You Must Be Born Again
John 3:3-5 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus told Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” But note that Jesus did not respond as one might expect him to. Instead of saying, “Yes, I have indeed come from God; in fact, I’m the Word of God who is God in the flesh. And if you truly believe in me, then you will enter into the kingdom of God.” Instead, Jesus, in essence, said, “You may know that I came from God, but you will never see His kingdom (i.e., heaven) unless you are born again.” In other words, what Nicodemus knew was not enough to have saving faith and get to heaven. Hence, he was representative of all those who had believed in Jesus (2:23) with nothing more than rational faith. Jesus, after all, knew their hearts, and he was not entrusting Himself to them (2:24).
What Nicodemus and all the others were missing was saving faith, not intellectual understanding that Jesus was simply an authoritative preacher from God who could perform signs. Thus, Jesus told him that he needed to be “born again” in order to see the kingdom of God. The Greek word behind “again” actually means “from above” in every other instance in John’s Gospel (3:31; 19:11, 23), but since Nicodemus responded as he did in v. 4 by asking how a man would enter his mother’s womb a second time, the text has traditionally been translated “again.” The gist of the argument then is that one must be born “anew,” for the answer to Nicodemus’ question, rebirth is not the repetition of the old physical way but a new birth in spiritual way.
Now in answer to what it means to be “born again” (i.e., born anew; born from above), Jesus explains in vv. 5-6. Saying, “Truly, truly” (Gr. amen, amen) to show the certainty of the words that follow, Jesus said, in essence, that in order for a person to enter the kingdom of God they would have to be “born of water and the Spirit.” Some have taken the water as water baptism and the Spirit as Spirit baptism. But since Christian baptism had not yet been introduced Nicodemus would not have understood that concept. Furthermore, if water baptism was in view, then Jesus would not have refrained from baptizing people as he did in John 4:2. Others have taken “born again” to mean that one must have a physical birth of water from the amniotic fluid of a mother then a spiritual birth from the Holy Spirit. But since “born of water and the Spirit” is synonymous with “born again” in v. 3, only one birth is in view. Neither of these views are good.
Being “born again” was a promise God made through Ezekiel, and Jesus expected Nicodemus to understand such (v. 10). God promised, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (36:25-27; cf. Jer. 31:31-34).
Now since Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a scholar of the OT, he should have known Ezekiel 36; it should have been his focal text as a Rabbi. Jesus was simply affirming God’s promise saying that without a spiritual cleansing of one’s sinful soul (i.e., regeneration, Titus 3:5) through the Word of God, no one can enter into God’s Kingdom. The Apostle Paul likewise affirmed the spiritual cleansing “by the washing of the water with the word…” (Eph. 5:26). So, being “born again” concerns being transformed by the word of God—the words of Jesus Christ. This is the sole work of God, and no one can enter His kingdom without His cleansing.
Nicodemus told Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” But note that Jesus did not respond as one might expect him to. Instead of saying, “Yes, I have indeed come from God; in fact, I’m the Word of God who is God in the flesh. And if you truly believe in me, then you will enter into the kingdom of God.” Instead, Jesus, in essence, said, “You may know that I came from God, but you will never see His kingdom (i.e., heaven) unless you are born again.” In other words, what Nicodemus knew was not enough to have saving faith and get to heaven. Hence, he was representative of all those who had believed in Jesus (2:23) with nothing more than rational faith. Jesus, after all, knew their hearts, and he was not entrusting Himself to them (2:24).
What Nicodemus and all the others were missing was saving faith, not intellectual understanding that Jesus was simply an authoritative preacher from God who could perform signs. Thus, Jesus told him that he needed to be “born again” in order to see the kingdom of God. The Greek word behind “again” actually means “from above” in every other instance in John’s Gospel (3:31; 19:11, 23), but since Nicodemus responded as he did in v. 4 by asking how a man would enter his mother’s womb a second time, the text has traditionally been translated “again.” The gist of the argument then is that one must be born “anew,” for the answer to Nicodemus’ question, rebirth is not the repetition of the old physical way but a new birth in spiritual way.
Now in answer to what it means to be “born again” (i.e., born anew; born from above), Jesus explains in vv. 5-6. Saying, “Truly, truly” (Gr. amen, amen) to show the certainty of the words that follow, Jesus said, in essence, that in order for a person to enter the kingdom of God they would have to be “born of water and the Spirit.” Some have taken the water as water baptism and the Spirit as Spirit baptism. But since Christian baptism had not yet been introduced Nicodemus would not have understood that concept. Furthermore, if water baptism was in view, then Jesus would not have refrained from baptizing people as he did in John 4:2. Others have taken “born again” to mean that one must have a physical birth of water from the amniotic fluid of a mother then a spiritual birth from the Holy Spirit. But since “born of water and the Spirit” is synonymous with “born again” in v. 3, only one birth is in view. Neither of these views are good.
Being “born again” was a promise God made through Ezekiel, and Jesus expected Nicodemus to understand such (v. 10). God promised, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (36:25-27; cf. Jer. 31:31-34).
Now since Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a scholar of the OT, he should have known Ezekiel 36; it should have been his focal text as a Rabbi. Jesus was simply affirming God’s promise saying that without a spiritual cleansing of one’s sinful soul (i.e., regeneration, Titus 3:5) through the Word of God, no one can enter into God’s Kingdom. The Apostle Paul likewise affirmed the spiritual cleansing “by the washing of the water with the word…” (Eph. 5:26). So, being “born again” concerns being transformed by the word of God—the words of Jesus Christ. This is the sole work of God, and no one can enter His kingdom without His cleansing.
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Our mailing address is:
Harvest Bible Church
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Cypress, TX 77433
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