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. [ESV]
We’re learning from Jesus what it means to be born again. In this post, we’ll be considering verses 4-5.
This is where Jesus expresses the impossibility of self-regeneration; it is the work of God, not us.
One of the ways Jesus showed His love for sinners was in telling them truths about themselves which they didn’t necessarily want to hear. Nicodemus probably didn’t want to hear Jesus say that he must be born again to see the kingdom of God.
Religious people imagine that they’re very close to God already, even when they’re not. Many lost people imagine they’re saved by their own definition of salvation.
Nicodemus was one of the most religious citizens in Jerusalem. Religious people tend to be proud of their religious devotion and they tend to become defensive when someone tells them that their religious devotion is insufficient and misdirected.
This man was a Pharisee. He was a ruler of the Jews… meaning he was a member of the Sanhedrin. He was elderly and distinguished, while Jesus was regarded as a young teacher with new ideas who performed God-given signs.
We learn later that Nicodemus was also somewhat wealthy and he later used his resources to prepare Jesus’ body for burial. Nicodemus later came to true faith in Christ, according to John 7:50-52. But John 3 is about before he came to faith.
You see, Nicodemus is like all of us in that each of us must be born again.
 Jesus loves Nicodemus enough to tell him the truth… even when He knows that truth will bring offense and conviction. The truth of God often hurts before it heals.
If most church people heard someone say what Nicodemus said in verse 2, they would do back-flips and rejoice! They would assure him that he was saved already and would have hastily offered him the proverbial right hand of fellowship!
Listen to his confession in verse 2: “We know you’re a teacher come from God; no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.â€
That’s all most people need to hear. They would say that Nicodemus is already going to heaven based on his confession alone, not to mention his morally upright lifestyle… most people would say that he’s already going to see the kingdom of God when he dies.
However, Jesus doesn’t say that; Jesus says the opposite. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.†Meaning: “You, Nicodemus, cannot see the kingdom of God unless you are born again.”
We’ll pick it up here in our next blog post.
Until then,
Pastor Kevin
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