A visitor came to Jesus by night. Perhaps he came with the intention of being unnoticed by his colleagues or by the crowds. But he came to Jesus seeking to know something more of Him. He was a Pharisee, and also a ruler, that is, a member of the Sanhedrin. While we tend to have a negative view toward Pharisees, they were actually the religious leaders in Israel. They held to the inerrancy of the Old Testament Scriptures, a fact which their counterparts, the Sadducees, did not. This man, Nicodemus, had a reputation in Israel. Jesus called him, "the teacher of Israel" (v. 10); so he stood above the pack when it came to understanding the Scriptures and explaining them. It is no stretch to say that he would have been one of the most admired men in the Jewish community. He had standards, lived by his beliefs, and practiced his faith tenaciously. In every way, those about him would have said that Nicodemus was a good man.
He actually said something quite remarkable to Jesus. He called him "Rabbi." That was a title which Nicodemus would have borne. For a common man to call Jesus "rabbi" might not mean much; but for a chief rabbi or teacher to do so, indicated that Nicodemus recognized something of Jesus' authority. He admitted that the signs that Jesus did could not be done apart from God (v. 2). That's quite a distance from the other religious leaders that accused Jesus of doing what He did by the power of Beelzebub. He seemed to be drawn to Jesus; yet he kept his distance—afraid of what Jesus might say that would undermine the foundation of his faith.
And Jesus did just that! This man had it together—or so he may have thought. Yet Jesus' message of the kingdom of God stymied him. Here lay part of his problem. He considered the kingdom to be future with a future resurrection, a future reign of God, a future new world, a future with God's will fully manifested. He thought that he had a lock on being part of that kingdom. Why, he was serious about the Law, faithful as a teacher, exemplary in his conduct, and respected by all. Yet he failed to see the advent of the kingdom in the coming of the King or the spiritual nature of the kingdom in the present rule of Christ. For him, the kingdom was about a future place; but Jesus taught it as a sovereign reign. Then Jesus befuddled Nicodemus: entry to the kingdom comes only through the new birth.
Though, a familiar story in a familiar chapter of the Gospels, the new birth still befuddles most people. What it is, what happens in it, and what it's about mystifies most of the religious people of our day. Yet the new birth is the only entrance into God's kingdom. Without it, we may be religious and even call ourselves Christians, but we're outsiders to the kingdom of God—just like Nicodemus. Is the new birth really necessary?
The chief reason that most do not understand the new birth can be explained in two categories. First, the nature of the Christian life and of the kingdom of God is spiritual. One must possess spiritual faculties to understand spiritual matters (1 Cor. 2:6-16). Only through the new birth does one receive the faculties needed to understand. Second, most people think much better of themselves than is real. Few see the seriousness of their sin or face the reality of their enmity with God or the grasp the effects of sin in every part of their being. They may consider needing to be jump-started spiritually or nudged in the right direction morally, but they fail to see the radical need for complete transformation. They are lifeless, dry bones that apart from the regenerating work of God to breathe life into them, remain merely dry bones (cf. Eze. 37:1-10). Consider how our text helps us to see the human dilemma.
First, we have to see that two realms are pictured for us. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Jesus had to make that distinction for Nicodemus. He was so locked into his world that he could not see another world in his midst—an eternal, spiritual world. He equated spirituality with being Jewish and keeping the Law as a member of the covenant community. Everything was external for him. Though faithful in most every way in this regard, he failed to realize the intensely real world of personal relationship to God. God was transcendent to him but not immanent—far away but not near. So Jesus makes the point: Nicodemus, you are dealing with one realm—the natural. But the natural will not take you into the kingdom which is spiritual. The natural is decaying; the spiritual eternal. The natural focuses on externals; the spiritual focuses on the inward life. The natural begets what man can do; the spiritual begets what God does through His mighty power.
Do we need the same reminder? Well, let's quiz ourselves for a moment. How much of the eternal, spiritual world have you thought about today? Have you taken any mental account of the kingdom of God and how you are to relate to that kingdom today? Have you considered whether or not you are in the kingdom of God? Have you been conscious of how totally dependent you are upon God's sovereign grace for spiritual life? Have you thought of how you cannot produce anything truly spiritual by natural means?
There's a reason that we may have slipped on the curve. That is the second matter at which Christ aims concerning the flesh. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh." It is true that this word can be used negatively. That's the primary way that we find the Apostle Paul using it. Think of his use in Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians: the flesh represents man in rebellion against God; man in his depravity. But the word can also be neutral, as in another word for humanity. So we could paraphrase this, "That which is born of humanity is human." There's nothing negative about that. Or is there? What Jesus points to with Nicodemus is not only the shortcoming of the flesh to accomplish anything spiritual but also the foundation for that. Our limitations are a direct result of the depravity of our natures. It's not that we're all as sinful or evil as we can be but rather that every part of our being is affected by sin (cf. Romans 1-3: Eph. 2:1-3). Our thinking is skewed toward sin; so are our attitudes; so are our actions; so is our worship and service. We're colored by sin at every point of our being. And that stands in sharp contrast to "that which is born of the Spirit."
When Jesus used the word (actually two words in Greek) "unless" and the word "must," He painted all humanity into a desperate corner. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God…Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again'." To begin with, Christ points to the absolute certainty of what He is stating: "truly, truly," or "Amen, amen," or "Verity of verities." There's no wiggle room here in the least. "Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God…unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God…you must be born again." The reality is that we stand on the wrong side of the equation apart from the new birth. There is a gulf we cannot cross in our human ability. There's nothing that we can do by human ingenuity or power or merit or religious practice to enter the kingdom of God. Nothing short of a new birth can give us the experience of the kingdom. God does not accept our clever attempts toward Him—even by one as faithfully religious as Nicodemus. So, Jesus declared, "Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again'." In other words, in light of the human condition, don't be surprised that you must be born again. "Must" (dei) is a moral necessity; no exceptions to the rule.
Have you taken seriously the words of Christ? You may have good intentions. You may have your plans laid for one day being a Christian. But the words of Jesus Christ pose the urgent need that we face. We're not in God's kingdom apart from the new birth.
The context is quite helpful in seeing what is meant by the new birth. Notice the scene at the end of John 2:23-25. "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing signs which He was doing." John uses the word "believe" throughout his Gospel. Only the context indicates whether or not it is saving belief or spurious belief. In this case, he utilizes a play on words to indicate the spurious nature of their faith. I'll note this by a more literal translation. "Many believed in His name…but Jesus did not Himself believe in them." John gives the reason. "For He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man." What did Jesus understand was in man? "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders" (Matt. 15:18-19). The use of the plural identifies the variety of ways that sin comes from the heart. Sin originates in us. It's endemic to human nature. Jesus knew this. That's why Paul distinguishes between the deeds of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. There's no in-between condition in man (Gal. 5:16-26). Apart from the new birth, the natural man "does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised" (1 Cor. 2:14). Man is dead in his trespasses and sins; he indulges the desires of the flesh and of the mind (Eph. 2:1-3). His understanding is darkened; he's excluded from God because of his ignorance of the truths of God; his heart is callused and hardened; he is given "over to practice very kind of impurity with greediness" (Eph. 4:17-19).
He is naturally impotent when it comes to entering the kingdom, for that which is flesh cannot inherit that which is spiritual. He is morally unqualified for entry into the kingdom which centers on "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 14:17). He is judicially separated from the kingdom, being under the weight of guilt with reference to his sin [cf. John Tennant, "Regeneration Opened," in Gilbert Tennant, Sermons of the Log College, 258-259; Tennant suggested these terms].
So how can one in that kind of condition suddenly change? "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?" the Lord asked corrupt Judah. "Then you also can do good who are accustomed to doing evil" (Jer. 13:23). Can the dry bones in Ezekiel's Valley of Vision make themselves come to life? Can a dead Lazarus make himself resurrect from the dead? Jesus told Nicodemus, "Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." The reality of the human condition demands a new birth to see God's kingdom. Yet the flesh cannot produce that which is spiritual: "that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Only a work of God's grace can bring about the new birth!
So, what is Jesus talking about when He speaks of being "born again"? Scholars wrestle with the meaning of "again." The Greek word anothen can be translated "again" as in quantity or it can also be translated "from above" as in quality or origin. Either translation gets the point across. Perhaps the ambiguity in the word is intentional. "Born from above" is certainly clear in the text: "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." But so is "born again," noted by Nicodemus' understanding: "He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" In either case, the declaration tells us that something must happen to us that we cannot produce by our power or ability.
What Jesus spoke of is experiential. "Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God…he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Both the word "see" and "enter into" imply something experiential. The kingdom of God is not ephemeral or mystical—it's part of our experience through the new birth. To "see" means to experience or to participate in or to encounter [C. Rogers, LEGNT, 184]. The new birth, therefore, is the necessary experience for one to participate in God's kingdom.
Is Jesus just speaking metaphorically? Given the language and the human condition, it is obvious that He's not using a metaphor but a real experience. It is the means to enter into another realm of existence even while still in the physical state: "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." The flesh is impotent in the realm of the spirit. But how can one birth himself? In the physical realm, that is quite clearly impossible. No on ever planned his birth! Added to this is the grammar of the text. "Unless one is born again…unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God." Our Lord uses a passive voice in "born," which means He is declaring the necessity of a condition that someone else must bring about on our behalf. The passive voice expresses the subject being acted upon. So Jesus told Nicodemus, you cannot birth yourself spiritually so that you enter the kingdom. Someone else must birth you, and apart from that new birth you cannot enter the kingdom. Quite clearly, He explains who that Person is that brings about the new birth: "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Yet, having said that, it is also quite clear, none has the power to control the Holy Spirit. That's what Jesus explains in verse 8. "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." You hear the wind; you see and feel the effects of it; but you have no control over the wind. Neither do we have control over the Holy Spirit. We do not command Him to do this or that. He is God! God cannot be manipulated or controlled by anyone.
But, someone might say, that puts us in the position of being wholly dependent upon God! That means that the new birth is completely a work of grace! You have understood clearly.
What takes place in the new birth? One word that we use to describe the new birth is regeneration. The Holy Spirit re-births us—that is, we've been born physically but now the Spirit births us spiritually. This new birth does not stand alone. It precedes and enables our response of repentance and faith to the gospel's call. John Murray explained, "Regeneration is a change wrought by the Spirit in order that the person may savingly respond to the summons, or demand of the call, embodied in the gospel call" [Collected Writings of John Murray, vol. 2, 172]. Jonathan Edwards said of it, "There is a new foundation laid in the nature of the soul for a new kind of exercise" [Murray, 171]. That which was dead has been brought to life; that which was inclined toward disobedience and rebellion is now disposed to obedience; that which was depraved and corrupt is now inflamed with a new passion for God's law; that which had no will to believe and obey is now given strength to believe and obey the gospel of Christ. "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it." You may not understand the workings of the Spirit in the soul but in the new birth you give evidence of His new presence in the life.
John Tennant, a contemporary of Jonathan Edwards, and who died faithfully preaching the gospel when he was twenty-five, identified eleven evidences of the regenerating work of the Spirit. I will adapt these for our attention [edits in brackets].
Let's return to Nicodemus for a moment. He was the top teacher in Israel, the best known biblical scholar. On top of it, he was admired and respected. He had everything under control—or so he thought. But when Jesus told him that he must be born again, he immediately perceived that he could not control that. Jesus told him that something must happen to him which he did not have the power to accomplish. That's why he must have grimaced! So, Jesus told him, "Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again'." Like Nicodemus, so many want a religion that they can control; push the on button and push the off button. Yet what Jesus calls for is so radical that it means you no longer have charge of your life; you no longer call the shots. The Holy Spirit sovereignly works to purify and renew you so that you might believe and obey Christ.
This birth is from above, as we noted earlier. It is the work of the Holy Spirit inwardly renewing our nature, inclining our minds to God, transforming our affections, opening our understanding of truth. Paul explains it like this in 2 Corinthians 4:6. "For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." He parallels regeneration to God's command, "Let there be light!" The soul that had always been darkened by sin and inward corruption, through the new birth, has been enlightened.
I remember that sacred time when the Spirit regenerated me, though I understood nothing of the theology of it. One day my mind was dark to the gospel and things of God; the next, it was as though a floodlight came on and I saw what I'd never been able to see and understood what had always been a fog to me. My desires the day before were wholly self-centered; the next day, my heart melted at the things of God and inclined toward Christ. The way that I looked at everything changed from that moment. I believed the gospel; I put my trust in Christ; I committed myself to be His follower. But none of this happened until the Holy Spirit turned on the lights in my darkened mind and soul. I did not even understand enough before this to ask the Lord to regenerate me! He just did it; then I believed the gospel. That's why the use of the passive voice in "born again" is critical for us to grasp—the new birth comes by sovereign action.
Does that mean that a person is not to call upon God to save him? Of course not; since we see in many places in Scripture that men are commanded to repent and believe. But it does indicate that even the desire for such crying out of the soul comes from the Lord.
Verse 5 indicates something of the effect of the regenerating work of the Spirit. Nicodemus posed an absurdity in verse 4; there may have even been some sarcasm in his comment. "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?"" He knew better than such nonsense. Christ's response parallels Ezekiel 36, a passage that Nicodemus would have known well. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Some mistakenly interpret this use of water to be baptism but to do so, denies the Old Testament background for Christ's declaration. "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances" (Eze. 36:25-27). Just as corrupt Judah needed to be purified and renewed, even so do all that are sinners. Here is not a little boost to help us do the right thing but "the renovation of the whole nature," as Calvin put it [Calvin's Commentaries, XVII, 108]. The water symbolizes the cleansing work of the Spirit. In this, Jesus put his finger on the proud Pharisee's self-righteousness. He could not enter God's kingdom unless he had "thorough spiritual purification from the pollution and defilement of sin" [John Murray, 183]. The Spirit would purify him and impart life to him; and He does the same to us—for we have the same need as Nicodemus.
So, Jesus declares, "You must be born again." It's not a suggestion. It's a necessity if we would enter God's kingdom. 'But I'm religious, but I'm a good person, but I've been baptized, but I've done lots of good things, but I've tried to live a Christian life.' Then you have nothing on Nicodemus. Hear the words of Christ, "You must be born again." Cry out to Him for the mercy of the new birth. Give your soul no rest until you have the great confidence that you have been born of the Spirit. The true evidence of regeneration is "repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21).
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