Born of the Spirit.

“Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit”

John 3 5-6 (NIV)

Have you ever read the story where Nicodemus—a Pharisee and respected Jewish leader—comes to Jesus at night? He’s clearly intrigued, even a little amazed, and he tells Jesus, “We know you’re from God… no one could do the miracles you do otherwise.” Then Jesus hits him with something unexpected: “You must be born again to see the Kingdom of God.”

Naturally, Nicodemus is confused. “Born again? How can that even work?” So Jesus explains—He’s not talking about physical birth, but a spiritual one. To truly come alive to God, you need to be born of water and the Spirit. In other words, being physically alive isn’t enough—you need spiritual renewal too.

And here’s why this matters right now: I’ve been sensing a strong urgency from the Holy Spirit lately—a call to get our hearts and lives in order. If you’ve followed my posts, you know I often talk about the Church needing to wake up. Lately, I’ve been asking myself why we seem so spiritually sleepy… and I keep coming back to this: maybe many of us haven’t truly experienced spiritual rebirth.

This is one of those questions that really shows where we stand with Jesus: Have we truly been born of the Spirit?

I’ll be honest—it took me years to understand what that actually meant. I gave my life to Christ and I knew something had shifted inside me… but I couldn’t seem to stay changed. I was what you might call a yo-yo Christian—passionate one day, distant the next. Up, down, up, down. I kept wondering, Why can’t I stay on fire for God?

It wasn’t until I started digging deeper—praying, studying, seeking—that I began to understand what I now call the “regenerative process.” Here’s the thing: before we come to Jesus, our spirit is awake to the wrong things. Spiritually alive to darkness, but dead to God because of sin. But something amazing happens when we truly surrender—when we repent with a sincere heart and accept what Jesus did on the cross. Our spirit doesn’t just improve—it comes alive.

That’s what Paul was getting at in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

Being born again isn’t just a one-time emotional moment—it’s a deep, spiritual transformation. It’s not just about praying a prayer; it’s about God breathing life into our dead spirit. Like how in biology, regeneration means restoring damaged parts of the body, spiritual regeneration is where the Holy Spirit begins to restore who we are supposed to be, Christ's. It’s a divine shift. A spiritual birth. And it’s the starting point of real change, not from the outside in, but from the inside out.

Isn’t it incredible? When we’re born again, it’s not just a fresh start—it’s a total transformation. Our old spirit, once disconnected from God, is restored and brought to life by His Spirit. But it does raise a big question: What did Jesus mean when He said, “unless they are born of water and the Spirit”?

Some people take “born of water” to mean water baptism. But when you think about it, that interpretation feels a bit narrow. It would make Jesus’ words sound oddly specific in a context where He’s actually talking about something deeply spiritual and all-embracing.

There’s another view that makes a lot of sense—one I’ve come to believe. Many bible scholars and believers think “water” here refers to the Word of God. And there’s strong scriptural backing for that: in Ephesians 5:25-26, Paul talks about Christ cleansing the Church through the washing of water by the Word. And in 1 Peter 1:23 and James 1:18, we’re told that new birth comes through the living and enduring Word of God.

So if that’s true, then Jesus may have been saying that spiritual rebirth comes through both the power of Scripture and the work of the Holy Spirit. After all, salvation isn’t something we invent—it begins with the truth found in God’s Word and the conviction brought by the Spirit. The message must be heard and received for true transformation to take place.

And been “born of the Spirit”? This is the part where our earthly nature is overcome, and we receive a new one—one that’s full of love for God and a real desire to follow Jesus. It’s not about trying harder—it’s about becoming someone new.

It all starts when we finally choose to lay down our own will—when we die to our flesh and truly surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. That’s when the process begins. The Holy Spirit steps in and starts pouring out life—real, abundant life—that begins to reshape our hearts and the choices we make. And as our heart changes, our mind starts to renew, too.

When your heart and mind align under God’s influence, something powerful happens. This unity releases the creative power of God—faith. Not just belief, but a type of faith that leads to transformation. Such faith becomes the channel through which God works His miracle: salvation. That’s what the power of God produces when we truly surrender—it’s not just a better version of ourselves, it’s a brand new one. This is being born of the spirit.

Being born again is just the beginning—it’s the starting line, not the finish. But sadly, this is where a lot of the Church has stopped. We were never meant to stay at the doorway. Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins on the cross, and now we’re called to carry the baton forward. That means letting Jesus be more than just our Saviour—He must also become our Lord. And making Him Lord isn’t just a title we give Him; it means choosing to obey Him daily. It takes effort. It’s not about following rules for the sake of it—it’s about walking in relationship with Jesus. A real relationship with Him takes time, intention, and surrender.

The more time we spend with Jesus, the more we’re drawn into deeper places of surrender and consecration. And that’s my prayer: that after experiencing the new birth, we won’t stop there, but we’ll go further. That we’ll submit fully, allowing Jesus to truly be Lord over every part of our lives.

Stay blessed.