Go! And… Be Born Again and Live Free
INTRODUCTION:
If there is one question every human being must face—one question that echoes through eternity—it is this: “Have you been born again?” Not “Are you religious?” Not “Do you attend church?” Not “Are you a good person?” But “Have you been born again?”
Because, my friends, Jesus did not say, “Try your best.”
He did not say, “Improve your behaviour.”
He did not say, “Clean up your life and hope for heaven.”
No—our Saviour, with divine authority and absolute clarity, declared:
John 3:3 (NLT): “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
Every soul must face this truth.
Every heart must respond.
Every believer must proclaim it.
This is the message the 21st century desperately needs: You must be born again… and only then can you be truly free.
John 3:3–7 (NLT): Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” “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.’”
John 8:32 (NLT): “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
1 — “YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN”: THE NECESSITY OF NEW BIRTH
Nicodemus was not an ordinary man.
He was a Pharisee, a respected Jewish leader, a scholar of Scripture. He upheld the law, studied the prophets, memorised Torah, and taught others.
Yet Jesus tells this man: “You must be born again.”
The Greek phrase is ?e????? ????e? — gennethe anothen — meaning “to be born from above,” or “born anew by divine power.”
Nicodemus thought Jesus meant a second physical birth.
Jesus meant a spiritual transformation that only the Holy Spirit can accomplish.
Ezekiel 36:26–27 (NLT): “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you…”
This promise was already part of Israel’s hope: a heart renewal, not behaviour modification.
Hebrew note: “New” is chadash—not repaired, not improved, but brand-new.
People today still respond like Nicodemus: “Surely being a good person counts? Surely religion counts? Surely sincerity counts?”
But Jesus says: Human effort produces human results. Only the Spirit produces spiritual life.
Church membership isn’t new birth.
Morality isn’t new birth.
Knowledge isn’t new birth.
Religious activity isn’t new birth.
Only the Spirit of God can make a dead soul alive.
John Piper: “The new birth is not a subtle shift in priorities; it is the supernatural resurrection of a spiritually dead heart.”
Piper reminds us that salvation is not self-repair—it is resurrection. Jesus didn’t come to make bad people better; He came to make dead people live. And if we have experienced that new life, we must proclaim it boldly.
THE STILLBORN HEART
Imagine a doctor walking into a delivery room, holding a newborn who is not breathing. No amount of positive thinking brings life. No amount of self-help. No amount of parental love.
Only one thing is needed: a breath from outside.
So it is with the human soul.
We are born physically alive but spiritually stillborn—until the Holy Spirit breathes life into us. That is new birth.
2 — “BORN OF WATER AND SPIRIT”: THE MIRACLE OF TRANSFORMATION
“Born of water and Spirit” (v. 5) refers to the cleansing and renewing work of God, not baptismal ritual.
Water speaks of cleansing (Ezekiel 36).
Spirit speaks of transformation.
Theological meaning: Jesus is explaining salvation as a complete work of God—washing away sin and imparting new life.
Titus 3:5 (NLT): “He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.”
Greek Word Study
“Washed” — loutron — a deep cleansing, not surface-level.
“New birth” — palingenesia — literally “again-genesis,” a new beginning from God.
Salvation does not polish the old life.
It replaces it.
We do not need a better version of ourselves; we need a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Tim Keller: “Religion says, ‘I obey, therefore I am accepted.’ The Gospel says, ‘I am accepted because of Christ, therefore I obey.’”
Keller’s words dismantle every man-made ladder to heaven. The new birth is not a reward for obedience—it’s the root from which obedience grows.
3 — “THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE”: THE LIBERATION OF THE NEW BIRTH
Jesus says in John 8:32: “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
The truth is not a concept.
It is a Person — Jesus Himself (John 14:6).
Romans 8:2 (NLT): “And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”
Greek Word Study
“Free” — eleutheroo — to release someone from slavery with no possibility of being taken back.
We live in a world crying out for freedom:
• Freedom from shame
• Freedom from guilt
• Freedom from addiction
• Freedom from anxiety
• Freedom from sin
And the world offers false freedom—“Be your own truth,” “Follow your heart,” “Live without rules.”
But true freedom is not doing what you want.
True freedom is finally being able to do what you were created for:
Knowing and loving God through Jesus Christ.
Charles Stanley: “True freedom means choosing to live in the power of the Holy Spirit rather than the desires of the flesh.”
Stanley points us to the reality that Christian freedom is not independence from God; it is dependence on His Spirit. New birth produces new desires that lead to true liberty.
THE BROKEN CHAIN
A man once kept a heavy chain from his past—physical proof of the slavery he once lived in. After Christ saved him, he brought that chain into a service and dropped it at the foot of the cross.
The sound echoed like thunder.
That chain was a reminder: Christ had broken what he could never break.
Every believer has a chain like that—sin, shame, addiction, fear.
But at the cross, Christ shatters them.
He does not loosen them.
He does not lengthen them.
He breaks them.
That is freedom.
THE GOSPEL PRESENTATION — CHRIST’S DEATH, BURIAL & RESURRECTION
Let me tell you why the new birth is possible…
Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, took on flesh.
He lived the sinless life we could not live.
He died the death we deserved.
On the cross, He took our punishment.
He absorbed the wrath of God.
He paid the debt of sin in full.
He was buried…
and on the third day, He rose again, conquering sin, death, hell, and Satan.
Because He lives,
we can be born again.
Because He lives,
we can be free.
CALL TO ACTION — BELIEVERS
Born again people must live born again lives.
Transformed people must display transformation.
Freed people must walk in freedom.
• Examine your heart
• Confess hidden sin
• Surrender old habits
• Remove spiritual compromise
• Live in the Spirit
• Share the Gospel boldly
The 21st century does not need more religious activity.
It needs more Spirit-filled, Scripture-anchored, born-again disciples of Jesus Christ.
INVITATION TO SALVATION:
My friend, if you have never been born again… Jesus is speaking to you right now.
He is not offering religion.
He is not offering reformation.
He is offering regeneration—a new heart, a new life, a new beginning.
If you want to be forgiven…
If you want to be made new…
If you want eternal life…
If you want true freedom…
Then come to Jesus.
Pray in your heart:
“Lord Jesus, I turn from my sin.
I believe You died for me and rose again.
Make me new.
Save me.
Be my Lord and Saviour.
I trust in You alone.”
If you prayed that sincerely, the miracle of new birth has begun in you by the power of God Himself.
BENEDICTION / EXHORTATION:
May the God who gives new birth give you strength to walk in His freedom.
May the Holy Spirit fill you afresh with boldness and joy.
And may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ empower you to live as a new creation in a world desperate for the Gospel.
Go—and live as those who are born again and truly free. Amen.
