In 2014, I sat down with Mitch Glazer, the president of Chosen People Ministries, and shared my idea to film the testimony stories of Jewish individuals who have been “born again.” He was very excited about it and generously offered to cover the entire project’s cost. Over the next eight years, Anastasia and I directed about 150 of them, mainly in English, under the titles “I Found Shalom” (Chosen People Ministry’s banner) and “I Met Messiah” (ONE FOR ISRAEL’s banner). You might have seen one. Anyway, producing them was enjoyable, and a common theme emerged. Our team often joked that the typical “born again” experience went like this: “I grew up Jewish, I was evangelized to while high on drugs, and then I saw Jesus and repented of my sins. After that, I became a Messianic Rabbi.”
As you can imagine, evangelicals absolutely loved these testimonials (and donations started pouring in…). In fact, some even started claiming there’s now a revival in Israel! However, this was—and still is—farthest away from truth,1 yet no one wants to deny it as, once again, evangelicals are excited to donate…
“Born Again Evangelical”
Evangelicals, commonly self-identified as “born-again believers,” generally interpret “born again” as a profound experience of repentance. This experience is often specific, memorable, and pivotal to their personal testimony. These experiences, usually emotionally charged, can look like reciting a “salvation prayer” (from hell) from a pamphlet in order to escape eternal damnation by “inviting” Jesus into one’s heart, or undergoing an emotionally intense “born again” experience, such as speaking in tongues in the case of pentecostal and charismatic churches.
Finding a comprehensive definition is challenging; however, the following statement serves as a good example of the Evangelical concept of being “born again”:
Being born again means starting over as a new creation in Christ. It’s a personal and spiritual renewal, where your sins are forgiven and your heart is transformed by the Holy Spirit. In John 3:3, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”2
However, the term “born again” could not have originally referred to accepting Jesus’s death for one’s sins to escape hell when it was first used in John 3:3, as Jesus had not yet died, nor was his death foreseen at that time. If anything, Jesus’ disciples expected Him to lead a revolt against the Romans and establish His reign (Luke 24:21). This suggests that initially, the phrase “born again” held a completely different meaning. Therefore, to assert that “to be born again” means “to avoid hellfire by accepting Jesus’s death for one’s sins” would constitute an anachronism fallacy, as it retroactively applies a concept or event (Jesus’ death and its theological interpretation) to a period before it actually happened or was comprehended in such a manner.
So, what did Jesus mean when he said, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” (John 3:3)?
To answer, we must consider two terms:
- “Born Again”
- “See [or ‘enter’] the Kingdom of God.”
1 Peter 1:23 states, “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word [logos] of God.” Here, being born again is viewed not as a singular mystical event but as a process. It is important to note that Peter was addressing an audience at a time when the New Testament, as it exists today, had not yet existed. Indeed, there was no canonized “New Testament” at that time.
John’s Gospel begins by identifying Jesus as the “word” (logos) of God, influencing early Christian thought to see Jesus’ life, ministry, and teaching as the ultimate expression of God’s Word. Therefore, the “word of God” likely refers to Jesus’s teachings, particularly his parables and Sermon on the Mount, which were initially passed down orally.
In this context, to be born again is to educate oneself with Jesus’s teachings, values, and instructions and adjust oneself’s life, attitude, and actions accordingly. This isn’t a one-time mystical-emotional experience but a lifelong mental journey of becoming Christ-like: aiding the sick, helping the poor, embracing the outcast, loving enemies, forgiving trespassers, growing in empathy and compassion, becoming kinder, etc. This journey must begin with an initial realization of who our loving God is and what He truly desires—being born again—leading to a lifelong pursuit.
Now, is “born again” supposed to lead us into paradise and away from eternal fiery torture?
“See the Kingdom of God”
Evangelicals often view the “Kingdom of God” as referring to a mystical afterlife paradise. However, this idea also diverges from Jesus’s teachings.
In Matthew 4:17 and Mark 1:15, Jesus mentions that “the kingdom of God has come near.” Luke 17:21 states, “The kingdom of God is within you,” and Matthew 12:28 and Luke 11:20 assert, “The kingdom of God has come upon you.“
“Near,” “within you,” and “upon you” make the Kingdom of God very different from a heavenly paradise far away in the afterlife.
In Matthew 5:3, Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” and in Matthew 6:33: “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” In Luke 8:1, we see that “Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.” He also sent out His disciples, in Luke 9:2, “to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”
Clearly, the “Kingdom of God” Jesus was referring to at the time was a present reality – a spiritual mindset, lifestyle, and attitude to life —here and now. This is, in fact, a very Jewish view known as TIKKUN OLAM. The Hebrew phrase Tikkun Olam means “world repair.” In Jewish circles, Tikkun Olam has become synonymous with the notion of social action and the pursuit of justice, especially in terms of the poor and needy.
To summarize, Jesus wasn’t a 21st-century evangelical pastor from the West preaching you must go through a mystical-emotional experience that will—once you die—lead you to paradise. Instead, the parables of Jesus, a Jewish rabbi, were concerned with the present. According to Rabbi Jesus, to “be born again” and “see/enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:3) means understanding God of Israel and His Kingdom and applying it in our lives:
“The kingdom of God is…of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
(Romans 14:17)
I hope you enjoyed the article. If so, check out my books. You might especially appreciate “Read Like a Jew: 8 Rules of Basic Bible Interpretation for the Christian,” and “Lost in Translation: 15 Hebrew Words to Transform Your Christian Faith,”
Related article: What are Christians getting “saved” from?
- From my book, “Why Don’t Jews Believe in Jesus”: “In 2012, Messianic Judaism in Israel numbered around 15,000 members.[i] In 2022, according to a survey[ii] conducted by the Caspari Center, Messianic Judaism in Israel stayed about the same, with 15,323 members. Of these, only “8,125 adults over the age of 18.” Additionally, the survey revealed that only 55% of the members of Messianic Judaism have some kind of Jewish background (at least one Jewish grandparent). This means only about 4,500 group members are adults with at least some Jewish background.
The survey also found that out of the 280 churches in the Messianic movement in Israel, only 42% speak Hebrew.
This indicates that within Messianic Judaism, only a couple of thousands are Israeli-born Jews who speak Hebrew, and fewer are of both Jewish fathers and Jewish mothers. Compared with 2012, and concerning the significant growth of Israel’s general population, this indicates a significant decrease in members in the messianic movement.”
[i] https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/11/kosher-jesus-messianic-jews-in-the-holy-land/265670/
[ii] https://www.jpost.com/christianworld/article-696980 ↩︎ - https://thewitness.org/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-born-again-christian ↩︎
