You Must Be Born Again
Notes
Transcript
I would invite you this evening to turn in your Bibles to the third chapter of John’s Gospel. I spent a long time this week trying to decide how to break up this chapter. There is so much richness in this chapter that we could probably spend months on it. But as I prayed and thought I decided rather than take many short sections I was going to do larger sections of the chapter to help give us a better picture of the whole scene and not get caught up in the minute details that distract from the overarching themes that John is trying to get across.
So tonight we will be looking at the first fifteen verses of chapter three. The title for tonight is “You Must Be Born Again.” You must be born again.
Tonight, we will meet a man named Nicodemus. And he will be searching for answers to some very deep questions that he has burning in his heart.
But before we get to tonight’s passage and look at Nicodemus and Jesus, we need to look back to where we finished in chapter two because it sets the scene for what we are studying tonight. You may remember that I said last week the last verses of chapter two are a bridge to chapter three. So verses 23-25.
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
What I want to emphasize about these verses is again talking about belief and what that means. It is not just a head knowledge. Jesus is not interested in a spurious moment of faith without any change. He is not looking for those who believe Him only because of the signs and wonders that He has done. There are many who can claim that. After all, he said that many will say Lord Lord and He will not recognize them.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Christ demands a true heart change, a turning away from sin and following Him putting our full trust in Him. It is this new life, this new birth, this new creature that is the one that is saved. And that is the backdrop for tonight’s passage. You must be born again. It is not just a moment’s decision, it is not just saying a prayer. It is so much more than that. So let’s look tonight at the first fifteen verses of John 3.
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered 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? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the 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.”
9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
As I said, tonight we meet Nicodemus. Now our passage tonight tells us that Nicodemus was one of the Pharisees. Remember, the Pharisees are who Jesus and His disciples will clash with throughout His earthly ministry. But this passage shows that at least one of the Pharisees believed the signs of Jesus and we will get back to that in a few minutes.
But Nicodemus was not just a Pharisee, he was a member of the Sanhedrin. We know this for two reasons, one, it says here in verse one that he was a ruler of the Jews. Second, it tells us this again in .
50 Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them,
45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 47 The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
John 7:45-
Nicodemus in this passage was shown to be a member of both the Pharisees and the officers of the Sanhedrin.
So what or who is the Sanhedrin?
The Sanhedrin was the highest Jewish Council in the first century. The body had 71 members, the head being the High Priest of Israel. They Governed the Jews under the high authority of the Romans. They would handle civil, criminal, and religious matters concerning the Jews. However, they did not have the authority to enact capital punishment. That right was held by the Romans only which we will see when we get to the Passion week toward the end of John’s Gospel.
But their powers were wide-ranging. They could arrest people, and conduct trials. They were the judge and jury for one of Christ’s several trials before His crucifixion.
So this is a powerful man coming to Jesus in the middle of the night. Now we don’t know why Nicodemus came to Jesus in the middle of the night and I do not think that it does us any good to speculate why it was at night. All we know is that it was at night and not the middle of the daytime. And we see him greet Jesus.
2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
Now we already know that Rabbi means teacher from John chapter one. But it is significant that Nicodemus calls Jesus Rabbi. He is legitimizing Jesus. But, at this point, he is only legitimizing Jesus as a teacher. He does not yet know Jesus’ true identity. He does not recognize Him as the Messiah. But he knows that there is something different about Jesus, that He must be from God because of the signs that He has been performing. In fact, it is interesting to point out that he does not say I know, but we know. Apparently, there was more than one of the Pharisees that had these thoughts about Jesus though we do not know who or how many.
But, as we said before, Jesus is not looking for people who only believe in His signs. That type of faith He rejects. He wants a true faith, a genuine faith, not a superficial or momentary faith.
So Jesus gives Nicodemus an answer.
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Truly, Truly. The Greek is literally Amen, Amen. See, you knew Greek and did not even know it. But it is an emphatic, I am telling you the truth! The fact that the amen is there twice gives it the emphasis. I am telling you the truth Nicodemus. Unless, one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Jesus uses truly, truly 25 times in John’s Gospel and, in fact, it is only found in John’s Gospel. Three of those times are in our passage tonight in verses 3, 5, and 11. It is important. It is crucial to understand what He says after this phrase. Pay attention Nicodemus, I am telling you the truth. You must be born again.
The word again can also be translated from above. In other words, it could say, you must be born from above. But Nicodemus understood this as born again as we will see in the next verse.
But this new birth, this born again, is what brings us into the family of God. We saw this foreshadowed in chapter one.
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
This is what we call regeneration. Regeneration is something we will talk about extensively in the Gospel of John. Regeneration is that working of the Holy Spirit in our lives to make us alive and able to place faith in the Gospel of Christ. Remember, salvation does not come from anything we say or do. Salvation comes from God alone by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And verse 13 in says it all, not the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.
Remember, we are in such a radical state of depravity, we are so dead in our sin, that we cannot choose God. We cannot choose Christ naturally. We must be enabled by the Spirit to do so. And that is this new birth in . That is the change that enables faith.
Now some may say, no, we place faith in Christ, that is what it means to be born again. But we need to think about this. Did you choose your physical birth? No. What makes you think you can choose your spiritual birth? Spiritual birth is a work of God and God alone. It is His choice. Faith, and repentance, are the necessary steps after regeneration. They are the guaranteed result of that regeneration. But dead men can choose nothing. And we are dead before our spiritual birth. Let’s look at several passages about being born.
Eph 2:1-
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
We were dead in our trespasses, but made alive in Christ. By grace you have been saved, not of our own doing. It doesn’t get any plainer than that. It is nothing that we do, nothing we say, it is solely the gift of God. We were prepared beforehand.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
That spiritual birth is solely of God. It is out of this birth that faith comes out. We cannot have faith without being born again.
Now, for many, this is a hard pill to swallow. This is something that we will talk about a lot in the Gospel of John. God’s election has nothing to do with anything we do. It has everything to do with His sovereign will. We can’t save ourselves. We can’t choose to be saved. God chooses to save us. And we will see that more clearly as we continue.
But back in , Nicodemus does not understand what Christ is talking about when He says you must be born again, verse 4.
4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Nicodemus has completely missed the point. He does not understand what Christ is talking about. “I’m old! How can I be born again? Am I supposed to go back into my mother’s womb?” It didn’t make any sense to Him. So Jesus answers again.
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
And for the second time in this passage we see Jesus saying truly truly. I am telling you the truth Nicodemus, unless you are born of water and spirit you cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Now, this verse has stirred a lot of discussion because people are undecided about what it means to be born of water. There are basically three major viewpoints.
The first is that this is referring to baptism, particularly Christian baptism. However, this does not make any sense as Christian baptism had not yet begun. Remember, the baptism John the Baptist was engaging in was a baptism of repentance. It was not Christian baptism as we use today signifying the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
The second view is that this is referring to water purification. The appeal to this view goes back to chapter 2 with the jars of purification at the wedding in Cana, and Old Testament rites of purification. Those who hold to this view also appeal to .
24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 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. 26 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. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
The third view is that this literally is physical birth. That water means the fluids involved in birth or procreation. This view appeals to the parallels of the passage in context. That is to say, Nicodemus thought that Christ was talking about physical birth and Christ then affirms, yes, you must have physical birth of water, but you must also have spiritual birth as well. The next verse talks about birth of the flesh and birth of the spirit so it seems obvious in this view that the three parallels make the whole scene.
It would also give the illustration of double meaning that there must be a spiritual seed just as physical seed for that spiritual birth to take place.
I think we can safely rule out the first viewpoint of Christian Baptism for reasons we have already given. In my opinion, the second viewpoint overly uses symbolism and forces the connection of purification with this passage. Now, it could be that is what Jesus meant, but personally, I believe the verse is referring to both physical and spiritual birth as the plainest meaning based on the context of the passage.
But, regardless of what Jesus meant by water birth, the focus of the passage is spiritual birth. You must be born of spirit to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus continues,
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Jesus is hammering the point home that this is not of human creation or will. Flesh gives birth to flesh. It can only give birth to flesh. Flesh cannot create spiritual birth and seed. Spirit is only born of spirit. It is only born of God, not man. God is the one who gives that spiritual birth.
I cannot emphasize this enough. Jesus has now hit this point three times. You must have spiritual birth in order to enter the kingdom.
Now, Nicodemus, he is getting further and further confused and Jesus can sense this so he says.
7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
John 3:7
Do not marvel. The word marvel means amazed, astonished, it literally has the sense of being greatly disturbed. Nicodemus is lost at what is being said here by Jesus. This is so contrary to what the Pharisees and the Jewish leaders were teaching. Remember, the Pharisees were teaching an incredibly strict adherence to the Law as the way to be holy and pure. And here Jesus is just tearing that down. “No, Nicodemus, it is not about that. It is about a birth from God. Don’t be surprised by this, I am telling you the truth!”
And again, Jesus says, ‘you must be born again.’ Jesus is not just saying that to enter the kingdom you have to be born again, He is saying you must be born again. It is imperative. It is the only way. There are no alternatives. There are not multiple ways to Heaven.
Jesus expands His explanation in verse 8.
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.”
At first this verse seems confusing or even out of place. But Jesus is painting a picture here. We do not know the direction or cause or origination of the wind. We don’t know where it is going or where it comes from but it does as it pleases and we see the evidence of it, we hear the evidence of it. It is the same with the Spirit.
We do not know who the Spirit will choose. We don’t know where the Spirit is going. But we see evidence of the work of the Spirit every day.
Nicodemus is exasperated at this point. He says in verse 9, ‘How can these things be?’ This is too much, I don’t understand. Please explain more to me. How does the Spirit choose? How exactly are we born of the Spirit? What does this mean?
Nicodemus is still holding on to the old ways. He doesn’t yet accept what Jesus is telling him. He cannot let go of the system of the Law that the Pharisees and the Jewish leaders so dearly held on to.
And how does Jesus answer? Jesus says in verse 10:
10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?
“You are the teacher of Israel Nicodemus. You are a Pharisee! You are a member of the Sanhedrin! You have studied the Scriptures yet you do not know these things? How can it be that you do not know and understand what I am talking about?”
Nicodemus was a respected teacher. It says he was THE teacher of Israel. Yet he was surprised at what Jesus was telling him. But if he knew the Scriptures so well, if he was really as educated as the Pharisees would have been, he would have known that nobody can come to God on their own merit and that is what Jesus is teaching here.
Paul wrote about this very thing, the spiritual depravity of Israel, their lack of understanding. He writes this in Romans chapter ten:
2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
Nicodemus was gripped by this. He knew the Scriptures inside and out, but he was not saved at this point. He did not have the righteousness of God at this point. We know that he eventually gets this as we see him later in the Gospel of John, but not at this point.
And that is so easy to come to today. It is so easy to know about the Scriptures and to seem religious and devout, but that is not the same thing as being righteous before God. We must be born again.
It goes back to what we have seen repeatedly here in John’s Gospel. It’s not enough just to have a head knowledge. That’s not salvation. It’s not enough to say a prayer. It’s not enough to raise a hand or walk down an aisle. That is not what it means to be saved. It is a change of heart, and as a result, fully entrusting one’s self to Christ as both savior and Lord.
At this point, Jesus begins a discourse on what exactly must happen for salvation to be brought to mankind. First, he further rebukes Nicodemus, and the other leaders, about their unbelief.
John 3:11-
11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
Again, truly truly. I am telling you the truth. We speak of what we know and bear witness but you do not receive the testimony. You don’t believe what we are telling you. You don’t even believe the earthly things so how will you believe the heavenly things? Remember that, overall, the Jewish people did not accept their Messiah. Look back in .
11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
That is the heavenly things, the nature of who Jesus is, His relationship to the Father, and what He would do just a few short years later. Nicodemus was not ready, nor able, to handle those things. But Jesus continues to tell exactly what would happen in verses 13-15.
13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
Jesus here again uses His favorite term for Himself, the Son of Man. He is the one who has been to Heaven. He has sat at the right hand of the Father. He came down from Heaven to live among those who rebelled against the Father. To live among sinners like you and me. It is He who would be lifted up on the cross that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.
He mentions as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. This is referencing an account that is found in Numbers chapter 21.
4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
Numbers 21:
God delivered the Israelites in the wilderness from their plague of serpents if they had enough faith to look up and entrust their salvation to God. The same picture is being painted with Christ.
He is lifted up on the cross. It requires his death, his burial, and his resurrection. We will be given life through Him. Through Him we will have eternal life.
Jesus was again foreshadowing his death. He would be lifted up on that cross to die for those who would believe in Him that they might have eternal life. And to receive that life, we must be born again.
Nothing is more important in this world than to be born again and it is not something that you can do yourself. God is the one who regenerates, God is the one that elects and brings salvation. It is Him and Him alone. Nothing we do saves us. Not a prayer, not a decision, not an event, not walking down an aisle, not knowledge, nothing. It is not by works of righteousness that we have done, but only by His mercy and grace. Glory be to God.
So as we go away tonight let us examine ourselves. Have we been born again? Is the spirit giving us new life? Is there a radical change in our lives? Are we entrusting ourselves to Christ alone? Accepting our salvation in Him alone? Knowing that it is only by His mercy and grace?
Let us pray.