A recent newspaper article, under that title "Born-again in a barn," brings to mind many things. It seems that this couple, Charlie and Sandy Deaton decided to start His Cowboy Church last year in Wilbur, Oregon. The church caters to people of a more rural disposition, specifically "cowboys" and "cowgirls" and their wannabes. They meet, predictably, in a livestock auction barn and baptize in a galvanized tank that is used at other times for a watering trough. Everything is pretty relaxed, and people are taken at face value. There is no formal membership, and people sort of come and go at will. They meet on Thursday nights so that if members desire, they can go to other churches on Sunday if they so choose.

I don’t know what these folks teach or believe, except they seem to have digressed into one of those semi-charismatic trends that are so popular today. They baptize, but I don’t know if is for the remission of sins, and the music is provided by a "cowboy band."

But all of that is not what grabbed my attention. When I was a kid, I often would leave the house without closing the door. My dad would yell after me, "Were you born in a barn?" I then would come back and close the door and be on my way. (It’s okay to leave barn doors open, flies will get in anyway. But house doors are closed to keep the air conditioning in and the flies out. But y’all knew that already.)

The expression "born again" or "born anew" is one that is found in the Bible. People use it promiscuously, not understanding what it means or where being born again is discussed in the Scriptures. It is important for us to understand, that if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17), for he has been begotten by the word (1 Pet. 1:23), and born into the body of Jesus as a babe in Christ (1 Pet. 2:1-2). It is a wonderful analogy that God has given us to teach us about our relation to him and to keep us from becoming discouraged as we begin our new life. We stumble and fall as babies, but we have a hand to lift us up and a chance to grow.

But where does the Bible discuss being "born again" and what does that expression mean, as Jesus used it? This is recorded about the exchange between Jesus and a member of the Jewish council Nicodemus: "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God!" (John 3:3-5). While the metaphor of the new birth is common in the New Testament, this is the place where it is mentioned, and I believe, explained in simple clarity by Jesus himself.

Jesus said we must be born again (KJV) if we are going to be allowed into the kingdom. To be born again has to do with something we do, not so much something done to us separate and apart from our own action. If it was something done to us that we had no influence or power to excite, then salvation would be a matter of predestination and not choice.

Nicodemus was confused so he asked some questions that he might obtain some clarification.

First he asked about the nature of the birth. He asked, "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus did not know what Jesus was talking about, but he did know that Jesus was not suggesting the action of his question, which would be impossible for a man to effect and pointless. He did not know, but wanted to know the nature of the birth. "What kind of a birth are you talking about?"

Next Nicodemus inquires about the mode of this new birth. He asked, "Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" Nicodemus, as in the asking of the first question, knew that Jesus was not suggesting what a literal interpretation of the question demanded. He knew that Jesus wasn’t talking about a physical birth, nor was he suggesting that one might actually be expected to enter the womb of his mother. What Nicodemus wanted to know was "When does such a birth take place? How can I effect this new birth?"

In verse 5 Jesus answers the questions that Nicodemus asks. Nicodemus had some specific if elementary concerns, and those are what Jesus addressed in his answer. "Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God!"

First, since the birth cannot be physical, what kind of birth is it? Jesus says that it is a birth of the spirit, the spirit of the man, hence a spiritual birth as opposed to the physical. I know that the translations capitalize the "S" in the word spirit, but that is the work of the translators. In the originals, the capital was used for All the letters, so it was the translator who was left to determine its suitability. I don’t believe that the word "Spirit" in John 3:5 refers to the Holy Spirit, but rather the inner man that is reborn. It is a comment on the nature of the birth.

The context bears this out. Note first of all that the question is a direct answer to the first part of Nicodemus’ question.

Second consider Jesus’ explanation in the following verses: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born anew. The wind bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:6-8). In verse 6, Jesus goes directly to the subject. In a fleshly birth, new flesh comes forth. In a spiritual birth, the inner man is reborn. It is the inner man that Jesus is concerned with. In verse 8 Jesus compares the new birth with the wind blowing. You do not see the wind. What you see is what the wind does. You see clothes on the line floating up, a flag whipping along, dust enveloping the sky, and hair rearranged in chaotic swirls. But you don’t see the wind. You see what it does.

You do not see the new birth. It is not visible, but its effects are. You see it in men walking in "newness of life" (Rom. 6:3-4). You see it in the putting off of the old man of sin and the putting on of the new man that is like God (Col. 3:9-10). You see it in the behavior of the "New Creature" (Col. 5:17). This new birth then is the process of repentance that sets one free from the destructive course of a life of sin, and severs the tether of unforgiven past sins.

Third, Jesus was not talking about some new wonderful working of the Holy Spirit. In verse 9 and 10 Nicodemus asks Jesus this: "How can these things be?" and Jesus answers him thus: "Art thou the teacher of Israel, and understandest not these things?" He was talking about something that Nicodemus, a teacher of the Law of Moses, should have understood. To be reborn is to turn over a new leaf, to resolve oneself to a new life, to Repent. Before one can truly become a servant of righteousness, before repentance can bear any fruit, he must cease being a servant of sin (Rom. 6:17-18). That is what Jesus is talking about when he tells Nicodemus he must be born again.

But when does this new life begin? By what means is it begun? Jesus said, "Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God!" When does the new life in Christ begin? "We were buried therefore with him through baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:4). This passage teaches that we begin our new life when we are baptized in water. That is the water of the new birth – baptism.

Have you indeed been born again? Have you been baptized in the name of Jesus unto the remission of your sins? If the answer is no for one, it is no for the other.