Breathtaking miracle of being born from above

These exclamations are typical of those made by people who witness the dramatic spectacle of human birth. To see a new life come into existence is a priceless privilege. No wonder human birth evokes such exclamations of joy.

In fact, during our human existence, only one other event can eclipse it. And that event is a second birth—to be born again.

"Born again?" you ask. "How can a person enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?"

This question was raised 2,000 years ago by a religious leader when Jesus Christ spoke to him about the necessity of a second birth (John 3:1-12). That religious leader, Nicodemus, did not understand Christ. Through the centuries, countless others have also misunderstood.

But this subject should not be misunderstood. Anyone who wants the knowledge of God and the blessings of salvation needs to understand the words Christ spoke to Nicodemus.

Misunderstandings about these verses are not confined to those in religious circles. They afflict both the nonreligious and religious communities alike.

Many sincere believers wrongly suppose that to be born again is merely a transitory emotional experience that signals they have been called into a relationship with Christ.

Some nonbelievers—including many who ridicule Christianity – view a Christian’s statement that he or she has been born again as religious foolishness or fanaticism. They stereotype such a person as naive and uneducated.

All such misunderstandings should be corrected. Happily, a closer examination of the verses in question will reveal their profound meaning.

The place to start is to grasp the purpose of the book in which these verses are found, the Gospel of John. John proclaims his purpose in John 20:31: "these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name" (New King James unless noted).

The purpose of the book, therefore, is to identify Christ as the Messiah, and to reinforce belief in him as the Son of God.

While the purpose is important, the context is of no less value. By summarizing the chapters before and after John 3, we learn the following:

Chapter 1 is a preface, which, among other things, announces that Christ "was God" and was "with God." It describes John the Baptist’s testimony that Jesus was the Christ, displays excitement about Jesus among certain of those later made apostles, and proclaims their belief in him.

Chapter 2 describes Christ’s first miracle, that of turning water into wine, after which it says, "His disciples believed in Him" (verse 11).

It also describes how Christ drove the money changers from the temple, how he said that the temple of his body would be destroyed and raised up in three days (a proof of his Messiahship) and proclaims that his disciples believed in him because of his miracles.

Chapter 4 details the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, and that "many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him" (verse 39).

John 3:1 introduces Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews. Nicodemus was a member of the prestigious Sanhedrin, the governing body of the Jewish faith. John is singling out this man, and this story, to show how the Jews as a whole regarded Christ.

Notice The New International Commentary on the New Testament: "The use of the expression [ruler of the Jews] is doubtless intended to convey to us that Nicodemus stands as the representative of the old religion."

Nicodemus, by his use of the expression "we" in verse 2, purports not to speak for himself only, but, as a religious leader, for the people who shared his faith in general.

Notice also that Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. While no doubt literal, it is symbolic as well. Throughout the Bible, darkness is a symbol of spiritual blindness and evil. In John 3:19 Christ proclaims "men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."

Notice that Nicodemus addressed Jesus as a rabbi and said that the Jews knew he, Jesus, was a teacher come from God. This sounds like a compliment. Nicodemus may have intended it that way.

But to Christ the statement was a gross understatement, almost an insult. His statement was like someone meeting the President of the United States and remarking, "I hear that you are on the White House staff!"

Jesus Christ was not merely a teacher come from God or a rabbi. He was God in the flesh, the Messiah, the Lamb of God and Savior who would take away the sins of the whole world. But Nicodemus didn’t understand that.

The New International Commentary on the New Testament puts it well: "Nicodemus begins with a courteous, even flattering address…. He hails Jesus as a teacher ‘come from God.’ We must notice that he sees Jesus as a teacher only, and that he has as yet no perception of the real nature of Him whom he sought out."

Verse 3 contains Jesus’ response to Nicodemus’ opening remarks: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Some have been confused as to why on the heels of Nicodemus’ greeting Christ would respond with a statement about a new birth.

It should come as no surprise that the topic would be the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God would be the most important subject to the religious leader, Nicodemus, on the one hand, and to the Messiah of the kingdom on the other.

But why would Jesus address the kingdom by saying that Nicodemus could not see it without being born again? Jesus was saying that Nicodemus’ spiritual vision, understanding and experience were not enough to comprehend or experience the kingdom (or even to know its king, Jesus Christ) without Nicodemus undergoing a dramatic spiritual change. The term Jesus gave to identify this change was to be born again.

We should recognize that John is using figurative language. A figure of speech is an expression in which the words are used with other than a literal meaning.

For example, when Christ says Nicodemus cannot see the kingdom of God without being born again, he is using the word see to mean "experience."

In English the word see is often used figuratively. For example, upon hearing an explanation about some matter, a person will likely respond, "I see." The person is not making a literal statement about sight, but is saying that he understands.

Likewise, in verse 3, when Jesus speaks of seeing the kingdom of God, he means coming to experience it.

The New International Commentary on the New Testament makes this point: "In verse 3 Jesus has spoken of ‘seeing’ the kingdom of God, whereas [later in verse 5] He speaks of ‘entering’ it. There is probably no great difference of meaning."

Christ meant that Nicodemus could not experience, comprehend or understand the kingdom without being born again.

The phrase "born again" in these verses, like the word see, is also a figure of speech. We know this because the literal sense of the words born again does not make sense in this context.

The concept of conversion as a rebirth was common, and any Jewish religious leader would have understood.

According to The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, by Alfred Edersheim: "It is, indeed, true that a Gentile on becoming a proselyte—though not, as has been suggested, an ordinary penitent—was likened to a child just born…. The expression, therefore, was not only common, but, so to speak, fluid."

According to Jamieson, Fausset and Brown: "The Jews were accustomed to say of a heathen proselyte, on his public admission into the Jewish faith by baptism, that he was a new-born child. But our Lord here extends the necessity of the new birth to Jew and Gentile alike—to every one."

According to Adam Clarke’s commentary, "[The Jews] held that the Gentile who became a proselyte was like a child new born."

The Jews used this expression religiously, not of themselves, but of gentile converts who underwent Jewish baptism rites to become a proselyte into the Jewish faith.

Actually, the expression translated "born again" is probably better translated "born from above." If we look at other places where John uses the Greek word for "again" or "from above," we see that "from above" is what he meant, and it is the translation choice used in some Bible versions.

Also, we must address the Greek word gennao, here translated "born." Gennao can be translated either "born or "begotten," but through a series of misunderstandings we in the Worldwide Church of God came to believe that the expression "born again" could refer to the resurrection.

We confused begettal with conception, then, based on this mistake, we saw in certain verses an analogy between baptism and conception on the one hand, and the resurrection and birth on the other.

Gennao means either "born" or "begotten," depending on whether the mother’s or father’s role is being spoken of. The proper English usage of born and begotten refer to the same event—one’s birth.

When speaking from the point of view of the mother, we say "born" (as in "he was born of a talented mother"). When speaking from the point of view of the father, the correct usage is to say "begotten" (as in "he was begotten of a talented father"). Both born and begotten thus refer to the same event. Neither means conception.

It is often difficult for native English speakers to admit that they have been speaking English incorrectly. So if a person has incorrectly used the word begotten to mean "conceive," it can be hard to admit one’s error. However, dictionaries still list the proper usage, and besides that, the usage in question is not our usage today, but the meaning of the Greek at the time of writing, and the meaning of the English at the time of translation.

In verse 4 Nicodemus appears confused and asks how a person can be born again when old, how could the person enter a second time into a mother’s womb and be born?

Nicodemus appears to misunderstand Christ’s figurative comments, and instead takes them literally and is puzzled.

Why would Nicodemus misunderstand Jesus’ statements? The verses don’t directly answer, but it is likely that Nicodemus chooses to misunderstand because he doesn’t like or want to believe their obvious meaning.

Notice The New International Commentary on the New Testament: "It seems so obvious that the words are not meant to be taken literally that we must ask why Nicodemus adopted this curious interpretation.

"Perhaps it is a case of hurt dignity. There are references of proselytes who entered the Jewish religion as being like children new born. Nicodemus may have felt that the term appropriate to the Gentile as he entered the ranks of the chosen people was the last word that should be applied to one who was not only a Jew, but a Pharisee, and a member of the Sanhedrin. So, not liking the way the conversation is going, he chooses to misunderstand. It is perhaps more likely that he is wistful than obtuse."

Put yourself in Nicodemus’ shoes. He had just slighted Jesus by saying that he, Nicodemus, great religious leader in the community, thought Christ to be only a teacher from God.

In response, Jesus tells Nicodemus that he has no spiritual grasp of the basic elements of the kingdom of God—about which a religious figure such as he should be an authority—or of its king, whom he just slighted.

Nicodemus is being told that to understand the kingdom he must undergo a spiritual regeneration similar to the regeneration that the "inferior" gentiles had to undergo in order to enter the Jewish faith. Christ was telling Nicodemus that he was as unconverted as an unbelieving gentile.

In reply to Nicodemus’ seeming bewilderment, Jesus adds in verse 5 that to be born again (from above) a person must be "born of water and the Spirit."

He is telling Nicodemus that he must be baptized ("born of water") and receive the Holy Spirit ("born of the Spirit") to undergo the regeneration process.

The process of regeneration requires something from Nicodemus (baptism) and something from God (his Spirit). The Spirit of God would have given Nicodemus a spiritual mind, and would have given him spiritual insight into the kingdom and its king, Jesus Christ.

In the next verse Jesus tells Nicodemus that a person who is born of the flesh is flesh and one who is born of the Spirit is spirit. Jesus is still speaking in figurative language. He has not suddenly jumped into literal language and begun a lesson in elementary physics.

Rather, he is showing Nicodemus a truth about human nature and God’s nature. He is telling him that from his physical birth he inherited physical qualities and physical limitations that prevented him from seeing the kingdom. But from a spiritual regeneration he would get spiritual qualities that would give him the understanding of the kingdom and its king.

In verse 7 Jesus tells Nicodemus not to marvel when told he must be born from above. Of course Nicodemus would marvel. He would marvel because it seemed bewildering that a supposed religious leader should be told he didn’t have a spiritual mind.

In verse 8, Jesus likens the Spirit to wind, which invisibly blows. He is saying that the effects of the wind are visible, but the wind itself is invisible.

In like manner, one who undergoes a spiritual regeneration by God’s Spirit will undergo noticeable changes, although the Spirit causing these changes is invisible.

Christ’s mention of the invisible wind is especially apt. Remember, Nicodemus relied only on his physical senses for understanding. Jesus is pointing out that the invisible working of the Spirit enables spiritual perceptions—perceptions that cannot be sensed by the flesh, but are nonetheless real.

The apostle Paul makes the same point in 1 Corinthians 2:9. "But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’" In other words, the human mind, by itself, cannot sense and understand spiritual things.

"But," Paul continues, "But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit." However, Nicodemus did not have a spiritual mind, because he had not yet been born from above.

According to Adam Clarke’s commentary: "The wind blows in a variety of directions—we hear its sound, perceive its operation in the motion of the trees, etc., and feel it on ourselves—but we cannot discern the air itself, we only know that it exists by the effects which it produces: so is every one who is born of the Spirit: the effects are as discernible and as sensible as those of the wind; but itself we cannot see."

The next verse in Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus contains a great irony. In response to Jesus’ explanations up to this point, Nicodemus is puzzled and asks quizzingly, "How can these things be?" (John 3:9).

Nicodemus is confused. But this is precisely Christ’s point. He is telling Nicodemus spiritual truths. Nicodemus unintentionally—but perfectly—confirmed that Jesus’ analysis of him is correct, and that he had indeed not undergone the spiritual regeneration of which the Savior spoke and could not understand spiritual things.

Jesus brings home this irony in verse 10 when he says, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?" The fact that Nicodemus was a religious teacher should have meant that he had an understanding mind. But, as Christ said, he did not have such a mind because he had not undergone the spiritual change we call conversion.

In verses 11 and 12 Christ says that we humans know of and speak about things we have seen and sensed with the physical senses.

Acknowledging that humans generally understand physical things, Jesus said he tried to speak with Nicodemus in physical terms he should understand, but that Nicodemus still didn’t understand. Therefore, what good would it do to speak about heavenly things to Nicodemus? He would surely not understand such things.

In verse 13 Christ shows that no one except he could explain heavenly things to Nicodemus, because only he—Christ—had been to heaven and seen these things.

Of course, by declaring that he had been in heaven, Jesus was again declaring himself to be the Christ, the Messiah. He was far more than a teacher come from God, as Nicodemus had alleged.

Verses 14 to 21 are further proclamations of Jesus that he is the Messiah and will die to take away the sins of the world.

Further insight into John 3 may be gained by reading the verbal exchange between Christ and the apostles in Matthew 16:13-17.

The disciples give various answers. "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

But when Jesus asked the disciples who they thought he was, Peter responded, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

To this remark Jesus declared, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven."

This is the same point Jesus made to Nicodemus (albeit with an opposite result): to understand who Christ is requires spiritual insight granted by God through the Holy Spirit. The apostles had been given this insight; Nicodemus (in John 3) had not.

The resurrection?

Some say that when Jesus said "born again," he was referring to the resurrection. But if he meant resurrection, why not simply say resurrection? It may be helpful to consider for a moment why these verses do not refer to the resurrection. Here are six reasons:

The context,, when properly understood, supports "born again" (from above) being conversion, and does not in any way support the resurrection.
A discussion about the resurrection would not logically follow Nicodemus' opening remarks about Christ. Why would Jesus suddenly launch into commenting on the resurrection?
Nicodemus was a Pharisee and already believed in the resurrection (Acts 23:8). Although he may not have understood the concept of a resurrection perfectly, he certainly would not have been as shocked and dismayed to learn more about the resurrection as he appears to have been in these verses.
To interpret "born again" as the resurrection would run counter to the commonly understood meaning of that concept in first-century Judaism. Why would Christ use that concept for something totally different from its known and accepted meaning?
For that matter, if a resurrection was meant, why not simply say resurrection? Why use a figure of speech at all? Christ used a figure of speech to convey the difficult and new concept of conversion. The resurrection was neither difficult nor new, and thus not in need of an illustrating figure of speech.

To interpret "born again" as the resurrection requires one to force unnatural meanings on subsequent verses, including Christ's discussions about flesh, wind and heavenly things.

Before closing our discussion, let’s compare the meaning of being born again with popular views of this expression.

First, to be born again (from above) means to be converted. It is not, as some assume, a transitory, emotional experience by which God changes a person.

Much good can come from examining a series of verses in Scripture, as we have done in this article. However, we can find ourselves so focused on the meaning of the words that we overlook their spiritual impact.

A person who comes to God through Christ must be born from above—must undergo a conversion process and be spiritually regenerated. That process begins with God’s calling, and involves repentance and the receipt of God’s renewing Spirit.

With receipt of God’s Spirit, a person becomes a new person. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

How wonderful that God has established a process where every person may make a new start in life. How exciting that God will regenerate each sinful person into a new creation with a spiritual mind capable of understanding spiritual things and coming into the presence of the living God himself.

Those who have known the superlative experience of being spiritually born from above echo in perfect harmony the exclamations of those who have seen the spectacle of physical human birth.

"Amazing." "Exciting." "Breathtaking," they are likely to exclaim. "It’s a miracle!"