(5) Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (6) That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (7) Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ (8) 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.)
The priority of entering the kingdom of God. You must be born again or born from above. Entering the kingdom of God is on His terms not ours. The text reminds us the causal agent is the Spirit of God, there is nothing we can do to gain access on our own efforts.
The principle of entering the kingdom of God. The essential truth is only God, or more specifically, the Spirit of God who can bring about this new birth (v. 8). God’s kingdom is His domain, His rule and God alone has the right to determine who enters and how.
The picture of entering the kingdom of God. The essential nature of this new birth is described as “being born of water and spirit.” You will notice that I translate the text differently than most of your Bibles. Most translations have, “water and the Spirit” which is not grammatically correct. There is no article (the) before the word water and there is an assumption this refers to the Holy Spirit, since Jesus clearly refers to His person later in the text.
This aspect of being “born of water and spirit” is not talking about the essential cause of the new birth, which is the Holy Spirit, it is speaking to the essential nature of the new birth. This is explicit in verse six, “that which is born of flesh is (by nature) flesh, and that which is born of the (Holy) Spirit, is (by nature) spirit (or spiritual in nature). The Holy Spirit is the cause of bringing about the new birth in the heart of a person.
The best picture of this “new birth” I believe is back in the Old Testament.
Ezekiel 36:25-27 – I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, 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.
All three elements spoken here also are expressed in John 3:5-8 – water refers to cleansing, the new spirit speaks to a new heart of flesh having a new ability to relate to God. The Spirit refers to the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit who initiates the cleansing and new creation of the heart.
Since Jesus expected Nicodemus to know what He was talking about it is logical to assume the Old Testament would be the source for the answer. I believe this text in Ezekiel is the source of Jesus’ teaching in John 3:5-8. This “new covenant” relationship God promised the Jews is talked about in both texts.
This is an awesome and amazing reality for us too. When a person receives Christ as Lord and Savior, the Spirit of God cleanses them from their uncleanness, creates a new heart and indwells them. This inaugurates this new relationship with God and begins this new life where an individual begins learning how to live life as the Spirit of God mentors, teaches and empowers them to become what God calls them to be and do.
Since God is the only one who can create this new life, we can’t lose this life. It centers on the Son. 1 John 5:11-12 says this, “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.”
The question we all have to answer, and a great question to ask is, “Do you have the Son?” New life is found in a person, not a church, nor traditions, or religion, or performance or good works. We are not good enough the way we are, we need to be born again (or born from above).
Pastor Brad Little
