I. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL— vs. 6 “That which is born of the flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”.
We marvel at the birth of a child and speak about how cute and precious babies are, but there is more to a child than what meets the eye–there is an ugly side. Every child is born with a sinful nature. And what we are by nature or nurture is never enough to make us righteous.
II. THE DEMAND FOR A NEW BIRTH—vs. 7 “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again”.
Man’s great need is regeneration, not reformation. He must become a new person and that requires a new birth, a spiritual creation. The spiritually dead person needs life which requires a birth, and only God can produce life. He is the source of life, a living Spirit, the fountain of living water.
III. THE DYNAMICS OF THE NEW BIRTH—vs. 8 “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 every one that is born of the Spirit.”
The new birth is a work of God, rather than man. Salvation is something God does for us, not something we do for God, as religion teaches. We are saved as a result of being accepted by God—but we cannot make ourselves acceptable. We are accepted by Him only when we accept His Son as our Lord and Savior(Eph. 1:6).
IV. THE DISCERNMENT OF THE NEW BIRTH—vs. 9-10 “Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?”
Since this is the one thing we cannot afford to be wrong about we need to accept what Jesus says. Until a person comes into agreement with Him there is no hope. In these verses we see two important truths:
1. Religion is worthless apart from regeneration–vs. 9-10
Nicodemus should have known this. His confusion shows what happens when we value tradition more than truth.
2. Redemption is in Christ alone– vs. 11-13
Any student of the Old Testament should have known what Jesus says here. The O.T. clearly points to Christ, leaving us without excuse for not recognizing and receiving Him as Lord and Savior. Jesus is not “a” way to heaven. He is “the way” (John 14:6).
