“BORN OF WATER AND OF THE SPIRIT.”
NICODEMUS, a member of the Sanhedrim and ruler in the synagogue, came secretly to Jesus, at night, for instruction in righteousness. As Jesus presented the spiritual character of the terms of salvation, this learned man, lost in amazement at the marvelous simplicity yet absolute perfection of the requirements, so foreign to his teachings and preconceptions, exclaimed, “How can these things be?” What things were in his mind?—Why, the fact that “except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5), or, as the literal Greek is, “born of water and of Spirit.” How true it is that the natural heart receiveth not the things of God. 1 Cor. 2:14. Jesus had presented a simple statement, from a spiritual standpoint; and this teacher in Israel, learned in all the lore and the traditions of the priests and scribes, a supposedly well-versed student and teacher of the Scriptures, was utterly unable to grasp the meaning of this fundamental principle of justification, sanctification, and redemption. How is it with us to-day? Do we know the meaning of the Saviour’s words? Man comes into the world in thralldom to the powers of darkness, conceived in iniquity, born in sin (Ps. 51:5), a servant to sin (Eph. 2:2; John 8:34; Rom. 6:16), and lives naturally without hope or God in the world (Eph. 2:12), passing all the days of his life in fear and torment because of death and the judgment to come. Heb. 2:14, 15. To such a creature God offers the cup of salvation. He tastes the water of life, and it brings to him spiritual sight, enabling him to see sin—himself—(Rom. 8:7), and to realize his forlorn condition. Rom. 7:24. The glory of God, His goodness, overshadows the sinner, and the love of God melts the sin-hardened heart, causing the tears of repentance to flow. Rom. 2:4. The sinner stands convicted of sin, convinced of righteousness (John 16:7-10), and the enlightening power of God, surrounding and overshadowing him, guides him into the path of salvation. Phil. 2:13. He renounces his allegiance to Satan (Rom. 6:6, 7, 14), and becomes a servant of God (1 Cor. 3:9), a new creature, or creation, in Christ Jesus. 2 Cor. 5:17. He is born again (“from above,” John 3:3, margin), for “the new birth consists in having new motives, new tastes, new tendencies.” Jesus told the Jews that if they would accept and exemplify in their lives the teachings He presented, they would be able to comprehend what truth is, and that that knowledge would free them from the bondage of sin (John 8:31, 32; Heb. 2:14, 15); because an intelligent acceptance of truth brings unity with God and Christ (John 17:17, 19, 21), the author of truth. John 17:17; 14:6. Jesus says that He is “truth” and is “light.” Truth, then, is light; and so a knowledge of truth is necessary to repentance; for one cannot know sin, to repent of it, unless he comprehends truth, or righteousness. The light (righteousness) shining on sin, makes the darkness (sin) apparent, and this is the only way that sin can be made manifest. John 1:4. “God is the fountain of life, and we can have life only as we are in communion with Him.” “The words of inspiration, pondered in the heart, will be as streams flowing from the fountain of life.” “Fill the whole heart with the words of God. They are the living water, quenching your burning thirst.”