Understanding New Birth - Part Five
SCRIPTUREJohn 3:1-15
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “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.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 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?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 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. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel yand yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
LESSON
God says that we are born again with a different kind of life seed. The first was corruptible and we have inherited the decay that is in our being and which ultimately carries man to the grave. Now, says God, the new birth is indeed a new life, but it comes from an incorruptible seed. This is the Word of God. This Word goes into the womb of the heart where faith lays hold upon it. By this contact of faith and the Word there comes forth a new life. It is as real as physical life. It is entirely different from physical life. It is eternal life. It is spiritual life. It is abundant life. By this union of the Word and faith within our hearts we have become sons of God.
That is what Jesus was pointing out to Nicodemus when He said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit (hudatos kai pneumatos), he cannot enter the Kingdom of God." Now, the wording, "of water and the Spirit," is a very unfortunate translation in most Bible versions. In the Greek there are two words here. One is a form of hudor, the common Greek word for water. You see it in hydromatic, hydroelectric, hydrophobia, all of which are Greek words combining forms that have to do with water. The other is pneuma, the Greek word for wind, which you know in pneumonia and pneumatic. Now literally, it reads, "Except a man be born of water and wind. . . ." The translators took the Greek word for water and translated it into the English word water, but they took the Greek word for wind, interpreted it, and translated it Spirit.
This is one of several illustrations in the Gospel of John where Jesus used physical illustrations to show spiritual truths. In John 2, He said, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it." He was talking about resurrection and they were talking about masonry and brick. Here in John 3 He talks about supernatural life, and Nicodemus' mind is in the delivery room. In John 4, Jesus talks about the water of life, and the woman thinks of H2O and the depth of the well.
So when He mentions water to Nicodemus, He means the Word of God. The likeness is given because of the cleansing power of the Word. (See Psalm 119:9; John 15:3; Eph. 5:26.) Actually, no one is ever born again apart from some contact with the Word of God-spoken or written. We are thus born into God's kingdom by the Word of God. (See James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23.)
And when He refers to wind, He means Spirit, as we see in John 4:24, "God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."' With this interpretation in mind, the verse reads, "Except a man be born of the Word of God and the Spirit of God, he cannot enter the Kingdom of
God."
STUDY QUESTIONS
- Why is the spirit and the word the two most significant pieces in John’s gospel in considering “the new-birth”
- How does the implementation of the spirit and the word bring together the new-birth, effectually.
