When Jesus said to Nicodemus, ‘You must be born again’, the devout and learned religious leader was unsure what that meant. Not much has changed. Today ‘born again Christians’ fill churches that are seen as ineffective at best and hardly recognizably Christian in any way. The term ‘born again’ has been devalued both in society and in the church. Those claiming to be ‘born again’ live lives that are indistinguishable from those who don’t; they sin the same, embrace injustice the same, covet the same, do almost everything the same.

Being ‘born again’ is now defined by what people say that they believe. The New Testament however defines Christians very differently. It is of enormous consequence that we know what being born again really means, and that Christians know how to communicate this to others.