BIBLE TEXT – PLEASE READ
(JOHN 3:1-21)
The words of the title
of this message are part of the discourse between the Lord Jesus Christ and a
man named Nicodemus, a Pharisee, and a ruler of the Jews. “You
must be born again” is one of the great “Divine Imperatives” found
in the Bible, the Word of God. This is God’s commandment to you. “You must
be born again”. For you to get to heaven, it is absolutely
necessary that you be born again or born from above. Have
you ever been “born again”? Has there been “a time when”, “a place
where”, and “a manner how” regarding your new birth? The new birth
is the entrance to heaven. Have you passed through this
entrance? In order to help you understand the biblical doctrine of
the “New Birth” as revealed in (John 3:1-21), we want to consider the
following:
1. (VS.1) THE MAN FOR THE NEW BIRTH
2. (VS.2) THE MASTER (TEACHER) OF THE NEW BIRTH
3. (VS.3) THE MESSAGE OF THE NEW BIRTH
4. (VS.4) THE MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE NEW BIRTH
5. (VS.5,6) THE METHOD OF THE NEW BIRTH
6. (VS.7) THE “MUST” OF THE NEW BIRTH
7. (VS.8-13) THE MYSTERY OF THE NEW BIRTH
8. (VS.14-21) THE MEANS OF THE NEW BIRTH
1. (VS.1) THE MAN FOR THE NEW BIRTH
The scripture says “There was a man”. His name was Nicodemus. He was a
Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. In other words he was a man of
fame and position. He was educated, religious, moral, respected and
upright. He believed in God and he believed in
resurrection. If this man needed to be “born again”, what about
you? He was the “man for the new birth” and so are
you. Being educated, religious, moral, respected and upright will
not get you into heaven. The “Divine Imperative”, “you must be born
again” applies to every
person. There are no exceptions. “You must
be born again”.
2. (VS. 2) THE
MASTER (TEACHER) OF THE NEW BIRTH
It says of Nicodemus, in
verse 2, that he “came to Jesus by
night”. He did not necessarily
come at the right time because he “came at night”. The man
of fame was a man of fear. He
feared he would be condemned by his fellow Jewish leaders for coming to
Jesus. He did, however, come to the right person. Dear
reader, you also, must come to Jesus regarding this matter of
the new birth and the need to be “born again”. There is no one else
to whom you can come. It says in (Acts 4:12) “Neither is there salvation in any other, for there
is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved”. Nicodemus spoke to
Jesus. He said “we
know that thou art a teacher come from God”. The one who said you need to be “born again” was
indeed “a teacher come from God”. Jesus is, however, much more than
a teacher. He is the eternal Son of the eternal God. It
says of His coming (1 Timothy 3:16)
“Great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh”. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Divine
teacher. (Hebrews 1:1, 2) ‘God…Hath
in these last days spoken unto us by (in) Son, whom He hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also He made the worlds”. How important are these words that are spoken
to you, the words, and “you must be born
again”? They are magnified in importance because of the person
who spoke them, the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. God has issued a severe and solemn warning in His Word to any who
ignore the words of the Son of God. It says in (Acts 3:22, 23) “Him shall ye hear in
all things whatsoever He shall say unto you. And, it shall come to
pass, that every soul, which will not hear that Prophet, (Jesus Christ) shall
be destroyed from among the people”. God will bring that person into judgment that rejects the words of
the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. (VS.3)
THE MESSAGE OF THE NEW BIRTH
The “teacher come from God” spoke these words, (vs. 3) “Verily, verily, (truly, truly) I say unto
thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see
the Kingdom of God”. Notice the following about these words of the Lord Jesus;
· “Verily, verily” – These words are absolutely true. The “double verily” emphasizes the truth of the
words. The expression means “truly, truly” or “most
assuredly”. God is the God of truth because it says
in. (Titus 1:2) “God cannot
lie”.
· “I say unto thee” – These words are absolutely authorative. They are spoken by the Son of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ. The source is Divine and of the highest
authority.
· “Except a man be born again” - These words are universal in their
application. There are no exceptions. The only way to
secure the eternal well being of your soul in heaven above is by the “new birth”. You
must be born again. Every person born into this world must be born
again. Just as your first birth was necessary for physical life, so
a second birth is necessary for divine life.
· “He cannot see
the kingdom of God”. – These words warn of a great loss if you are not born
again. Do you remember the
“Lord’s prayer? (Matthew
6:9-13) “Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy
kingdom come, thy will be done in Earth as it is in heaven
..Etc.”. God’s will, will be done
and His kingdom will come. It is coming. His kingdom is
the place where He rules. Those in His kingdom will be those who
believe His Word and acknowledge His rule over them. Unless you are
born again, you will never see it. You will never enter into it. You
will never partake of it. You will never enjoy it. Dear
reader, please do not neglect or reject this warning to you from God’s Word.
3 (VS.4) THE MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE NEW BIRTH
In this verse a question
is asked by Nicodemus, “How
can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into
his mother’s womb and be born? Nicodemus, who was a religious, educated man, misunderstood the
new birth and the Lord’s words. Nicodemus was thinking of this birth
in a purely physical sense. The Lord Jesus was speaking in a
spiritual sense. Many people today misunderstand the doctrine of the
“new birth”. The most common mistake is to equate the new birth with
baptism. The ordinance of baptism was not yet
instituted. Infant baptism, which is a common practice in
Christendom, is not taught in the Bible, the Word of God. There is
not one verse to support it. The Word of God is very clear, baptism
has no saving merit. It is for believers only, for those who have
already been born again. (Acts 8:36, 37) “What doth hinder me to be
baptized? If thou believest with all thine heart, thou
mayest”. The new birth is
spiritual, not physical, and it is accomplished by God not by anything that man
can do. The following verses will show this.
5. (VS. 5, 6) THE METHOD OF THE NEW BIRTH
The Lord Jesus answered
Nicodemus, “Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter
into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the
flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”. Like verse 3, we have another “double
verily”. What follows is absolutely true and of the utmost
importance. Since the Lord Jesus is a “teacher come from God” we
must be prepared to be taught by Him. Dear reader, are you teachable? Are you willing
to listen to what the Word of God has to say? From these verses we
observe there are two elements that are essential in the new
birth. They are “water” and the “Spirit”. We cannot
afford to be wrong about this, for it will decide our eternal
destiny. With this in mind, let us examine each of these words in a
measure of detail.
· “WATER”
o We have mentioned previously, this has no
reference to “literal” water and Christian baptism, for that was not known till
after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. In addition, this teaching
is contrary to the rest of the Bible. Salvation is by faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ alone.
o “Water” is used in the scriptures as being
symbolic of both the Spirit of God (John 7:38, 39), and the Word of God in
a number of scriptures. Notice the following;
1. (Ephesians 5:25,26) “Christ loved the church and
gave himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the
washing of water by the Word”.
2. (James 1:18) – “Of His own will begat (gave
us birth, i.e. the new birth) He us with the Word of truth”.
3. (1 Peter 1:23) – “Being born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God,
which liveth and abideth forever”.
It is clear from these verses; there can be no
salvation apart from the scriptures. The message of the Gospel must
be believed before a person can be “born again”. It says in (Romans 10:17) “Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God”. It says also, in (Romans 1:16) “The Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth”.
· “THE SPIRIT”
o The “new birth” is a “spiritual” birth. This
spiritual birth is produced by the Holy Spirit of God when a person believes
the message of the Gospel, and receives the Lord Jesus Christ by a definite act
of faith. When this occurs one is said to be “born of the Spirit” (vs.6). It says in (John 1:12, 13) “As many as received Him (the Lord Jesus
Christ), to them gave He power (the right or authority) to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on His Name”. “Which were born,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God”.
o Salvation is not by good works, not by church
membership or infant baptism, not by doing the best you can, but by receiving
Jesus Christ as your Savior, by believing in His Name.
o “That which is born of the flesh is flesh”. Your physical birth gave you “human nature” and
brought you into the flesh and into the world. Physical birth is not
enough. You must also have a spiritual birth to enter
the kingdom of God. When a person is “born again”
they become partakers of the “divine nature”. See (2 Peter 1:4).
6. (VS.7) THE “MUST” OF THE NEW BIRTH
The “teacher come from God” repeats the words again, “YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN”. Here is the ‘Divine Imperative” and mans great
necessity. The word “again” implies not merely another birth, but
another kind of birth, as we have said, a “spiritual” birth. The
word “again” signifies not merely repetition, but a different source – “You must be born from above, born of
God”. Have you been born
again, born from above, and born of God?
7. (VS.8-13) THE MYSTERY OF THE NEW BIRTH
In verse 8 of this portion of scripture
the “teacher come from
God” says “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou
hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it
goeth, so is everyone that is born of the Spirit”. Then, at the end of verse 12 He says, “I tell you of heavenly things”.
The Lord Jesus Christ used an illustration from
nature to describe “the mystery of the new birth”. He
said it was like the “wind”. The wind blows where it
wishes. A person can hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it
comes from and where it goes. The “new birth” is like the wind in a
number of ways including the following:
· Man has no power over the wind. The new birth takes place according to the will
of God not according to the will of man. We quoted (John 1:12,
13) above. A person is “born again” when they believe the message of
the Gospel and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their own personal
Savior. They are then said to be born;
o “Not of blood” – not of human decent, not inherited from our parents
o “Not of the will of the flesh” – not of human desire, human effort or human
merit.
o “Not of the will of man” – The new birth cannot be given by one person to another (as in
infant baptism, etc.)
o “OF GOD” – When a person is born again, it is a Divine
work of God. They are “born of God”.
· The wind is invisible. The “new birth” is invisible. You
cannot see it taking place.
· The effects of the wind are visible. When a person is “born again”, the effects are
visible. (2 Corinthians 5:17) “If
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation), old things are passed
away, behold all things are new”. When a person is truly saved and born again, their life will be
changed. You will see the results in their life.
· The wind is unpredictable. The “new birth” is unpredictable. It
is not possible to know just where and when it will take place. The
conversion of a sinner and the way by which a person receives the “new birth”
is a “heavenly thing”.
8. (VS.14-21) THE MEANS OF THE NEW BIRTH
How can a person be
“born again”? I strongly urge you to read these verses
carefully. They tell you how you can be saved, how you can be “born
again”. In (verse 14) the Lord Jesus Christ relates an incident from
the Old Testament scriptures. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of man be lifted up”. This refers to the Book of Numbers, chapter 21, verses 4-9. The people (Israel) rebelled against God and they rejected the
provision of God. They sinned against God and it says in (verse 6) “The Lord sent fiery serpents among the
people, and they bit the people, and much people
of Israel died”. The lesson is clear. The Bible declares in (Romans 3:9, 10, 19 and 23) “Both
Jews and Gentiles, they are all under sin”. “There is none righteous
no not one”. “All the world is guilty before God”. “All
have sinned and come short of the glory of God”. You must be willing to accept this truth and
acknowledge that you are the sinner that God says you are. You must
repent of your sins and ask God to save you. It says in (Romans 6:23) “The wages of sin is
death”. Men and
women have been bitten by the “fiery serpent” of sin and are
condemned to eternal death. It says in (Hebrews 9:27) “It is appointed unto men once
to die but after this the judgment”. Moses was instructed to make a “serpent of brass”, put it on a
pole and lift it up. The bitten Israelite who looked to the serpent
was miraculously healed. The Lord Jesus said “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of man be lifted up”. He was lifted up on the cross
at Calvary. (2
Corinthians 5:21) “God .. hath made Him sin for us, (He) who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him”. (1 Peter 3:18) “Christ also
hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to
God”. All the work has been
done to provide salvation for you. All you have to do is believe. This
is more than mental assent to facts about Jesus and the cross. “Belief”
in the Bible is not only consent of the mind but an act of the heart and
will. To believe to the saving of your soul means
“adherence to”, “committal to”’ “faith in”, “reliance upon”, “trust in”.
You might wonder, was
Nicodemus ever saved, ever “born again”? The answer is “yes”, he
was. The man who came “out of the dark”, found the “light of
life”. Notice the following:
· (John 3:2) – He came to Lord Jesus.
· (John 7:50) – He defended the Lord Jesus (before
his fellow Pharisees)
· (John 19:39) – He identified with the Lord Jesus
(assisted in the burial of Jesus).
(1 JOHN 5:1) “WHOSOEVER
BELIEVETH THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST IS BORN OF GOD
Please give this matter
your most serious attention. Will you be a believer or a
non-believer? Your eternal destiny depends on your decision.
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