Episode 3: Steps to Be Born Again

John 3:1-21

Let's dig deeper into the scripture discussed in Chaplain Boyles' sermon from August 24, 2025.

John 3:1-3 “There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

• Knowledge alone is not enough.

• It is not enough to just know who Jesus is without truly believing in Him. 

• The key to truly believing is referenced in the last Verse of John 2... Jesus knows what was in each person’s heart.

• So believing in your heart = True Faith

• Step #1: Believe in your heart in Jesus Christ

John 3:4-8 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” 

• Born of water

  • Water = purification (cleansing of sins)

  • You have to confess your sins and ask God for forgiveness. 

  • This is necessary first before being born of the Spirit.

• Born of Spirit

  • The word Spirit in Greek is "Pneuma" which means wind.

  • When God blows his "wind" or Holy Spirit on you, and you accept Him into your heart, you experience spiritual transformation. 

• So, in relation to the sermon last week, in John 2 we learned that Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding. 

  • Spiritually speaking... once you are purified (born of water), Jesus works through the Holy Spirit to transform and renew your life (born of Spirit).

  • This transformation will be a gradual process.

• Step #2: Confess your sins and accept Jesus into your heart to allow the Holy Spirit to transform you. 

John 3:9-17 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked. Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. 

• Moses is referenced from Numbers 21, because when God told Moses to make a bronze snake and attach it to a pole, anyone who looked at it was healed from their “snake bites”. 

• This represents when Jesus was nailed to a pole in the shape of the cross…to heal the world of their sins for anyone who believes. 

• The Israelites had to look at the bronze snake in order to be healed of their snake bites just like we have to look at Jesus to be healed. 

• Step #3: Keep your eyes on Jesus, so that you can have eternal life in heaven. 

John 3:18-21 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.””

• God’s light = Jesus

• If you fear any of your sins will be exposed, you are living in darkness. 

• Coming to the “light” exposes your sins... this means coming to Jesus requires confessing your sins and allowing Him to cleanse you. 

• Coming to the light = Born again. 

• Evidence of being born again = doing what God wants, not what you want.

• Step #4: Live an obedient life according to God's will.

• Your new life in Christ is the "miraculous sign and evidence that God is with you" (as mentioned earlier in Verse 2).

• Your new life is evidence to others of God's light and power in your life.

• Step #5: Let God's light, which is Jesus, shine through you unto others.

To tie it all together:

Being born again =

1. Believing in your heart in Jesus Christ

2. Confessing your sins

3. Being Transformed in spirit

4. Living according to God's will

5. Sharing Jesus with others