“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:33Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)).
Believers possess a new life. If God only forgave us our sins, how could we be at rest in His presence? God not only has put away sin righteously (because the Lord Jesus fully met all God’s claims at the cross—“the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin”), but it is also a blessed truth that when we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we are born into the family of God. That is, we are brought into a new standing before Him.
Nicodemus accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as a great teacher (even as many in the world today do). But those who only believe He was a great teacher do not see the vital necessity of having a new life before God. So the Lord immediately tells him that unless a person is born again (or “born from above”), he cannot see the kingdom of God.
It is not only necessary that our sins be put away in the precious blood of Christ, but the one who accepts Christ is “born again”—born from above—brought into the family of God by birth with the very nature of God Himself. What a wonderful thing to possess the very life and nature of God Himself.
Water and Spirit
In answer to Nicodemus’ question as to how such a thing could be, the Lord said this new life must be born of water and Spirit.
In Scripture, water is often used as a figure of the Word of God. When one is born again, it is through the operation of the Word of God applied by the Spirit of God. “That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word” (Eph. 5:2626That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (Ephesians 5:26)). “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever” (1 Peter 1:2323Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. (1 Peter 1:23)). “Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures” (James 1:1818Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1:18)).
New Birth
The Spirit of God applies the Word and in doing so gives new life to a dead soul. This is seen in John 5:2525Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. (John 5:25) where we read, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.” This verse is not speaking of resurrection, for it says the hour in which the dead hear “now is.” Verse 28 does speak of the resurrection, for there we read, “The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice.”
The hour now is when a dead sinner hears the voice of God through the Word of God, and the Spirit of God uses that for the quickening or imparting of life to that dead soul. When this happens, that person is born into the family of God.
The New Life Enjoys New Things
The Lord was saying to Nicodemus, “I can’t take you to heaven with the life you were born with in this world. You will have to possess a new life.” How could a man born in sin enjoy the things of God? Fallen nature is corrupt and loves sin. How could such a life enjoy the things of God or please God? “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:88So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:8)).
When God imparts that new life, He imparts the very life and nature of God Himself. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:33And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3)). “The life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us” (1 John 1:22(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) (1 John 1:2)).
The New Life Bears Fruit for God
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:66That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:6)). Human nature cannot be improved. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:99The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)). God hasn’t forgiven or improved the old nature we were born with. “God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8:33For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: (Romans 8:3)). If you had a pile of rotten lumber, you wouldn’t try to build a house with it. It could only be condemned. This is what God has done with the old nature.
“Ye must be born again.” There is no other way by which there can be any fruit for God nor is there any other way a person can enter into and enjoy the thoughts of God unless he possesses new life. That is what happens when a person is born again.
G. H. Hayhoe (from an address)