Michael-Grams: M-G: 5.5.20 // Some Comments on John 3:1-21, Vs. 6-8

John 3:6, That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Here is another reason why physical birth is not enough. No matter who you are, the old nature produces sinful humans that separate God from man. In contrast, being born from above or born of the Spirit is spirit in nature for only the Holy Spirit can produce a new nature.

Now when we read this it is clear to us, as believers, in what Jesus is saying to Nick, but imagine, if you will, you are taking a blind man from birth out to see this amazing oak tree in the field. You tell him all about the size of its trunk, height, the shape of its boughs, its foliage, its symmetry, how the leaves glimmer from the sun, and so on, but he is not getting any of the images you are describing. He has never seen a single tree.

This is the spiritual barrier we have to deal with when being a witness for Jesus in conversing spiritual truth with those who are spiritually blind or without Christ. They are going to take your word for it or reject what they cannot see, and what do we normally do if there is some negative flak? We don’t handle rejection very well; we take it personally! It is not us they are rejecting; it is the One who sent us (cf. 1 Sam 8:7). We should not ask a self-defeating question, “If only I had…”

This is why, without the Holy Spirit, we cannot lead anyone to Jesus because we are not interacting with the physical realm. It’s not our knowledge of the Bible, how many verses we memorized, our intelligence, our logic, our rationale, our personality, our ability of persuasion, or getting pumped. We are simply called to be a witness to that which we know and rely on the Holy Spirit rather than trying to do His job (cf. Jn 16:8). We cannot make spiritually blind people see anything in our own strength. We give forth the Word and let the Holy Spirit do with it as He pleases (cf. Isa 55:11), yes?

Who do you think was leading Nick to Jesus that night? Nick didn’t take the initiative; I can tell you that much! The Godhead “ganged” up on Nick that evening; here we see an illustration of God the Father drawing Nick to Jesus (Jn 6:44), but Yahweh is honoring Nick’s will to choose to receive Jesus’ witness or disregard Him due to unbelief. Nick didn’t know that. Did Jesus or the Holy Spirit fail to do their job? You know the answer to that.

The Holy Spirit didn’t take it personally, but Nick never got away from Him because we believe he turned from the darkness to the light by what we see in Jn 7 & 12 concerning his actions? Though it is inconclusive, it is compelling. Oh, you thought Nick’s salvation would be a slamdunk? Some plant; some water, but it is God that gives the increase (1 Cor 3:7). Nick decided to walk away that night in unbelief (see v11)! That was not the smartest thing he ever did, but he just got his world turned upside down. All that he did; all that he had become were useless in contributing to seeing the kingdom of God! He had been taught this since birth to work his way to glory!

That which is born of the flesh is flesh

Jesus is still responding here to Nick’s two questions in v4 contrasting the physical and the spiritual. This word flesh is one of those words, like “lust,” that will take the context to flush out its meaning in a good way or bad. There are two schools of thought on flesh (Gk., sarx) here.

(1) Flesh is not presented here in a negative connotation, referring to the sinful nature, but in a neutral way (cf. Jn 1:14) by contrasting “the weakness and mortality of the creature” born of the flesh (natural birth) and the supernatural birth of being born of the Spirit (Gk., pneuma).

(2) Both the physical and the base nature of the flesh are in view. Human flesh is contaminated by sin (Job 14:4; Psa 51:5; Rom 5:12). Even if it were possible to be born a second physical birth, man would still come out a sinner! Physical death is a testament to the sinful nature of man.

And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit

In contrast to physical birth and sinful flesh, spiritual birth is from the Holy Spirit, spiritual in nature and pure. Only the Holy Spirit produces a new nature. A fallen person cannot regenerate or save himself; this is strictly something only God can do; what a contrast this is to the work system of Judaism. The rationale is this; even if you could somehow return to the womb, you would only come back out the same as when you entered the second time – sinful, in need of salvation (cf. 1 Cor 15:22).

John 3:7, Do not marvel that I said to you [singular, Nicodemus], You [plural] must be born again.

Do not marvel that I said to you (Nick)

Do not be amazed or do not begin to wonder what I said to you, Nick.

You (everyone) must be born again

As mentioned, you is plural here, probably referring back to we (v2), the Sanhedrin in particular and to all men generally who have not been born of the Spirit.

Must (Gk., dei) this verb is present indicative, not a present imperative. Though not in the imperative mood, the urgency and force of this cannot be overstated concerning this divine decree. It is of necessity, needful. There aren’t a lot of choices; it is an either-or situation. 9 of the 10 occurrences of this verb dei in John’s Gospel is used in the present tense (continuous), and the mood is indicative (the act or state represents an objective fact). The only stray usage in John is an imperfect indicative.

This (dei) verb demands our attention. This fact of being born again is never going away (hence, the present tense). There is never a time when born from above is no longer necessary this side of eternity for those without Christ. Since must is referring to salvation here, let me give you two examples of must (dei) to show just how important this verb really is here in v6.

John 3:14, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

If Jesus doesn’t go to the cross, the penalty of man’s sin will not be propitiated (satisfied). In other words, there is no salvation.

John 20:9, For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.

If there is no physical resurrection, it is obvious that Christ did not satisfy the penalty of man’s sin before God the Father, and we are still in our sins (1 Cor 15:17). We are without hope in the world (1 Cor 15:19).

But we know that He died on our behalf, propitiated the penalty of man’s sin (1 Jn 2:2; 4:10), which is eternal separation from God and arose from the grave three days later. Now, in spite of all of that, those without Christ must be born from above or pay the penalty of their own sins for an eternity in the lake of fire. This warning will not discontinue this side of eternity.

How urgent, how important, how critical is this; you must be born again? Ask yourself, “Where do I want to spend eternity, in heavenly bliss or in torment in the lake of fire?” Christ died for us. He resurrected from the grave! He ascended back into heaven. Do you want to spend forever where Jesus is or is not? All is a moot point if you are not born from above.

Death in Scripture never means annihilation or the cessation of conscious existence. Biblically, it only means a separation. Physically speaking, death is the separation of the soul from the body. Spiritually speaking, death is the separation of the soul from God. Presently, all who are without Christ are spiritually dead, temporarily. If one dies in that spiritual condition, however, it becomes eternally permanent. We will all die barring the rapture, yes?

The second death, or eternal separation from God, is the one death to be the most feared; there is no remedy for it unless one is born from above. Hence the urgency, you must be born from above (cf. Jn 8:24) and put a stop to the needless perishing that can be averted by believing (v16)!

John 3:8, The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

There is a play on words with wind-spirit with the Greek word pneuma (from pneo, to blow); it is translated here wind and used as a metaphor for Spirit. Jesus likens being born from above with the actions of the wind; man has no control over either; it speaks of the independence and sovereignty of God in salvation: (1) it goes wherever it desires; (2) it can be heard; (3) the origin is unknown, and (4) the destination is unknown.

So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

So is everyone

It is of absolute necessity for all to be born of the Spirit. This has nothing to do with obedience to the law of Moses or man-made regulations. Everyone who would enter the kingdom of God must be born of the Spirit. Nick was brought up in a working system for salvation that man could see the kingdom of God through his own efforts, but according to Jesus, this was/is a deception and an impossibility.

Who is born of the Spirit

The final usage of pneuma refers to the Holy Spirit. This really narrows down the field on the various ways of salvation to a restrictive, Jn 14:6. If you are going to enter the kingdom of God, it is Jesus’s way or the hell-way.

Before we begin to make our way to the summit of John 3:16 from basecamp (vv1-13), there are a few things remaining to tidy up in vv.9-13.1 <><