10/19/2026
So the question we must ask ourselves is not merely, “Do I know about Jesus?” but, “Have I truly been born again? Am I in Christ?” We cannot substitute religious familiarity for the new birth. We cannot substitute outward performance for inward life. Jesus said, “Ye must be born again.” This is not an optional experience for the religiously devoted. It is our absolute need.
Have You Truly Been Born Again?
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)
There are many people today who know the name of Jesus, but have they truly been born again? They know who He is by name. They may have grown up in church, learned the songs, memorized Scriptures, and become familiar with the things of God. They may even have a religious routine that they have followed for years. They attend church, read their Bible, and speak about Jesus, but knowing about Jesus and truly knowing Him are two different things.
It is possible to become so accustomed to religion that we mistake familiarity for a relationship with Christ. We can become comfortable with the outward practices of Christianity while never experiencing the inward transformation that takes place when a person is born again. Religion can teach us about Jesus, but religious habits cannot take the place of the new birth. Jesus did not tell Nicodemus that he needed to become more religious, improve his behavior, or learn more about the things of God. He told him plainly, “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7).
Nicodemus was a religious man. He was a ruler of the Jews, a teacher of Israel, and a man who knew the Scriptures. Yet Jesus addressed his need for a spiritual birth. This shows us that a person can have religious knowledge and still lack the life of God within them. The new birth is not something we accomplish by our own efforts. It is a work of God in us when we come to Christ in faith.
John 1:12-13 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Being born again is not merely changing our outward conduct or adding Jesus to the life we already have. It is receiving Christ and being made alive spiritually by the work of God. We are not simply being taught how to live better. We are receiving a new life in Christ. The old life in Adam, with its sin and self-dependence, cannot be repaired through religious effort. We need the life that only God can give us through His Son.
The reason we need to be born again is because we are sinners in need of a Saviour. Sin is not merely a matter of bad habits that we need to overcome through religious effort. Sin separates us from God, and we cannot remove our own guilt or make ourselves righteous before Him. This is why Jesus came. He did not come simply to give us a better way to live, but to save us from our sins. He took our place at Calvary, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree, shedding His precious blood for our forgiveness.
1 Peter 2:24 says, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”
Ephesians 1:7 declares, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”
Through the death of Jesus Christ, the penalty for our sins was paid, and through faith in Him we receive forgiveness and redemption. But the work of the Cross reaches even further into our lives. Jesus not only died for our sins, but our old man was crucified with Him. The Cross deals with the sin that has separated us from God and with the self-life that seeks to live independently of Him. We cannot save ourselves from sin, and we cannot produce the life of Christ through our own strength. We must put our faith in what Jesus accomplished for us, both in His death for our sins and in our identification with Him in His death and resurrection. This is why the born-again experience is not merely a religious reformation. It is a new life in Christ, founded upon His finished work at Calvary.
This is where the Cross becomes essential to understanding the born-again experience. Jesus did not come merely to help us manage our old life. He came to deal with the old man through His death and to bring us into newness of life through His resurrection. When we come to Christ in faith, we are not only trusting Him to forgive our sins. We are identifying ourselves with what He accomplished at Calvary, where our old man was crucified with Him.
Romans 6:6 declares, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
Notice that the Scripture does not say that our old man needs to be improved, trained, or made religious. It says that our old man was crucified with Christ. This is the foundation of our new life. We cannot experience the life of Christ while continuing to place our confidence in the life of self. The Cross brings an end to our claim to live independently of Him, and our faith rests in what Jesus has already accomplished for us.
Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
This is more than a religious statement we repeat. It is the truth upon which our new life rests. The Christian life is not simply the old self trying to imitate Jesus. It is Christ living in us, as we place our faith in Him and what He accomplished at the Cross. We have been brought into union with Him, and our new life is found in Him.
Romans 6:3-4 says, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
When we are born again, we are placed into Christ. We are identified with His death, burial, and resurrection. Our old life has been dealt with through His finished work, and we are brought into a new life in Him. Water baptism is an outward testimony of this truth, but the spiritual reality is what God accomplishes in us through our union with Christ. We are not made new by religious ceremonies or outward observances. We are made new by the work of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17 declares, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Notice those words, “if any man be in Christ.” The question is not simply whether we know the name of Jesus, attend church, or identify ourselves as Christians. The question is whether we are in Christ. Have we truly come to Him in faith? Have we received the life that only He can give? Have we come to the end of trusting in ourselves and placed our faith in His finished work at Calvary?
We must be careful not to confuse religious activity with spiritual life. A person can know when church begins, know when to stand and sit, know every verse of a familiar song, and still need to be born again. We can learn the language of Christianity without experiencing the life of Christ. We can become so accustomed to the things of God that we no longer stop to consider whether we truly know Him.
But the answer is not to become more religious. The answer is to come to Jesus Christ Himself. We must recognize our need for Him, believe the Gospel, and trust in what He accomplished through His death and resurrection. Salvation is not earned by our works, our goodness, or our religious devotion. It is received by faith in Jesus Christ.
And when we have truly been born again, we are not left to live the Christian life through our own strength. The same Christ who saved us is the One in whom we now live. The Cross is not merely where our sins were forgiven; it is the foundation of our new life in Him. We no longer look to self as our source of victory, righteousness, or spiritual life. We look to Jesus, who is both the Author and Finisher of our faith.
So the question we must ask ourselves is not merely, “Do I know about Jesus?” but, “Have I truly been born again? Am I in Christ?” We cannot substitute religious familiarity for the new birth. We cannot substitute outward performance for inward life. Jesus said, “Ye must be born again.” This is not an optional experience for the religiously devoted. It is our absolute need.
The good news is that Jesus has already made the way. At Calvary, He dealt with our sin, and through His resurrection, He provides new life to all who believe on Him. We do not have to try to make ourselves alive spiritually. We must come to Him in faith, trusting in His finished work and not in ourselves. For it is through His death that our old man was crucified with Him, and it is in Him that we walk in newness of life.
The question is not whether we have become familiar with Jesus through religion, but whether we have received Him by faith and been made a new creature in Christ. Religion may change our habits, but only God can give us new life. We must be born again, placed in Christ, and rest our faith in the finished work of the Cross.
I say again, “You must be Born Again!”
