Born of the Spirit

In this blog post, let’s review what we’ve seen in John 3:1-4 and then look at verses 5-6 about the difference between being born of the flesh and being born of the Spirit.

We have seen in verses 1-4 where Jesus teaches Nicodemus and us that it’s possible to be very religious, and yet be very lost and spiritually separated from God.

Nicodemus was a type of Jewish leader who was at the top of the religious counsel in Jerusalem. He was called “a ruler of the Jews” referring to his position on the Sanhedrin which presided over religious and judicial matters.

But he wasn’t born again. So, Nicodemus was spiritually dead to the true God… he needed more than religion or virtue or sincerity to get to heaven… and the same is true of you and me.  

The only remedy for spiritual deadness to God is something that must come from God Himself. Jesus said – “you must be born again.” God must enable you to want this salvation before you’ll ever be inclined to believe it. He has to change our heart.

So that brings us back to verse 5 of John chapter 3. Look at verses 5 and 6…

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. [ESV]

We began looking at verse 5 the last time we were together. We saw that the phrase “born of water and the Spirit” was just another way of describing the new birth. Being “born of water and the Spirit” means the same thing as being “born again.”

We saw that “born of water” isn’t referring to water baptism, because baptism is the external symbol or sign of new birth, but never the cause of new birth.

And born of water isn’t referring to natural birth, because Nicodemus already knew he had been naturally born – he didn’t need to undergo another biological birth.

But what did Nicodemus need? What do all spiritually dead people need which Jesus said must come from above? We’ll consider the answer to these questions in our next post.

Until then,
Pastor Kevin

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