Nicodemus

Points to ponder:
.

Jesus said "You must be born Again." in order to enter God's heavenly Kingdom (John 3:3, 7)
.
.
.
.
.
The New Birth is an actual spiritual event. Nicodemus thought it was physical. (John 3:4)
.
.
.
.
.
The New Birth happens when God gives the Holy Spirit. It can happen any time, not necessarily at baptism. Just like the wind, the Spirit may come when He decides to. (John 3:8)
.
.
.
.
.
It is possible to be born of water and not born of the Spirit; they are separate events. (John 3:6)
.
.
.
.
.
Though the giving of the Spirit and a new heart are proclaimed throughout Scripture: (Ezekiel 11:19; 18:31; 36:26) The new birth is proclaimed only in the N.T.: (John 1:13; John 3:3; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 1:13; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 5:1 and other places)
.
.
.
.
.
God gives the Holy Spirit, not man. (John 1:13)
.
.
.
.
.
The result of the giving of the Spirit is a new birth (John3:8)
.
.
.
.
.
The holy Spirit is God's gift. If it is received, it is a guarantee of our Salvation.
(2 Corinthians 1:22)
.
.
.
.
.
Once God gives the gift of the Holy Spirit, He does not take it back. It is a guarantee of a heavenly reward. Therefore God gives the Spirit to those He will save. (2 Corinthians 5:5-6)
.
.
.
.
.
The result of the new birth is a changed mind and Godly desires; In essence, a new person. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Theology 101

The story of Nicodemus and the new birth.

When people hear the term 'born again' they often think that it refers to a religious sect that holds ultra religious views, sometimes mistakenly called 'Born Agains.' Actually, the term was first expressed by Jesus Himself and what He revealed about it concerns everyone who claims to be a Christian.

But first we need to emphasize that this born-again experience (or new birth) is indeed an actual event, not a sect or religion or denomination. In the N.T. not only did Jesus proclaim the new birth, but so did the apostles Peter, Paul, John and James in many places of Scripture. In the O.T. there were several prophetic announcements by Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and others. The new birth was fully manifested at Pentecost when the church was born and the holy Spirit appeared as tongues of fire.

What follows is the biblical account of a man the Lord first chose to personally reveal the new birth to Then an explanation is given.

^{John 3:1-12}

^{1
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus,
a ruler of the Jews. 2 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."

3 Jesus answered and said to
him,}^{"Most assuredly, I
say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God."}^{4
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?"

5 Jesus answered,}^{"Most
assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of
water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom
of God.}⁶^{That
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit.}⁷^{Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must
be born again.’}⁸^{The
wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the
sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from
and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of
the Spirit."}^{9
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can
these things be?"

10 Jesus answered and said to
him,}^{"Are you the
teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?}¹¹^{Most
assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know
and testify what We have seen, and you do not
receive Our witness.}¹²^{If I have told you earthly things and you do not
believe, how will you believe if I tell you
heavenly things?}

There was a very religious sect in Israel at the time of Jesus Christ who were called *Pharisees. They believed deeply in the resurrection of the body and other spiritual beliefs. A man of this group who was the teacher of all Israel named Nicodemus came to pay a visit to Jesus by night (John 3:1-21). We are not told why he came by night. Perhaps he was afraid his fellow Pharisees would see him seeking the Christ. Or maybe he was working late and was sent by the other Pharisees to find out more about Him (see text which states "...we know that You..."). Or could it be that after seeing all the miracles Jesus performed, it troubled him so greatly that he couldn't sleep and had to talk to Jesus no matter what the time. At any rate, he went to see Jesus.

Now once they met, Nicodemus made a statement to show Jesus how he felt about Him. He tells 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." He was saying that like most of his sect, he believed Him to be a teacher sent from God. Now this man was the teacher of Israel, and many others looked to him for proper interpretation and explanation of the Holy Writings. He accepted that Jesus was sent from God, but he was probably very puzzled.

Instead of acknowledging what he said, Jesus responded in such a way that shows that He was not confirming Nicodemus' statement. Jesus introduces this 'Teacher of Israel.' with a doctrine that was totally new to him. He said "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

We're not told why Jesus said this to him. Perhaps Jesus wanted to humble this teacher and let him know that he didn't know as much as he thought. Actually there are several places in the Old Testament that this doctrine is taught though other terms are used, and this man should have known about it. Jesus wanted to proclaim that no one could see (perceive) the kingdom of God, without a miracle that could not be seen: a spiritual re-birth.

This teaching of the New birth was something that was completely foreign to this teacher. So he asked Jesus "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Nicodemus saw this as a physical event and failed to see the spiritual significance. In the Greek, the actual term is gennhqh anwqen which literally means 'born from above' pertaining to a new birth by the Holy Spirit. The term born again was used because it implies a new birth as Nicodemus said.

The next statement Jesus made has caused so much confusion yet some theologians base their teachings on it. He said ""Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." Many believe that to be born of water refers to baptism and to be born of the Spirit refers to the the new birth by the Holy Spirit. They think that if you have one, you automatically have the other, as if it is one event.

But the sentence structure suggests otherwise. Looking closely at this sentence, the word and, will help in understanding it. For clarification, another way of saying this is: "...unless you have one (born of water) and the other (the Spirit) you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven..." This shows two distinct events. The argument is this: If Jesus is talking about water baptism, and the Spirit, then it follows that it is possible to have one -- Baptism -- and not the other -- Spiritual rebirth. If He was referring to a single event, then shouldn't He have said "...born of water by the Spirit, or something to that effect? Instead He stressed that it was possible to have the first, baptism and not the second, the new birth.

The next verse sheds more light on the matter. Jesus said, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Jesus distinctly shows two separate events. So we see the phrase that which is born of the flesh is flesh can't refer to baptism -- baptism is not a physical (of the flesh) birth even though it is sometimes representative of death and rebirth (Romans 6:4). So, what fleshly birth can He be talking of. Can it be that he is referring to our physical birth, that is born of the water from our mothers womb. The second, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, is what relates to a spiritual rebirth. These I believe emphasize two distinct births; they cannot be one in the same! Jesus later said this,"for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." (Acts 1:5) Here we definitely see that distinction.

In the Bible, when the Holy Spirit was given, a great change always occurred immediately in a persons life. This is spiritual rebirth or born of the Spirit. If we look in the New Testament we see that the Holy Spirit was sometimes given after the laying on of hands (Acts 8:17, 19:6). Sometimes He was given before baptism (Act 9:17, 10:44-48). Oftentimes rebirth happened with faith after baptism (Acts 2:41).

As we can see, there is no prescribed time that this new birth takes place. But in all cases, it happens when an expression of faith takes place. This is why Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again." It was like the wind that comes and goes, "so were those born of the Spirit." He was saying that though this was a true experience, we don't always know when it occurs. But since it is indeed a necessary event, we must experience it in order to be saved and receive a heavenly reward. So since we cannot know when this occurs, we cannot declare without a doubt that it happens when we were baptized.

To make this claim, is to pronounce that it is the result of either ours or someone else's doing. In John 1:13 it speaks of this new birth. It says that those who receive Christ "were born not of blood" that is, it doesn't happen at birth. It also says they were born not "of the will of the flesh" meaning it doesn't happen as a result of what we ourselves may say or do. Finally it says it is "not of the will of man", meaning no man can do it, as when a man baptizes another. So we must be careful if we think we know that just because we have been baptized, we have automatically received the new birth.

Indeed, many have been baptized, but one look at their lives indicates whether they truly are of the faith. Stalin the infamous leader of the Soviet Union was studying to enter the priesthood. He was baptized, of course. But he left and entered politics. Later he was responsible for killing nearly 30 million of his own people. Was he filled with the Holy Spirit? Hitler himself was Catholic. Same story. Did he receive the new birth?

The next argument may be, "Yes but they turned their backs on God." It is important to understand that God does not reject men, men reject God. Those who have rejected God could not have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

But those who have received the Spirit of God are guaranteed of the promises of God's inheritance until he arrives. It says in Ephesians 1:13-14:

"In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory."

So once we are given His Spirit, He will not retract it. Those who have His Spirit are indeed saved. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."(Ephesians 2:8-9)

The important thing is to make sure we have been born of the Spirit of God by receiving Christ as Lord and Savior.

Return to Theology 101