You Must Be Born Again

A study of John 3:5–8

“Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.””
‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭5-‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Definitions of the original language in the context of this passage:

-Truly: “amēn”, “ἀμήν”; particle indeclinable — An adverb by which something is asserted or confirmed; at the beginning of a discourse, surely, of a truth, truly; so frequent in the discourses of Christ in the gospels. The repetition of the word (ἀμὴν, ἀμήν), employed by John alone in his Gospel (twenty-five times), has the force of a superlative, most assuredly.

-Is Born (v.5): “gennaō”, “γεννάω”; verb — peculiarly, in the Gospel and First Epistle of John, of God conferring upon men the nature and disposition of his sons, imparting to them spiritual life, i. e. by his own holy power prompting and persuading souls to put faith in Christ and live a new life consecrated to himself

-Water: “ydōr”, “ὕδωρ”; neuter noun — literally or figuratively of water.

-The Spirit: “pneuma”, “πνεῦμα”; neuter noun — the Holy Spirit (august, full of majesty, adorable, utterly opposed to all impurity): To its agency are referred all the blessings of the Christian religion, such as regeneration wrought in baptism.

-Enter: “eiserchomai”, “εἰσέρχομαι”; verb — to go out or to come in; of men or animals, as into a house or city.

-Kingdom: “basileia”, “βασιλεία”; feminine noun — Jesus employed the phrase Kingdom of God or of heaven to indicate that perfect order of things which he was about to establish, in which all those of every nation who should believe in him were to be gathered together into one society, dedicated and intimately united to God, and made partakers of eternal salvation.

-Of God: “Theos”, “θεός”; masculine noun — spoken of the only and true God.

-Flesh: “sarx”, “σάρξ”; feminine noun — used of natural or physical origin, generation, relationship; that which has been born of the natural man is a natural man (opposed to one who has been born again by the power of the Holy Spirit).

-Marvel (Be Amazed): “thaumazō”, “θαυμάζω”; verb — to wonder, wonder at, marvel.

-Must: “dei”, “δεῖ”; verb — necessity in reference to what is required to attain to some end.

-Again: “anōthen”, “ἄνωθεν”; adverb — anew, over again, indicating repetition. Also, “from above”, of things which come from heaven or God.

-Wind (v.8 ) (Same word used for “Spirit”): “pneuma”, “πνεῦμα”; neuter noun — a movement of air (gentle) blast; of the wind.

-Blows: “pneō”, “πνέω”; verb — to breathe, to blow: of the wind.

-It Wishes: “thelō”, “θέλω”; verb — to be resolved or determined, to purpose.

Observation/Summary (short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

After being told a person must be born again to see the Kingdom of God, Nicodemus asked Jesus how it could be possible for a person to be born again. Jesus answers by telling Nicodemus He is speaking of spiritual rebirth, not physical. Jesus also compares the mystery of Spiritual rebirth to the blowing of the wind, a natural phenomenon we see, measure and study, but still cannot explain the “why?” and “how?” at the root of it all.

Implication (what does this mean to us):

Nicodemus, likely for fear of the other ruling Pharisees, of which he was one, came to Jesus by night for a private conversation. Although he timidly came to Jesus by night and in secret, Jesus welcomed him into conversation. Even timid and weak faith in Jesus is welcome when it is sincere. All who come to Him in weakness will receive His strength. While a ruler like Nicodemus may have had many pressing matters on his mind, Jesus speaks to the most important issue of all: the need to be born again. Jesus is not talking to Nicodemus about reformation or growth. He is describing the complete transformation required for a person to enter God’s Kingdom. Nicodemus thought that as a Jew and a Pharisee he was already born into God’s Kingdom, but Jesus shatters that illusion here.

In response to Nicodemus’s question in verse 4 about how it could be possible for a person to be reborn physically, Jesus makes it abundantly clear he is talking about Spiritual rebirth. And this rebirth is required for even the leading religious class in Israel, Nicodemus included. Jesus prefaces His statement with the familiar words, “Truly, truly, I say to you…”. “Truly, truly,” is a statement that tells the listener what is about to be said has deep meaning and significance, and “I say to you,” carries the implication of an authoritative statement to follow. The statement is: unless someone is born of water and the Spirit they cannot enter God’s Kingdom. In verse 3 Jesus told Nicodemus unless one is born again they cannot “see” the Kingdom of God and now He states they cannot “enter” unless born again. With this repetition Jesus is making it abundantly clear that only those born again of the Spirit can see or enter God’s Kingdom.

This communicates our utter helplessness. No amount of behavior modification, personal growth, prayer or religious ritual will grant a person citizenship in heaven. No one can cause themselves to be born the first time (of water), let alone again (of the Spirit). Only those who receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior can be born of God, and this is what Jesus came to give us (John 1:12–13).

There is some disagreement about what exactly it means to be born “of water.” Keeping in mind Jesus was speaking to a Jewish religious leader who knew the Old Testament very well, there may have been prophecies Jesus referred to such as Ezekiel 36:25–28. In this passage a cleansing by water under the New Covenant is foretold when God says He will cleanse people from idols, give them a new heart and put a new spirit within them. It is possible Jesus referred to this passage. It is also possible to be “born of water” refers to physical birth because we are born from a sack of water in the womb. This makes sense because in verse 6 Jesus plainly says, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh,” so we know He is clearly defining the difference between physical and Spiritual birth. But it is also possible verse 6 is a supplemental explanation given in addition to OT prophetic references in verse 5. Whatever the case, what is important for us to understand from verses 5–6 is that physical birth and Spiritual birth are two different things, and to enter God’s Kingdom we must be born of the Spirit of God.

Next, in verse 7 Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” Jesus also says “Do not marvel” in John 5:28 where He spoke of His authority as the Son of God. Here though, He tells Nicodemus not to marvel, or in other words not to be so amazed as to doubt the truth of what He just said. Nicodemus did marvel at what Jesus said because He and all of Israel thought they had already been born into a covenant relationship with God. They thought it was the rest of the world that needed to be reborn like them. But Jesus is telling Nicodemus something offensive that he must understand and believe in order to enter God’s Kingdom. This is the same statement Jesus greets all of us with when we hear the gospel. It is offensive to hear we are born into hopeless, sinful depravity, and our nature is so contrary to God’s that we must be completely reborn and transformed in order to enter into relationship with Him in His Kingdom. This fundamental truth must not be so amazing or offensive to us that we doubt and refuse to believe it. Because Jesus loves Nicodemus and us, He wants us not to marvel at and doubt the truth of our need to be born again. He wants us to take hold of this truth by faith and cling to it, or rather, cling to Him.

With His statement about the wind in verse 8, Jesus essentially tells Nicodemus, “You do not understand everything about the wind, but you know it is real and see its effects. It is the same with the Spirit of God.” Just as we experience the wind without needing to understand every detail about how it works, we do not need to understand absolutely everything about how God’s Spirit works. He is far beyond our understanding. Sit down and try to explain advanced calculus or differential equations to a toddler. Go ahead, try it and see how far you get. This is what Jesus is doing here with Nicodemus and by extension with us. We are far younger than toddlers in comparison to Jesus Christ, the Ancient of Days. He is explaining a concept to us that is far beyond our ability to fully comprehend, but He is telling us what we can and need to comprehend now. We must be humble and acknowledge the infinite wisdom of God in revealing His truth to us in this manner. We do not have to understand absolutely everything about God in order to believe in Him and accept His free gift of salvation.

Many people disagree with this though. Instead of accepting this free gift of new life by being born of the Spirit, they stand and marvel at what they do not understand. Many people refuse to believe in Jesus because they have not had every single question answered. But this logic is not consistent in their lives. They sit in chairs without first examining every single joint and seam for structural integrity, or without doing a thorough examination of the manufacturer. They agree to undergo surgeries without first understanding every single detail of how the procedure will be performed, and without performing a thorough background check of every surgery performed previously by the surgeon. They drive on bridges not inspected by themselves, and where they have not reviewed the credentials and licensure of the engineers who designed them. They know what they need to know about things like this, and then leave the rest to faith, but refuse to even consider doing so when it comes to God who is perfectly trustworthy.

We have a wealth of knowledge in the Bible, and God has revealed to us what we need to know about Him, and what is required to become His children. I am not telling anyone to stop asking questions. Questions are welcome with Jesus. We can see that in this very chapter as He answers the questions of Nicodemus. Bring your questions, but also bring a willingness to humbly submit to and accept what you do not understand. Jesus is loving, glorious and mighty. His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. He is the Most High God, and in our finitude and sinfulness we should not expect to be able to understand absolutely every aspect of His infinite greatness. But because of what we do know about His endless love, abounding grace, perfect knowledge, pure justice and incomparable goodness, we know we can trust Him at all times. We do not need to understand every single detail about salvation to accept it. Jesus is trustworthy.

While Nicodemus had a difficult time understanding and accepting this, he did not get offended and walk away. He honestly expressed his lack of understanding and asked Jesus to explain further. The gospel is often offensive. The message Nicodemus and all of us need to understand is that the sinful nature we are born with is so opposed to God in every way, so depraved in relation to His holiness, that we must be born again by the Holy Spirit to a completely new nature. There is nothing good in us apart from Christ, and we need to be reborn by the power of His Spirit as new creations.

Application (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):

From this passage we learn to enter the Kingdom of God, everyone needs to be born again of the Spirit of God. With our first birth we are born of the flesh and born into sin. Our original natures are depraved and so contrary to God that we must be born again as new creations in Him in order to live with Him in His kingdom. Our depravity points to our helplessness, but the gift of rebirth in Christ points to God’s boundless love and grace for us. This gift of rebirth and new life is freely offered to everyone, but it must be accepted by faith. There is still much that is mysterious about how this works, but what we need to know is clear. We must not pridefully let our remaining questions about this keep us from humble acceptance of the truth of Jesus’ words. We must not stand and marvel at this revelation, but instead, by faith, grab hold of Christ and enter into His Kingdom by being born again of the Spirit.

All that is required to be born again to new life in Jesus is to confess and repent of our sin, and believe in Jesus Christ as our one and only Lord and Savior. (Romans 10:9–10)

Self Reflection:

Have I been born again? If not, what is keeping me from accepting this free gift from God?

If I have been born again, how does my daily life reflect the character of the Spirit I have been born into?

Do I understand that questions are welcome with Jesus but also that I do not need every single question answered because from what Jesus has revealed about Himself in Scripture I can see He is worthy of all my trust and devotion?