JOHN 3:1–21
“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit”
(John 3:6).
When Jesus told Nicodemus that he had to be born again, Nicodemus asked how a man could be born when he is old. Was Jesus saying that a person needed to reenter his mother’s birth canal and be born all over again?
Jesus replied that the new birth is not a birth in the flesh, but in the Spirit. When Nicodemus continued to be confused, Jesus shamed him by asking how a teacher in Israel could be so ignorant of these things. It was clear from the Old Testament that flesh only gives rise to flesh, and that a new cleansing birth was needed for a person to see the kingdom of God.
To help Nicodemus understand, Jesus provided an analogy. He said that when the wind blows, you feel it, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. In both Hebrew and Greek, the word for wind is the same as the word for spirit, and also for breath. Thus, Jesus was reminding Nicodemus that when God made man in the first place (Genesis 2:7), He had breathed into him to make him alive. Just so, the Spirit can breathe new life into a person.
Wind is invisible and so is the work of the Holy Spirit in making a person a new being. We can see the evidence of the change as the person, with their eyes now focused on God, handles disappointments and triumphs. In other words, while we cannot see his soul, we can see the fruit of the new birth in a person’s life.
In fact, we cannot see ourselves all that well. We see some good new things in our lives, but we also see the same old rotten stuff. Just looking within does not tell us what we need to know. Thus, we have to ask if there has been a change both in our heart and actions toward God and His kingdom. If so, then that is enough evidence to provide assurance of salvation.
CORAM DEO
Isaiah 59–61
1 Thessalonians 4
Turn back to Leviticus 12–15. Note in the margins of your Bible how the various forms of corruption are called “flesh,” and how the flesh gives birth to more flesh as corruption spreads. What was necessary for a person to be restored to the old covenant kingdom? Does this shed light on John 3:5? Why didn’t Nicodemus know this?
For further study: Ephesians 2:11–22; Born Again series
wednesday
october