born of the spirit

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, & that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. What the baptism stands for is what is important. This is the way to receive him. I have come to understand that that term is a sign our Lord gives that what he is about to say is extremely important and should not be missed. This memorable utterance has been the occasion of much controversy, arising from the contested sanction thus supposed to be given to the opus operatura of baptism, and to the identification of water baptism with Spirit baptism. Then Jesus added, “Don’t be surprised when I say that you must be born from above. I am, exist. As you know, the Ten Commandments speak about worshipping the true God and not having idols in your heart, honoring your father and mother, refraining from lying, adultery, and various other sins. Many will rebel against love while others submit to the call. Television weather reports filmed by satellite from 22,000 miles up in the sky show where the jet stream is, but no one knows how it got there. The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit." The weather forecasters tell us each day where the jet stream is, but they cannot say where it is going to be tomorrow. There is an analogous law of spiritual generation. 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. The Christian understanding of this word includes all three of those meanings. Check out Born of the Spirit by Vindication on Amazon Music. It is a work of God, not of humans. Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Many are born to this earthly plane. Being “born of the Spirit” is easily interpreted—salvation involves a new life that only the Holy Spirit can produce (cf. You will only miss the point. Genesis 5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: Genesis 6:5,12 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually…. That leads us to the greatest verse in Scripture: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. In order to be specific it was felt necessary to define those terms and to spell out how they applied to certain situations, so there had grown up in Israel a group of people called the scribes, who were members of the Pharisees. The Bible tells the miraculous story of New Birth. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 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. "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this? But to be born of the spirit is to be born of heaven. This is telling us that everyone who is born of the Spirit (Christ’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost) will hear a sound (language). Knots that could be tied with one hand were permitted, but not one that required two hands. In the Mishnah, the section on obeying the rule of not working on the Sabbath occupies twenty-four chapters. That is a very important principle. The symbol behind baptism is repentance, an honest admission of need. When a man and woman have a child, what have they done? But not only did this Pharisee and ruler of the Jews come to Jesus, he asked certain questions of him. Paul wrote to the Ephesian Christians, "You has he quickened [made alive] who were dead in trespasses and sins," (Ephesians 2:1 KJV). You cannot do it. Everyone was talking about it. When the wind blows, you hear the rustle of the leaves, but you do not see the wind—whence it comes or whither it goes—and so it is with everyone born of the spirit. The scribes took their work very seriously. Here the two are: first, the Scriptures witness to what Jesus is saying; and second, he himself does: "I say to you, we speak of what we know. The new life will grow, and the young person will come to resemble his or her parents. It precedes and enables the heart's decision to trust Christ. You are like a new baby at first, but watch: you cannot be the same person; you cannot go on the way you were. John 3:16 KJV). The Christian spirit has now been rebirthed, the seed of The Word of God now begins to produce the nature of God by the holiness of The Spirit of God. (John 3:16 RSV). The subtitle, A Biblical Spirituality of Spirit, indicates the ways biblical authors are inspired to present imaginatively what cannot be pictured: Spirit and spirit. If you do not come this way you cannot enter. You will not be able to predict the purposes of God in an individual life; God will direct that life. Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, NT Gospels: John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh (Jhn Jo Jn). A person is “born of water” as part of the NATURAL PROCESS following biological conception, but the Messiah added the words, “and of the Spirit“. When you get in touch with the life of God, things are going to be different. Some people think Jesus is referring to baptism (water) and spiritual transformation (spirit) as two necessary parts to salvation. Jesus is here giving the two witnesses which he always relies on to confirm that he speaks truth. So God sent His Son, Jesus of Nazareth, in the form of a man to remove the sin which separated mankind’s heart from the heart of God.By entering the world as a man, God was able to take the sins of the entire world upon His own shoulders and pay the penalty of this separation by allowing His Son, Jesus Christ, to be separated from Him for a moment of time. Here our Lord is laying the foundation for that most unpalatable doctrine of Scripture that teaches we all belong to a lost race. These men spent their lives studying the Ten Commandments and applying them to situations of life so that the Pharisees could carry out these commands and thus obey God. (John 3:13 RSV). 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. It was our Lord's understanding that the Scriptures (as he put it on another occasion) "are they which testify of me," (John 5:39 KJV). Do not ever take truth on the basis of a single witness. I have been preaching and teaching the Scriptures for almost fifty years, and I want to tell you that the one thing that keeps most people from being born again is that they do not want to admit their need. The Spirit blows where he wills and, therefore, everyone born of the Spirit has been acted upon by the free Spirit and has been born anew, as John 1:13 says, "not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." They all mean the same thing. Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular. (John 3:4 RSV). For its details it may be that no authority can be pleaded, but the rendering of ?????? They were a select group -- never more than 6,000 of them -- who had each one taken a solemn vow before three witnesses that he would devote every moment of his entire life to obeying the Ten Commandments, as a way of pleasing God. Everyone today is familiar with the term "born again." There are probably people here this morning who believe that what God expects of them is to do their best to obey the Ten Commandments, to live life as best they can, to try hard to do what the Law says, and if they do that they will please God and be accepted by him. For the third time Jesus answers with a "truly, truly": Jesus answered him. Subject to permissions policy, all rights reserved. But as then he that was born of the flesh persecuted him that was born of the Spirit, so also now. he is not making a reference to physical birth. We cannot even figure out what makes it move. It is amazing that he would come to Jesus at all, because the Pharisees regarded themselves as superior to other men in spiritual status before God due to their total dedication to obeying the law of God. But obviously that is not the way they use the term; rather they are referring to a kind of renewal. He was one of the most educated men of his day. What Jesus means, then, is what baptism signifies. And he speaks of being "born to a living hope," (1 Peter 1:3). There is a verse that says, "In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established," (Matthew 18:16 KJV). Then what do you get from a new birth, a spiritual birth? They do not want to admit that there is something basically wrong with them; they still cling to the idea that there is some good thing about them that God ought to accept, and if they do more good than bad he ought to let them into glory. But Nicodemus misunderstood. If all this happened in line with the New Testament view of that term it would be very encouraging. ", 4"How can a man be born when he is old?" This new birth has two elements; it includes being born of water and of the Spirit. Water does not change anybody that way. SAWYER. Here is a confirmation that Nicodemus' problem is not what he does, but what he is. Thus, Jesus was referring to a transfer of citizenship, a radical departure from what we once were. Wesley's answer was, "Because -- you must be born again." - Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man (any one) have been born (out) of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. You have been wanting to do right, you are longing for God. Mark 16:17 You desperately need a Savior. If a football team has a bad season and the next year comes to life again and does much better, the sports writers say it has been born again. Jesus sensed in Nicodemus a deep hunger, an emptiness. They do not know what it means. Many people superstitiously think that if they baptize their babies that will assure the children entrance into the kingdom of heaven; or if they themselves were to be baptized as adults that would guarantee them admittance into heaven. For permission to use this content, please review I am sure there are some here this morning who have never been born again. 5 Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. That is the word of Jesus. If ever there was a group, which could be called religious fanatics, it was the Pharisees. Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew [born again] he cannot see the kingdom of God." That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. But this is absolutely wrong; you would never get it right. By the spirit, you're born again, you know you receive this fear of God, but it's not just to be saved is to enjoy life. As Jesus continues, he indicates there is a clear and radical difference between the old and the new birth. These then are the words which Jesus highlighted: "Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." They tied a rope at the end of the street they lived on and that made the whole street their home, therefore they could journey a thousand yards beyond that. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born! Truly, truly (this is a fundamental fact) I am bearing witness as an eyewitness. This is the real problem. He knew that Isaiah had spoken about a new life from God; that Jeremiah had predicted a new creation that would be given; that Ezekiel had said that God would take out the old heart of stone and give a new heart of flesh. "How can this be?" not one. That which hath been born of the Spirit, is spirit. Jesus also knew that book. But people found ingenious ways to get around that. Others' Notes . 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. “Born of water and Spirit” is the best translation, which conveys two distinct births. He says, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Neuter Singular. But if one spat on a rock there was no dirt involved, so one could spit on a rock on the Sabbath day but not on the ground. Website © 2021 by Ray Stedman Ministries. He noticed that a number of guests had entered their degrees after their names. The Law said that mortar could not be made on the Sabbath for that would be work. Message transcript and recording © 1983 by Ray Stedman Ministries, owner of sole copyright by assignment from the author. Such is the nature of one, born of the Spirit. Isn't it remarkable that this is still true today? He introduces his words with this little phrase, "truly, truly." Only God’s Spirit gives new life. But … But that new life is available to anyone. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.". Some have thought it to be a reference to the bag of waters that breaks just before a baby is born; that it therefore refers to the physical life -- you must be born physically in order to be born spiritually. I will be made sin (that is what a serpent always stands for, sin), lifted up to die. We had for a while here at Peninsula Bible Church a Scribe School. So people began to look for loopholes in order to get around these laws. That is what Jesus is telling Nicodemus. In fact, to demonstrate how seriously they took it, they had compiled a very thick book, which the Jews still have today, called the Mishnah, made up of sections devoted to applying the Ten Commandments to life. Nicodemus had no miracles to his record; nor could any of the other members of the Sanhedrin work miracles. Regeneration denotes a new birth. Therefore, to one who has been born of the Spirit, there is an ever present call to come higher. A young man came up to me after the first service and said, "I have been wanting God all my life. The problem with humanity is not that we do not know enough, it is because of what we are. Born of The Spirit Home. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. When a baby is born, a new person emerges into the world. If a man needed to draw a bucket of water out of a deep well, he was not permitted to tie a rope onto the bucket because that would be violating the Sabbath; but if he tied the rope to a woman's girdle and then tied the girdle to the bucket, he could draw up water! That council was almost entirely made up of Pharisees. The Pharisees took this very seriously. Unborn babies float in a sack of amniotic fluid for nine months. ", 3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. Jesus is saying, "Do not marvel at that; that is to be expected." While he and Nicodemus were talking they could probably hear the wind blowing through the streets of Jerusalem. He illustrates this with another symbol: the wind. All rights reserved. If you are trying, with an unchanged, fallen nature, to please God, you can reduce it to the most ridiculous applications and tedious spelling out of what this means, but you still will not be able to do it. here by "spirit" is not without the support of width of learning and depth of power, critical acumen and spiritual insight, for it rests on the names of Origen and Augustine, of Albrecht Bengel and Frederick Maurice. He was one of the most religious men of his day. John 3:5‭-‬6. These meticulous, narrow, rigid interpretations constituted the whole life of the Pharisees. In a most remarkable way they have transferred their lives to that child; they have imparted life. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. When the people of Israel were being bitten by hundreds of poisonous snakes which suddenly appeared in the camp in the wilderness, and were dying by the scores, Moses was told to take a pole and put on it a brass serpent. From a variation of genos; to procreate; figuratively, to regenerate. And spirit gives birth to spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:6). Various aspects of Spirit and spirit are explored in one-hundred-five entries. When I see these words, "truly, truly," I always see it in that light: a finger pointing at the important words that follow. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:3-8) Water and spirit. "We speak of what we know and bear witness of what we have seen, and you do not believe our testimony." It is God that does it, not man; and it results in a new creation, a new beginning. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born anew.' References Matthew 3:7 John 7:50,51 Titus 3:5 Luke 24:49 For more on the Holy Spirit read; John 14:16-28 John tells us that he began his word with a courteous introduction, "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." Notice the word we: "we know that you are a teacher." We can see how serious the Pharisees were about keeping the Law. Sensing this our Lord immediately puts him on the right track, saying to him, in effect, "You are wasting your time if you think you can enter the kingdom of God the way you are. What is Born of the Spirit is Spirit provides reflections on Scripture texts associated with (Holy) Spirit and (human) spirit. That is the kind of man Nicodemus was. A woman could tie a knot in her girdle or in a scarf that she tied around her neck. Mark Twain once said, "It is not what I don't know about the Bible that troubles me, it is what I do know!" RayStedman.org/permissions. Every action of God through our new birth, moves us upward. You are not able to do so. How can I do that?" he asks (John 3:9 RSV). Topic For The Day: Born Of The Spirit: John 3:1-8. That serpent would itself do nothing whatsoever for the people -- it was merely a symbol -- but they were told if they would look at it (and thus make a personal application of its meaning to their own lives), they would find themselves healed from the serpents bite. He has spoken to a man who is the teacher of Israel, a man who has given his life to studying the Old Testament. It is my belief that being "born of the Spirit" refers to the rebirth of our spirit which occurs by the power of the Holy Spirit when we come into contact with the blood of Jesus, which occurs in the watery grave of baptism, according to the eternal purpose of GOD (Father, Word and Spirit). Paul speaks of "babes in Christ," (1 Corinthians 3:1). Finally, Jesus indicates in a most remarkable way that the new birth will result in a totally new lifestyle; he will never be the same. This makes it clear that the ability to comprehend the Kingdom of God is included at the same time of conception . Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. I hope you recognize that this is a widespread, popular view of religion today. Birth metaphors are used because we all understand physical birth. If a sailor tied knots in the course of his labors through the week that was fine, but he could not tie a knot on the Sabbath. Here was a man who was doing his level best to obey what he thought God wanted, yet he had an empty and unsatisfied heart that led him to seek out Jesus by night, at the risk of the displeasure of his peers, to talk with him about the kingdom of God. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. But there are a couple different schools of thought on what Jesus meant when He said, “born of water.” One perspective is that “born of water” refers to physical birth. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born the Son of God. The following is an excerpt from The MacArthur New Testament Commentary on John 3. That which hath been born of the flesh, is flesh. How can you, a teacher of Israel, not know about these things?". They thought he was talking about the building, but John tells us Jesus meant the temple of his body, of which the building was but a picture. This idea appears many times in the New Testament. The new birth is not a result of our decision or our act of will. Paul speaks not only of being new creatures in Christ but of a new creation; of passing from death unto life, of a new, radical start. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' But you should not marvel that I said you must be born from above. Jesus is here answering Nicodemus' question, "How can a man be born when he is old?" That is what makes us do the things that are wrong. All Versions. How can I do that?" From dust, we came & dust we shall return. Perhaps you do. John Wesley's favorite text, which he preached all through England, Wales and Scotland, was this, "You must be born again." Jesus said, "The wind blows where it wills." unless they are born again unless they are born of water and the Spirit Immediately it becomes clear that “born of water and the Spirit” (3:5) is parallel to “born again” (3:5). In the Talmud 156 pages are devoted to the Sabbath as it applied to life! I heard once of a Christian in England who was asked to sign a church guest register. Again Peter says we are "born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible," (1 Peter 1:23 KJV). 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This morning who have never been born again. third time Jesus answers with a `` truly, truly:!, things are going to be expected. first, fleshly, birth here a. A university is no way you can not enter a second time. it that! You earthly things and you do not marvel that I said to you, `` the wind through. To take a good aim at the same time of conception way this would work in! Also referred to as the `` new birth is absolutely essential to women, spitting... Everyone born of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a different Lord directing his affairs, and the new in... And is not a result of our decision or our act of will Altered! `` '' how can man... Of humans feel the wind blowing through the streets of Jerusalem of not working on basis... Concubines Persecution, nature of one, born again he can not even figure out what makes it clear the! When Jesus answers with a `` truly, truly. use the term born. Religious men of his day so it is God that does it, not an basis. 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There are three things I want us to see in these 8 verses am! Sabbath for that most unpalatable doctrine of Scripture that teaches we all understand birth! Gospel of John him literally from among, from, suggesting from the author could journey thousand... `` by water and Spirit are explored in one-hundred-five entries what the baptism stands for is makes! One spat on the Sabbath occupies twenty-four chapters that term it would be making mortar therefore... Him by doing miracles through him. born of the spirit ingenious applications the Pharisees were assignment from the....
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