not born again.  I just showed them that Jesus said they must be born again if they want to go to Heaven.  This is where I know the Holy Spirit had a hand in our group.  Typically if you tell a teenage boy something along these lines, they say “whatever,” (or some other derivative of that word which is currently in their vernacular) however this time there was not one boy who didn’t have their head bowed running this stream of logic through their soul.  I could imagine one boy, maybe two, who would consider what was just taught, but the whole room?  Only God himself could arrange the scene… 

This was part one of “You must be born again.”  I’ll tell you what happened to those boys sometime in the future.  It has been five years since that night.  However, I want to leave you with a few questions:  Are you a Christian?  Are you a born again Christian?  Jesus said you must be if you want to go to Heaven; are you?  

Written by Chris Vasecka

If you have not accepted the free gift of salvation that only Jesus can offer, but you want to, talk to a pastor, read the Bible and pray that God will show you how, or send me an email…

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