God The Holy Spirit | What Does It Mean to be Born Again?
About this series:
The Holy Spirit is fully God, eternally existing with the Father and the Son. Throughout the Old Testament, we see glimpses of the Spirit’s presence and work, but it is through the teaching of Jesus and the events of the New Testament that the church’s understanding of the Holy Spirit is revealed more fully.
About this talk:
This chapter contains two of Jesus’ most famous sayings: “You must be born again” (v 7) and, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (v 16)” - though whether Jesus’ words end at v 15 or at v 21 is disputed.
Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus (“at night,” possibly with multiple meanings / implications) begins with an acknowledgement that “you are a teacher who has come from God. For no-one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Nicodemus has either seen or heard of both Jesus’ teaching and miracles and Jesus quickly moves the conversation into talk of being “born again” (or “born from above”) - perhaps “born again from above” might be the best way to express it.
Seeing the kingdom of God (v 3) and entering the kingdom of God (v 5) appear to be synonymous terms, but it becomes clear that experiencing the realm in which God reigns is not simply a human choice, but a work of the Spirit, vs 5-8. And this is a crucial aspect of our understanding of the Spirit’s work - the Christian faith is never just about our work of reformation; it’s about the Spirit’s work of regeneration. He is the one leading us to God: awakening in us a desire for God, giving us faith to respond to God. Ephesians 1, for example, sets out the Spirit’s vital role in our Trinitarian salvation, on which Ryken & Lefebvre comment, ‘Our salvation jointly depends on the electing, predestining work of God the Father; the redeeming, atoning work of God the Son; and the sealing, guaranteeing work of God the Holy Spirit.’ As Paul writes in Ephesians 2:18, “through [Christ Jesus] we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”
In John 3:5-8 Jesus says:
v 5: “No-one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.” What does he mean by “born of water”? Some suggest it refers to baptism. Others believe Jesus is referring to one’s physical (first) birth. But perhaps more likely it is a reference to Ezekiel 36:25-27: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean.” Hence “water and the Spirit” is really one thing, synonymous with “born again” - you must be born again by the cleansing, life-giving, regenerating Holy Spirit. This new birth is a Spirit of God-initiated event.
v 6: “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” As is obvious in the natural world, like can only give birth to like. Likewise, new spiritual life, children of God can only come from God - see John 1:12-13. The spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1,5) are unable to raise themselves to new life; only the Spirit can bring to life a person’s dead spirit.
v 8: “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” Just as with the ‘activity’ of the wind, you may not be able to explain it all (this process of new birth), but you can clearly see the undeniable effects. We may not be quite sure how this remarkable change has happened, but it clearly has.
There is one question that needs answering now. How can Jesus instruct Nicodemus, “You must be born again,” if new birth is the work of the Spirit? If the wind (Spirit) blows where he pleases, if only Spirit gives birth to spirit, what part does a person play in being born again? If it’s all God, do I just wait and see if it happens to me? We could answer this way: Yes, the emphasis is on the work of God in this new birth. But I take the phrase “you must be born again” in v 7 to be both active and passive - active in that it’s an instruction (“you must”); passive in that you can only receive it (ie. not achieve it).
Take the instruction, “Tim, you must get to Zambia to visit Jon & Jo Lake.” Impossible! But not if I am both active and passive. So I actively engaged in the process, but I am essentially passive in getting there: the car, coach and planes did their work as I received their power / effect on me.
Or if the doctor said, “You need some vitamin D from the sun.” The power is all from the sun, but I need to be active in putting myself in a place where I can receive the effect of its power.
And the active part is expressed later in v 16 as believing: “whoever believes in him.” Which means trusting in, relying on. And Jesus mentions an incident in the OT to illustrate what that looks like in practice, Numbers 21:8: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.’”
The outcome of the Spirit’s work is that new life has come. Not merely a reformed life or an improved life, but a new life. A life that wasn’t there before - it was dead - and a life with new impulses and which will never perish!
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