October 26, 2026

What makes the words of Jesus to be 'born again' persist?

The message of rebirth by God’s grace persists as a life-changing doctrine. Jesus is reported as saying, “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’” (John 3:7). Afterwards, the Apostles claimed to have witnessed many who became “born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Pet. 1:23). Then the Apostle Paul explained the doctrine theologically in Romans 5 to 8 and also said, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17).

If Jesus didn’t establish the doctrine as reported in John, then the Apostolic writers either fabricated or at least embellished it. Even so, how could “uneducated, common men” (Acts 4:13) have had the intellectual talent to concoct such a complex and life-changing doctrine? Thus I believe that the reason why the New Birth persists is because it did come from the Lord Jesus and it was unpacked truthfully by the New Testament writers.

So what actually happens when a believer is “born-again”? First, the experience of sin and forgiveness entails intelligence. That is, a repentant acknowledges one’s sense of sin and understands that God is offering grace. The intelligent decision of the heart and mind is then stamped by the unmistakable indwelling of the Spirit, “and we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). Moreover, it places the believer in a new conscious relationship with God: “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:16). Psychology may analyze it. Philosophy may debate the merits of its credibility. However, it cannot be denied that multitudes throughout history have undergone this remarkable transformation of grace, and many continue to testify to it today.

If the doctrine was an Apostolic concoction, how could fictional literature have such an impact on skeptics too? Fictious literature hardly ever causes notable emotional angst among those who disagree with it. For example, Dante’s Inferno or Milton’s Paradise Lost do not cause humanity to preoccupy itself with the need to deny them. The literature is clearly perceived as imaginative and even entertaining. On the other hand, the scriptural doctrine of New Birth has provoked sophisticated push-backs and even today many digital influencers are intent on undermining its validity. There is a clear distinction between how humanity reacts to fiction and to the New Testament.

C. S. Lewis is recognized by both Christians and non-Christians as a great literary talent. He was an atheist when studying ancient Greek and Latin literature at Oxford, earning highest honors. Lewis came to the realization that the Lord Jesus is indeed “the way, the truth, and the life” as revealed in Scripture. Lewis could have recognized mythological literature in his sleep. Some critics, however, claim that he didn’t allow for the possibility of biographical fiction in the claims of Jesus, whereby some sayings ascribed to Jesus were possibly legend or folklore. Any form of fiction in the Gospels would not have gone unnoticed by a highly trained former atheist like Lewis. As his writing suggests,

In what is already a very old commentary I read that the Fourth Gospel is regarded . . . as a ‘spiritual romance,’ ‘a poem not a history,’ . . . I have been reading poems, romances, vision-literature, legends, myths all my life. I know what they are like. I know that not one of them is like this. . . . Either this is reportage . . . Or else, some unknown writer in the second century . . . suddenly anticipated the whole technique of modern, novelistic, realistic narrative. If it is untrue, it must be narrative of that kind.1

Nevertheless, some have insisted that this unique saying of Jesus (for Nicodemus) to be “born again” was a pun to encourage new thinking about the natural and spiritual worlds (John 3:3-7), and was not intended to be a command as presented later by the Apostles. Lydia Mcgrew has published extensively in the interdiscipline of the New Testament and analytic philosophy. She clarifies helpfully:

But if this concept of being born again, found in 1 Peter, indeed arises from the fact that Jesus himself taught it, then it appears that Peter at least did not think that a pun on ‘born from above’ was central to the teaching. In other words, Jesus may really have just taught that one must be born again. This would, of course, have a theological, metaphorical meaning, but that is not the same thing as arguing that either Jesus or John intended to make a pun.2

Most assuredly, I believe that Jesus “just taught that one must be born again” and that He was the way to a personal transformation by grace. It’s amazing how this doctrine has been relentlessly denied with so much energy by skeptics while other fictional literature has received almost none.

Believers continue to experience intelligently what Paul taught, “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2). If this were fiction, it could not have persevered through the ages and survived to continue providing such a comprehensive experience. The unique doctrine of being “born again” was established by the Lord Jesus and remains by the grace of God to regenerate believers, exactly as the New Testament writers faithfully communicated.

1The Seeing Eye (Random House: New York, 1967), 206-07.

2The Eye of the Beholder: The Gospel of John as Historical Reportage (DeWard Publishing Company: Tampa, FL, 2021), 223.

3 ways to thrive in your Christian faith when doubt creeps in

In the Christian walk, a believer will inevitably face temptations, experience intellectual challenges, and even doubts. The battle can impede a flourishing relationship with the Lord Jesus. Yet He will still be there, for even “if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). Triumphant Christian living is the will of God for every genuine believer.

So here are 3 essentials that I believe can contribute to a believer’s pursuit of a flourishing Christian faith. The first one should be highlighted because, in contemporary culture, we need discernment more than ever over the “flaming darts” that are electronically relentless. Paul’s caution thus remains relevant: “take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Eph. 6:16).

1) Knowing how doubts differ from unbelief

There is always someone or something lurking online to try and talk and Christians out of their faith. It’s important to know that being challenged to doubt Christian faith is not the same as unbelieving it. Take, for instance, the persistent and fallacious critique of skeptics which is intended to create unbelief, “You are a Christian because you were born in a Christian culture.” Such “flaming darts” can cause debilitating doubts as they suggest that a Christian’s beliefs are not necessarily true, but conditioned by upbringing. This challenges a believer to respond by rationality, by counter questioning, and by exercising discernment of the rhetoric. As one social scientist added,

The times of wrestling with your faith and doctrine are part of what moves you along the pathway to better loving God . . . Our doubts, questions, and probes into the mysterious waters beneath the tip of the iceberg are often what God uses most to change us so that we can be part of the changing world.1

Believers will inevitably experience some doubt while maintaining belief in the centrality of Christian faith, but one can emerge even stronger than before. Of note, the foregoing favored critique of skeptics is a classic genetic fallacy. How one comes to believe in something is immaterial to the veracity of the claim. A truth claim is evaluated by its own merits, independent of how, where, why or when one accepts it. Sceptics know this too. Yet fallacies are still used as a rhetorical and emotional “flaming dart.”

I am of the persuasion that genuine believers indwelled by Christ will not fall away in unbelief. Jesus said, “I know them, and they follow me . . . and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28). In Christ, doubts shouldn’t be deemed as unbelief but as part of a maturing process.

2) Knowing that Jesus is really precious to us but not to skeptics

When the grace of God regenerates believers, Jesus becomes personally precious beyond anything previously known. The initial opening of “their eyes,” and a personal experience of the unmistakable shift “from darkness to light” (Acts 26:18), cause an indelible impression that a skeptic could never understand. Even our good family members, polite friends and neighbors, do not appreciate Jesus as does a “born-again” believer. “The natural person,” wrote Paul, “does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them“ (1 Cor. 2:14). It's a huge mistake to think that what is so clear and wonderful to us about the Lord Jesus should also be to everyone else.

We have experienced how the Lord has given us something special that is opposed by the world. As Jesus prayed, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them. . . I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one” (John 17:14-15). In Western culture, aspersions to our Christian faith are rampant and we will routinely experience cynicism towards our scriptural beliefs. We should live in the realization that Christ is special to us, and persevere with it daily.

3) Knowing that perseverance is essential

The hallmark of faith is Hebrews 11. It should be studied carefully. It’s a wonderful chapter that exemplifies how generations of believers overcame by persevering in the promises of God. The author inspired us by those stalwart examples and then he pivoted to encouraging us to also persevere: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also . . . run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:1-2).

When the Lord Jesus seems distant, a believer should realize that it’s not Him who moved. Some personal reflection will reveal what is required to draw closer to Him. “Draw near to God,” encouraged James, “and He will draw near to you” (4:8). I have endeavored to persevere for decades with many trials and tribulations. I can honestly testify that by personal reflection and the Spirit’s guidance I have always received strength and wisdom to overcome. Multitudes could also testify along with me. Altogether, flourishing Christian faith is essentially taking the time to learn about what the grace of God has truly accomplished for us and how nothing in this world can substitute it.

1David A. Livermore, Chap Clark, ed. Cultural Intelligence: Improving Your CQ to Engage Our Multicultural World (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009), 190.