John 3:1-8
The Aspects of Being Born Again
Introduction
Our purpose for going through John’s gospel is really the same purpose of John in writing the gospel. He says in chapter 20:31, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
I’ve written all that is here so that you may know and believe so that you may have eternal life. We want people to come to Jesus, to know He is the Christ, the Son of God, and we want them to by believing to have eternal life. That’s our motivation, that’s John’s motivation, and that was and is Jesus Christ’s motivation.
Now we’ve gone through the first 2 chapters and Jesus has already been presented several different ways. John presents Jesus as the eternal Word who became flesh and the Light of men. We’ve heard John the Baptist’s testimony that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. We’ve heard Andrew call Him the Messiah, and we’ve heard the Philip call Jesus the One whom Moses wrote about, and Nathanael after a bout with doubt declares Jesus to be the King of Israel, the Son of God.
Last week we saw at the end of chapter 2 that Jesus spoke of His body as a temple. “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in 3 days.” The Jews thought he was speaking of the building they were standing in, but John tells us that Jesus was speaking of His body. His body was the new temple. Worship was no longer going to be centered in a building, but, worship would be in Christ.
So Jesus teaches of the new temple in chapter 2, and, now in chapter 3 he is going to teach of the new birth. He tells Nicodemus that he must be born again if he ever wants to enter the kingdom of God. The Greek phrase for “born again” can also mean “born from above.” Both apply as the new birth is something that comes from above.
Before we are born again we are spiritually dead. We need to be spiritually born. The theological word here is regeneration. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to regenerate a repentant sinner into a brand new creation at the moment he or she puts their trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins.
There are various passages that speak of the new birth. Titus 3:5 says, “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit…” Salvation and re-birth happen at the same moment – the moment of belief in Christ. One of my favorites is 2 Corinthians 5:17, which says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a brand new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” It’s new life in Christ for those who believe and receive Him as Savior. And being born again is based on believing the gospel as 1 Peter 1:23, “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”
John briefly introduced us to this new birth back in chapter 1 when he said in verse 12, “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children not born of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John is saying here that in order to be born a child of God you must receive Christ first. The moment you do that, you get a second birth, a brand new birth.
Well, what does Jesus teach that old Pharisee, Nicodemus, on that dark night in Jerusalem? There are 3 things in regards to being born again that I see in the passage for us: Seek Jesus to be born again, Salvation by being born again, and be born again by the Spirit.
Seek Jesus to be born again (1-2)
First, the first step towards becoming born again is to seek after Jesus. Verses 1 and 2 say, “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 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 miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.’”
Nicodemus is a Pharisee, the strictest religious group in Israel, and a ruler of Israel. He is a man of position and prestige; he has great learning and is very, very religious. But, whoever Nicodemus was, he knew he needed to come to Jesus so he could know who Jesus truly was. He knew God was with Him, but, he needed and wanted to know more.
Notice that Nicodemus comes at night. Some people believe different reasons why he came at night (less disruptions; less busy). But, I think there are two reasons why - one is practical and the other is spiritual. The practical reason is that he didn’t want to be seen by other Pharisees and Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus.
As a whole the Pharisees did not receive Jesus (Jn. 1:11). But, Scripture is clear that there were some among the Pharisees and rulers who did believe in Jesus (Jn. 12:42). And later when the Church is born in Jerusalem, Acts 15 verse 5 says specifically that there were Pharisees who had become believers. But, as John says in chapter 12, many of those Pharisees who believed did not confess publicly because they were afraid of being thrown out of the synagogue. Nicodemus was taking a great career risk in coming to Jesus.
The second reason Nicodemus comes at night is that is symbolizes the spiritual darkness Nicodemus was in. John says in chapter 1 verse 5 that “the light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not understood it.” Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus teaches him that night about a spiritual birth (v4, v9) because he did not have spiritual understanding (v10).
Everyone before they are born again is living in darkness. Ephesians 4:18 says that those without Christ “are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God…” Anyone who comes to Jesus is coming from darkness. That’s why Jesus says “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Different people come to Jesus from different backgrounds, but, all come out of darkness. People either remain in darkness or they come into the light. It’s no coincidence that Jesus ends his conversation with Nicodemus in verses 19-21 by talking about coming into the light. He was calling Nicodemus out to come to Him.
You are being called out too. You have a standing invitation from God to come to Him. Isaiah 55:1, 6 says, “Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near” Again in Matthew 11:28 Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” And again in Revelation 22:17, “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”
You’ve got to recognize that if your soul is thirsty, that if you hunger for God’s righteousness (Mt. 5:6), that if you are like the Psalmist in Psalm 42 who says, “As a deer pants for streams of water so my soul pants for you, O God, My soul thirsts for God, for the living God, when can I go and meet with God?” then God is waiting for you to come to Him.
Don’t be like the Pharisees who came to Jesus only to test Him. They were made into fools. Don’t be like the rich young ruler who came only to hear Jesus re-assure him that he was good enough (Mt. 19). He went away feeling worse than when he came. Come with a heart ready to surrender. A true coming to Jesus is surrendering to Him.
The invitation to come is there, the door has been opened, Jesus stands outside the door of your heart – will you open and let Him in? Will you respond to His invitation and come to Him? He tells you the truth, unless you come to him, unless you seek Him, you cannot be born again.
Salvation by being born again (3-5)
Secondly, being born again is the only way to be saved and enter the kingdom of God. Read verses 3-5 with me, “In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.’ ‘How can a man be born when he is old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born.’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.’”
Someone is not born into the kingdom of God; they must be born again into the kingdom of God.
The Bible says that this world is under the power of Satan. He is called the ruler of the kingdom of the air (Eph. 2:2), the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4), the prince of this world (Jn. 12:31), the one in whom the whole world is under control (1 John 5:18,19).
But his kingdom is temporary. It is not eternal. There is another kingdom that is eternal, and that is the kingdom of God and His Son, Jesus the Christ. The Scriptures began speaking of this long ago starting with Daniel 7 verses 13 and 14, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”
In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul tells us the future where Christ finally conquers the dominion of His enemies. Verses 22 – 28 say, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
And so we praise God because we who believe in Christ have been rescued from the grip of the god of this age. Listen to Paul’s words to the Colossians, “For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, through the forgiveness of sins.”
Entrance into God’s kingdom is based on Jesus death on the cross, which paid our ticket into that kingdom. He paid for our sins, His blood has bought us, His death and resurrection proves that God has indeed redeemed us for His Son’s Kingdom, His Son whom He loves, and we – we whom He also loves if we are in Christ.
To enter the kingdom of God and His salvation, you must be born again.
Born of water and Spirit (5-8)
Thirdly, Jesus says that being born again is being born of water and the Spirit. Verses 5-8, “Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘you must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear it’s sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.’”
Nicodemus misunderstands Jesus because he interprets Jesus words as having physical meaning when Jesus is using the physical to illustrate the spiritual. John shows us often throughout his gospel how the Jews misunderstand what Jesus is teaching. He is teaching them spiritual truths and they are interpreting them physically: the temple (2:20), living water (4:15), bread (6:52), death (11:13),
And here Nicodemus misunderstand Jesus by thinking of a being born again physically when Jesus is talking about new spiritual life (v4). But Jesus is gracious and patient with those who honestly are seeking. He says in chapter 6 verse 37, “whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” Are you honestly seeking? Jesus will never drive you away if you come to Him, and He will graciously show you the truth if you seek it from Him.
He did for Nicodemus, which is why he explains what he meant by being born again. It means to be born of water and Spirit (v5-8). Jesus does not mean that a water baptism is part of the born again experience. That is a physical, outward work of man. Salvation is by God’s work and God’s grace, so water baptism is not it here.
Some think water means the physical birth – that born again means to be born physically and the “water” means the amniotic fluid in the womb. But, being born physically is the first birth and Jesus is talking about the second birth and the water Jesus mentions here has to do with the second birth, not the first physical birth. Plus it just seems ridiculous to say you have to be born physically.
There are other explanations, but the one that makes the most sense is that Jesus is talking about both the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. The Holy Spirit is often metaphorically described as water in the Bible. In chapter 7 of John’ gospel Jesus says that anyone who believes in him will have streams of living water flow from within Him. John interprets for us what he means in the next verse and says that this stream of living water is the Holy Spirit.
But, the Word of God is also spoken of in connection with purifying water. Ephesians 5:25, 26, “Husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word”
The work the Holy Spirit is to wash the believing sinner of their sins and to bring them from spiritual death to spiritual life in Christ. Titus 3:5 says, “He saved us by the washing of re-birth and the renewal of the Holy Spirit” Born of water and spirit – water refers to the cleansing and purifying of sin and guilt at the moment a sinner receives Jesus as Savior.
This would be familiar to Nicodemus because as a Pharisee they used water to wash everything as part of their religious rituals. Mark 7 says, “The Pharisees do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.”
Washing things with water was a ritual that purified things from being defiled. Nicodemus would have recognized right away that Jesus was saying being born again was an event whereby one was purified from sins.
And since he was a Pharisee, a teacher and ruler of Israel, he was most certainly acquainted with what God through Ezekiel in chapter 36 verses 25-27, “I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities…and I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” The parallel language of being cleansed with water and receiving the Spirit that Jesus uses would not have been missed by Nicodemus.
Jesus is telling Nicodemus that real religion is something that happens from the inside out. It’s not a work of man but a work of the Spirit. Nicodemus had to come to the point where he realized his strict religious lifestyle, his temple worship, his exact tithing, his following the Law and the oral traditions of the elders, all of HIS effort to be counted in the kingdom of God counted for nothing.
What counts is a new life that comes from a new birth. What counts is a new creation from the cleansing and regenerating work of the Spirit. This, Nicodemus must realize, is received, not rewarded to him for his religious works.
Conclusion
Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit (Jn. 2:7). The Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life (Jn 6:63).
We cannot see the wind, but, we can see its effects - the trees sway, the leaves blow. The Spirit is the same way – He is invisible to us but we can see His work. We can see people moved by Him.
Have you been born of the Holy Spirit? Has our invisible and eternal God given you eternal life in His Son’s name? Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 18, “We fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
You don’t see the Spirit, where he comes from or where he goes, but, you can hear His sound. You can hear the voice of God calling your heart. If you hear the voice of God calling you, do not harden your heart. Come to Him. Believe in Him and receive Him as your Savior and you will receive new life within you, your sins will be washed away, your guilt will be taken away, you will see the kingdom of God …… you will be born again into eternal life.
The Aspects of Being Born Again
Introduction
Our purpose for going through John’s gospel is really the same purpose of John in writing the gospel. He says in chapter 20:31, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
I’ve written all that is here so that you may know and believe so that you may have eternal life. We want people to come to Jesus, to know He is the Christ, the Son of God, and we want them to by believing to have eternal life. That’s our motivation, that’s John’s motivation, and that was and is Jesus Christ’s motivation.
Now we’ve gone through the first 2 chapters and Jesus has already been presented several different ways. John presents Jesus as the eternal Word who became flesh and the Light of men. We’ve heard John the Baptist’s testimony that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. We’ve heard Andrew call Him the Messiah, and we’ve heard the Philip call Jesus the One whom Moses wrote about, and Nathanael after a bout with doubt declares Jesus to be the King of Israel, the Son of God.
Last week we saw at the end of chapter 2 that Jesus spoke of His body as a temple. “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in 3 days.” The Jews thought he was speaking of the building they were standing in, but John tells us that Jesus was speaking of His body. His body was the new temple. Worship was no longer going to be centered in a building, but, worship would be in Christ.
So Jesus teaches of the new temple in chapter 2, and, now in chapter 3 he is going to teach of the new birth. He tells Nicodemus that he must be born again if he ever wants to enter the kingdom of God. The Greek phrase for “born again” can also mean “born from above.” Both apply as the new birth is something that comes from above.
Before we are born again we are spiritually dead. We need to be spiritually born. The theological word here is regeneration. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to regenerate a repentant sinner into a brand new creation at the moment he or she puts their trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins.
There are various passages that speak of the new birth. Titus 3:5 says, “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit…” Salvation and re-birth happen at the same moment – the moment of belief in Christ. One of my favorites is 2 Corinthians 5:17, which says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a brand new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” It’s new life in Christ for those who believe and receive Him as Savior. And being born again is based on believing the gospel as 1 Peter 1:23, “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”
John briefly introduced us to this new birth back in chapter 1 when he said in verse 12, “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children not born of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John is saying here that in order to be born a child of God you must receive Christ first. The moment you do that, you get a second birth, a brand new birth.
Well, what does Jesus teach that old Pharisee, Nicodemus, on that dark night in Jerusalem? There are 3 things in regards to being born again that I see in the passage for us: Seek Jesus to be born again, Salvation by being born again, and be born again by the Spirit.
Seek Jesus to be born again (1-2)
First, the first step towards becoming born again is to seek after Jesus. Verses 1 and 2 say, “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 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 miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.’”
Nicodemus is a Pharisee, the strictest religious group in Israel, and a ruler of Israel. He is a man of position and prestige; he has great learning and is very, very religious. But, whoever Nicodemus was, he knew he needed to come to Jesus so he could know who Jesus truly was. He knew God was with Him, but, he needed and wanted to know more.
Notice that Nicodemus comes at night. Some people believe different reasons why he came at night (less disruptions; less busy). But, I think there are two reasons why - one is practical and the other is spiritual. The practical reason is that he didn’t want to be seen by other Pharisees and Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus.
As a whole the Pharisees did not receive Jesus (Jn. 1:11). But, Scripture is clear that there were some among the Pharisees and rulers who did believe in Jesus (Jn. 12:42). And later when the Church is born in Jerusalem, Acts 15 verse 5 says specifically that there were Pharisees who had become believers. But, as John says in chapter 12, many of those Pharisees who believed did not confess publicly because they were afraid of being thrown out of the synagogue. Nicodemus was taking a great career risk in coming to Jesus.
The second reason Nicodemus comes at night is that is symbolizes the spiritual darkness Nicodemus was in. John says in chapter 1 verse 5 that “the light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not understood it.” Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus teaches him that night about a spiritual birth (v4, v9) because he did not have spiritual understanding (v10).
Everyone before they are born again is living in darkness. Ephesians 4:18 says that those without Christ “are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God…” Anyone who comes to Jesus is coming from darkness. That’s why Jesus says “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Different people come to Jesus from different backgrounds, but, all come out of darkness. People either remain in darkness or they come into the light. It’s no coincidence that Jesus ends his conversation with Nicodemus in verses 19-21 by talking about coming into the light. He was calling Nicodemus out to come to Him.
You are being called out too. You have a standing invitation from God to come to Him. Isaiah 55:1, 6 says, “Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near” Again in Matthew 11:28 Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” And again in Revelation 22:17, “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”
You’ve got to recognize that if your soul is thirsty, that if you hunger for God’s righteousness (Mt. 5:6), that if you are like the Psalmist in Psalm 42 who says, “As a deer pants for streams of water so my soul pants for you, O God, My soul thirsts for God, for the living God, when can I go and meet with God?” then God is waiting for you to come to Him.
Don’t be like the Pharisees who came to Jesus only to test Him. They were made into fools. Don’t be like the rich young ruler who came only to hear Jesus re-assure him that he was good enough (Mt. 19). He went away feeling worse than when he came. Come with a heart ready to surrender. A true coming to Jesus is surrendering to Him.
The invitation to come is there, the door has been opened, Jesus stands outside the door of your heart – will you open and let Him in? Will you respond to His invitation and come to Him? He tells you the truth, unless you come to him, unless you seek Him, you cannot be born again.
Salvation by being born again (3-5)
Secondly, being born again is the only way to be saved and enter the kingdom of God. Read verses 3-5 with me, “In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.’ ‘How can a man be born when he is old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born.’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.’”
Someone is not born into the kingdom of God; they must be born again into the kingdom of God.
The Bible says that this world is under the power of Satan. He is called the ruler of the kingdom of the air (Eph. 2:2), the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4), the prince of this world (Jn. 12:31), the one in whom the whole world is under control (1 John 5:18,19).
But his kingdom is temporary. It is not eternal. There is another kingdom that is eternal, and that is the kingdom of God and His Son, Jesus the Christ. The Scriptures began speaking of this long ago starting with Daniel 7 verses 13 and 14, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”
In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul tells us the future where Christ finally conquers the dominion of His enemies. Verses 22 – 28 say, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
And so we praise God because we who believe in Christ have been rescued from the grip of the god of this age. Listen to Paul’s words to the Colossians, “For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, through the forgiveness of sins.”
Entrance into God’s kingdom is based on Jesus death on the cross, which paid our ticket into that kingdom. He paid for our sins, His blood has bought us, His death and resurrection proves that God has indeed redeemed us for His Son’s Kingdom, His Son whom He loves, and we – we whom He also loves if we are in Christ.
To enter the kingdom of God and His salvation, you must be born again.
Born of water and Spirit (5-8)
Thirdly, Jesus says that being born again is being born of water and the Spirit. Verses 5-8, “Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘you must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear it’s sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.’”
Nicodemus misunderstands Jesus because he interprets Jesus words as having physical meaning when Jesus is using the physical to illustrate the spiritual. John shows us often throughout his gospel how the Jews misunderstand what Jesus is teaching. He is teaching them spiritual truths and they are interpreting them physically: the temple (2:20), living water (4:15), bread (6:52), death (11:13),
And here Nicodemus misunderstand Jesus by thinking of a being born again physically when Jesus is talking about new spiritual life (v4). But Jesus is gracious and patient with those who honestly are seeking. He says in chapter 6 verse 37, “whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” Are you honestly seeking? Jesus will never drive you away if you come to Him, and He will graciously show you the truth if you seek it from Him.
He did for Nicodemus, which is why he explains what he meant by being born again. It means to be born of water and Spirit (v5-8). Jesus does not mean that a water baptism is part of the born again experience. That is a physical, outward work of man. Salvation is by God’s work and God’s grace, so water baptism is not it here.
Some think water means the physical birth – that born again means to be born physically and the “water” means the amniotic fluid in the womb. But, being born physically is the first birth and Jesus is talking about the second birth and the water Jesus mentions here has to do with the second birth, not the first physical birth. Plus it just seems ridiculous to say you have to be born physically.
There are other explanations, but the one that makes the most sense is that Jesus is talking about both the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. The Holy Spirit is often metaphorically described as water in the Bible. In chapter 7 of John’ gospel Jesus says that anyone who believes in him will have streams of living water flow from within Him. John interprets for us what he means in the next verse and says that this stream of living water is the Holy Spirit.
But, the Word of God is also spoken of in connection with purifying water. Ephesians 5:25, 26, “Husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word”
The work the Holy Spirit is to wash the believing sinner of their sins and to bring them from spiritual death to spiritual life in Christ. Titus 3:5 says, “He saved us by the washing of re-birth and the renewal of the Holy Spirit” Born of water and spirit – water refers to the cleansing and purifying of sin and guilt at the moment a sinner receives Jesus as Savior.
This would be familiar to Nicodemus because as a Pharisee they used water to wash everything as part of their religious rituals. Mark 7 says, “The Pharisees do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.”
Washing things with water was a ritual that purified things from being defiled. Nicodemus would have recognized right away that Jesus was saying being born again was an event whereby one was purified from sins.
And since he was a Pharisee, a teacher and ruler of Israel, he was most certainly acquainted with what God through Ezekiel in chapter 36 verses 25-27, “I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities…and I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” The parallel language of being cleansed with water and receiving the Spirit that Jesus uses would not have been missed by Nicodemus.
Jesus is telling Nicodemus that real religion is something that happens from the inside out. It’s not a work of man but a work of the Spirit. Nicodemus had to come to the point where he realized his strict religious lifestyle, his temple worship, his exact tithing, his following the Law and the oral traditions of the elders, all of HIS effort to be counted in the kingdom of God counted for nothing.
What counts is a new life that comes from a new birth. What counts is a new creation from the cleansing and regenerating work of the Spirit. This, Nicodemus must realize, is received, not rewarded to him for his religious works.
Conclusion
Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit (Jn. 2:7). The Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life (Jn 6:63).
We cannot see the wind, but, we can see its effects - the trees sway, the leaves blow. The Spirit is the same way – He is invisible to us but we can see His work. We can see people moved by Him.
Have you been born of the Holy Spirit? Has our invisible and eternal God given you eternal life in His Son’s name? Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 18, “We fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
You don’t see the Spirit, where he comes from or where he goes, but, you can hear His sound. You can hear the voice of God calling your heart. If you hear the voice of God calling you, do not harden your heart. Come to Him. Believe in Him and receive Him as your Savior and you will receive new life within you, your sins will be washed away, your guilt will be taken away, you will see the kingdom of God …… you will be born again into eternal life.
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