You Must Be Born Again
Pastor Scott Uselman
John 3:1-17, Exodus 14:21-31, Ezekiel 36:26, Romans 12:1-2 · March 1, 2026
Scripture
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus [1] Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. [2] He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” [3] Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” [4] “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” [5] Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. [6] Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. [7] You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ [8] The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” [9] “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. [10] “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? [11] Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. [12] I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? [13] No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. [14] Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, [15] that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” [16] For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.
[21] Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, [22] and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. [23] The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. [24] During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. [25] He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.” [26] Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” [27] Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. [28] The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived. [29] But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. [30] That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. [31] And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.
The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.
[26] I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.
A Living Sacrifice [1] Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. [2] Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.
We explored what it really means to be born again, how this is God’s work in us and not just our decision, and why this matters for seeing and entering the life God offers.
The Red Pill and a Question of Experience
Pastor Scott opened with honesty about his own spiritual experiences, and what he expected from life as a pastor. He recalled moments of God's presence, not all equal in intensity or frequency. He shared a pivotal story:
"In early 2001... however long, I guess it was 10 or 15 minutes of experiencing Him in a powerful way in my life. It was like the red pill. He revamped how I thought about things in the world."
This awakening didn't just clarify faith, but changed how he saw money, success, and the point of life. Yet he noted, not everyone gets a moment that feels so clear. His son once asked why he hadn’t had such an experience even after growing up in church. This honest question prompted Pastor Scott to reflect on how we can know so much about Jesus and still not have met him personally.
Criteria and the Limits of Religious Knowledge
Growing up in the church, it can be easy to think belonging or knowledge is enough. Pastor Scott explained that salvation isn't just about "meeting benchmarks." It's something deeper:
“It is honestly between you and the Lord if you’re born again, because it’s not by human decision. God’s the initiator.”
He explored John 3, where Nicodemus, a religious leader, a man who knows all the right answers, comes to Jesus by night. Despite all his credentials, Nicodemus does not understand what it means to be born again, or how God’s Spirit works. This, Pastor Scott stressed, is not about rule-following or passing a test, but about receiving what only God can give.
The Context: John’s Gospel and the Story of Israel
Pastor Scott walked us through the setting of John’s Gospel, painting a picture of the Jewish context, worship at the temple, the history of God’s people failing and craving human kings, and Jesus entering the scene as the king they didn’t expect. He tied the language of water and Spirit to Israel’s redemption through the Red Sea and the cloud, a baptism from slavery to freedom, and a journey led by the Spirit.
“You need to be baptized. Because somehow with Jesus saying this, when he says very truly, I have to say to you all this morning, when Jesus says very truly, that means this is something you really need to pay attention to.”
For Pastor Scott, baptism isn’t just ritual. It marks our entry into God’s family, a visible response to God’s invisible grace. But he’s careful, baptism alone isn’t magic: “You can go down a dry sinner, come up a wet sinner.” The point is to be born new by grace.
The Work of Grace: Receiving, Not Achieving
Much of the morning’s weight landed here: We cannot just decide one day to make ourselves new. We cooperate, we respond, but the Spirit moves first:
"You must be born again. You have to receive the Spirit... You don’t, how do you do that?... You can’t by human decision just simply say, 'I want the Spirit.'"
Pastor Scott challenged the tendency in Western churches to reduce being born again to head knowledge or checking a box. Wholeness does not come from our manipulation, but as a gift. When we’re ready to receive, “the teacher shows up,” again and again, through the Spirit. This led him to share stories of people who try to buy or bargain with God, as in Simon’s story from Acts, or the marketplace in the temple, but real transformation is not for sale.
The Spirit and Heavenly Knowledge
Returning to Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, Pastor Scott highlighted how “flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” Human effort can take you to the water, but only God makes new life. Earthly wisdom cannot give us heavenly eyes.
He recounted how Jesus pushed Nicodemus: a religious teacher, yet missing the most basic spiritual reality. Personal knowledge, the kind that can’t be argued or borrowed, is the sign: “when I start testifying about things that the Lord has done for me.”
“Personal knowledge begins when I start testifying about things that the Lord has done for me... if you have personal knowledge of how God operates and how in his power and his grace, all these things, then the kingdom of God is at work in you.”
Looking to the Lifted One
Pastor Scott turned to the story of Moses lifting the bronze serpent in the wilderness. Israel’s people, wounded and desperate, looked to what God provided for healing. In Jesus, lifted up, we are called not just to look but to entrust ourselves for new birth. Being bitten by the world’s brokenness is a reality, but healing comes by looking to Jesus.
"If you’re born again while this world’s doing those terrible things to you, if you’re looking to Jesus who’s been raised up on the cross, let me tell you something. You’re born again because of the Holy Spirit revealing to you the heavenly things."
Living It Out
Being born again isn’t a one-time transaction or a matter of reciting facts. It is the daily posture of openness to God’s renewing grace, of surrendering our criteria and being honest about where we need new life. If we have knowledge but not the Spirit, we are not truly alive. God’s invitation is to receive, to respond, and then to let the world see the difference.
Discussion Questions
- Pastor Scott talked about having “personal knowledge” of God’s work rather than just information. Where have you recognized God at work in your life in ways you could never have planned or manufactured?
- What do you think it means to “see” the kingdom of God, as Jesus told Nicodemus? How might God be inviting you to notice his work in seemingly everyday moments?
- How does the idea that being born again is God’s action, not something we earn or decide on our own, challenge or comfort you this week?
This Week’s Devotional
When the Wind Blows: You Cannot Control the Spirit
4 min read · Pastor Scott
The Question at the Heart: When Was Your Red Pill Moment?
This week, Pastor Scott’s story of the "red pill" moment, when everything in his heart and mind shifted, leaves us with a searching question: Have you ever felt like you’re waiting for God to move in a way you cannot engineer? Maybe you have knowledge, a long church history, or faith that fits the checklists, yet something feels missing. Or maybe you feel on the outside, hoping for that unmistakable experience but wondering if it will ever come.
Jesus’ words about the wind are for you. The Spirit does not arrive by demand, nor is new birth something you command into being. When Jesus says, “The wind blows wherever it pleases,” He is naming both the mystery and the freedom of how God works. Our part is not to schedule the Spirit but to posture ourselves, open and honest, even in disappointment or longing.
What would it look like this week to notice the moments when the wind of the Spirit stirs, quietly, invisibly, unexpectedly? It might be in a conversation that surprises you, a moment of peace in grief, or a flash of conviction that reshapes old habits. Sometimes, the Spirit’s coming is not thunderous but tender, inviting us to let go of managing outcomes and instead say yes to grace.
Meditation focus: "Being born again begins when I admit I cannot control or earn the Spirit, only receive."
Practical step: Carve out ten minutes this week in an ordinary setting, a parked car, the front porch, the end of a lunch break. Offer no demands. Simply name to God where you long to see new life, and wait in stillness, letting your readiness meet God’s freedom.
Prayer
God whose wisdom outpaces ours and whose Spirit cannot be contained,
We lift You in gratitude for the wonder of who You are, beyond all boxes or boundaries. Shape our lives after Your will, even where it overturns our plans, our pride, and our routines. We ask for the daily bread of grace, especially for those of us who find ourselves longing, questioning, or feeling empty and unseen this week. Where we have clung too tightly, forgive us. Where we have assumed our effort could buy or manage new birth, free us. Fill our hearts with Your Spirit’s life. Deliver us from the urge to control, from cynicism, from weariness borne of self-reliance, and lead us gently toward trust and renewed hope. Amen.
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735 Golden Creek Rd, Liberty, SC 29657
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