Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
No one should be surprised at the requirement, for every person without exception must be born anew from above. It is not a second bodily birth but an inward spiritual change wrought by God, not by blood, descent, or human will. Without it no one can see, discern, enter, or inherit the kingdom of God here or hereafter. It is the unseen yet real work of the Holy Spirit, like the wind whose effects are seen and felt though its coming and going cannot be traced or controlled, and no human effort, argument, learning, or will can produce it. It is not a modification or improvement of the old life but a thorough transformation of nature, giving a new heart with new desires, purposes, and motives that is seen outwardly in a new and holy life.
Encounter With Nicodemus
The word was spoken to Nicodemus, an educated and honored Jewish leader whose interest in the teaching he had heard led him to seek further understanding of its truths. He was a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews and a member of the national council, rich and influential, learned in the law, holding high position among the rulers, and at the same time wealthy, learned, and benevolent. He came by night for a private meeting after seeing works of healing and hearing the teaching, and he approached with timidity. He came to Jesus by night for a private interview, acknowledging Him as a teacher come from God. The night interview took place on the Mount of Olives, where the conditions of conversion were laid before Nicodemus as a great teacher in Israel. Christ met him as an honored rabbi with an open, receptive heart and gave him precious instruction, speaking to him personally about the need to be born again. While ministering to the poor, He also studied to find ways of reaching the rich, seeking the acquaintance of the wealthy and cultured Pharisee, the Jewish nobleman and the Roman ruler, accepting their invitations, attending their feasts, and making Himself familiar with their interests and occupations, that He might gain access to their hearts and reveal to them imperishable riches. Nicodemus had been taught by Jesus that every person must be born again.
Jesus did not meet argument with argument but pressed home the necessity of the new birth with solemn, quiet dignity and with greater assurance as a renewed pressing of the truth. He spoke with earnest love in look and tone, so that the hearer was filled with awe without being offended, even while realizing his humiliating position. Gleams of truth penetrated the mind and led to asking how these things can be.
Nicodemus answered with irritation and literal misunderstanding, asking how an old man, how a man when he is old, could be born, because he was not spiritually minded enough to discern its spiritual meaning. He was more puzzled about how the new birth happens than convinced of its necessity, and his teaching exposed his spiritual ignorance and Israel's need for inward change rather than outward religious observance or obedience to the letter of the law. Instead of feeling irritated over plain truth and answering with irony, he should have held a far more humble opinion of himself, for even a learned, influential religious leader and a master in Israel needs this change. The change required is a new heart with new purposes and new springs of action, everything changed and made new, and until it takes place the want remains in the heart and even the strongest evidences presented would be useless, since it is not produced by controversy, arguments, or stronger evidence. It is a new moral birth of cleansing from sin and renewal in knowledge and holiness, wrought by the Spirit whose work is real though its action is not controlled or fully understood.
The teaching began to change Nicodemus and became part of the work that must take place in the heart for salvation to inherit the kingdom of heaven. He searched the Scripture to receive life rather than to debate a theory, and began to see the kingdom of heaven as he submitted to the Holy Spirit's leading, whom the Spirit molds and fashions daily to give insight into the kingdom. He became a true believer and later spoke against the Sanhedrin's effort to condemn without a hearing, speaking out boldly in the council in favor of justice so that he could not be shamed out of defending Him. In this way he recognized Jesus as the world's Redeemer when He was lifted up on the cross, learning the same lesson that calls people to look and live by believing that salvation comes through grace and not through obedience earning favor.
The word belongs to the words recorded in John 3:1-16. It belongs to the lesson given to Nicodemus which lays out the terms of salvation distinctly and can guide a soul even if it had no other Bible text. It is teaching about the way of life whose truths were recorded for the instruction of many and remain vital and important in every age. What was given in that secret interview has almost its counterpart in John the Baptist's testimony that He who comes from above is above all and that belief on the Son gives everlasting life, showing that John identified fully with the cause of Christ and defended Jesus as the superior Promised One of Israel whose way he came to prepare.
Meaning Of The Command
Marvel not means no one should be surprised at the requirement, for being born again is necessary to enter God's kingdom. This birth is spiritual and distinct from physical birth, not a bodily rebirth but the inward work of God's Spirit upon the human heart. The Spirit must act to purify the heart, putting away selfishness so that the person becomes holy and a righteous and balanced character can develop. Its transforming effects are seen and felt in the life, as evil thoughts and deeds are put away and love, peace, and humility take the place of anger, envy, and strife.
Ye must lays the command on every person just as on Nicodemus, for everyone must be born again. Intellectual understanding and religious piety do not remove this need, nor do learning, argument, or position, for what is needed is not controversy or stronger evidence but truth and a changed heart. This renewal is born of the Spirit and not merely of the flesh, and it is essential to see and enter God's kingdom. Like the wind's movement, the Spirit's work in this new birth cannot be traced, controlled, or fully explained by human understanding, yet its reality is evident and its effects can be recognized in a person's life. People may be awakened and convicted yet remain held back by influences, as Nicodemus was, and without a changed heart reasoning over disagreements about Christ's message does not save but can strengthen resistance. The call is a truth all can understand and applies to professed followers of Christ who have not been made new.
Born again means born anew, born from above, a spiritual, inward change. It is the only hope for those who assent to God's will without surrendering their particular sins, who must realize personally that without this new birth they cannot see the kingdom of God. The unregenerate heart must be cleansed from sin and transformed before it is fit for God's kingdom, calling for inner holiness and not merely external religious forms or strict outward observance. It is not bodily resurrection nor a nation being born in a day. To see the kingdom and to worship the Father in spirit and in truth requires this birth of the divine Spirit, for communion with heaven is not gained by seeking a holy mountain or a sacred temple, and religion is not to be confined to external forms and ceremonies. The religion that comes from God is the only religion that will lead to God, purifying the heart and renewing the mind to give a new capacity for knowing and loving God and giving willing obedience to all His requirements. This is true worship, the fruit of the working of the Holy Spirit, by whom every sincere prayer is indited and made acceptable to God, so that wherever a soul reaches out after God there the Spirit is working and God will reveal Himself to that soul, for the Father is seeking such worshipers to receive them and make them His sons and daughters.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh and remains flesh, while that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, giving spiritual life. Natural human life and natural growth cannot develop a symmetrical Christian character, and no one can bring about the change by will or self-transformation. The new birth comes to as many as receive Christ and believe on His name, giving them power to become the sons of God, born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh but of God. The believing born-again soul knows the Spirit of truth, for He dwells with and shall be in such, and Christ promises such followers that He will not leave them comfortless. Like the wind, the Spirit's work is real even when its source and course cannot be seen. It delivers from Satan's bondage and a tyrant's oppression and redeems to stand under Christ's banner as His own. Taking the name of Christian is a pledge to be true to God, bound up with Him and the angels in family relation, no longer living to self but to God whose they are and whom they serve, shown by discarding all that is unbecoming and living a new and holy life with actions such as become saints, proving worthy of the sacred trust conferred.
The change is not produced by controversy, argument, stronger evidence, learning, or holding a teaching position. Even to Nicodemus, a great teacher in Israel and a learned master, entry into divine life was presented as requiring conversion, showing that learning does not replace the need to be transformed by God's grace. His great learning could not give him the new understanding he needed from God. Even those who possess Scripture and religious knowledge must undergo spiritual rebirth, for natural or legal religion, self-righteousness, and spiritual pride cannot take its place. Receiving Christ's words into the heart brings deeper spiritual knowledge of what it means to follow Christ. The new birth brings new ideas and makes a person teachable and able to understand the science of redemption, which is found through faith and oneness with Christ, for feeding on Jesus, the bread of life, makes the believer one with Christ in God.
Work Of The Spirit
The new birth is the inward work of God's Spirit, real though unseen like the wind whose sound is heard without knowing where it comes from or where it goes. Its source and course cannot be seen, traced, or controlled, but its effects in the life can be seen and felt in a changed life. Outward reform alone cannot bring a person into harmony with God, for the renewing work begins in the heart and transforms the life from within. The Spirit purifies the heart, cleanses it from sin and moral defilement, removes wicked thoughts and deeds, and renews it in true knowledge and holiness. Natural inclinations are subdued, passions are brought under Christ, the will is brought under Him, and new thoughts, feelings, motives, desires and capacities arise while existing faculties are sanctified rather than replaced.
Anger, envy, and strife are put away and replaced with love, peace, humility and meekness, forming a righteous character in God's image and fitting for God's holy kingdom. The cleansing of the temple illustrates the purification needed by everyone who would receive eternal life, and this converting power is needed by people now, who must imitate Christ and through His grace and righteousness become pure in character. Regeneration is a mystery too deep for the human mind to explain or fully understand, yet inability to comprehend it is no reason to doubt God's Word, any more than facts of nature are rejected because they cannot be explained.
No human invention, effort, or will can produce this transformation and no one can regenerate himself; it comes only by the effectual working of the Holy Spirit. It is wrought as the soul repents, is made contrite, humbles itself, surrenders mind and will by faith, yields in obedience to God, and cooperates with the working of the Holy Spirit rather than trying to work the Spirit. God's Spirit gives a new mind, purifies life, subdues the stubborn heart, and changes character so that it can fit the holiness of God's kingdom and obey His commandments. Outward reform alone is not enough while sin is cherished in the heart; the change begins within and works outward, bringing the whole person into obedience to Christ and a life of service, and it requires a practical acceptance and application of divine truth. Faith in God's love shown in the gift of His Son and through Christ makes a person new, overcoming the world, subduing human nature, and defeating Satan.
The new life is connected with believing in Christ who was lifted up as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, so that as bitten Israelites were healed by looking in faith at the lifted bronze serpent, sinners receive life by looking in faith to the Son of Man for everlasting life. As the Spirit shapes the heart daily He gives divine insight to perceive the spiritual character of God's kingdom, with firm unity and unwavering faith, and with the cooperation of heavenly agencies and heavenly beings. People are born again through partaking of the Holy Spirit, gaining a lively sense of duties toward others through divine light. Pride and self-love resist the Spirit, and natural inclinations oppose the change from self-importance and pride to Christ's meekness and humility.
Necessity For The Kingdom
To see, discern, enter, and inherit the kingdom of God here or hereafter, a person must be born again, for without a new heart no one can understand its requirements or have spiritual eyesight to follow Christ. This birth is spiritual and not merely a change in outward conduct, wrought by the converting power of the Holy Spirit changing the heart, subduing the passions and bringing the will under Christ's will. Before serving God acceptably self must die, and the teaching must take hold with power in those clinging to faults, selfishness, and pride, forming a character fit for everlasting life by sincerely fearing God, doing what is right, upholding integrity, and becoming like Christ in character. It requires humility, a teachable spirit, and spiritual discernment which the natural person lacks, and those carrying sacred responsibilities must learn Christ's meekness and lowliness, or they remain vulnerable to temptation and fail to distinguish sacred things from common ones.
The new birth must take place here in this present world of test and trial, not in heaven. That it is required to enter heaven will never change, for the natural traits, temperament, and disposition of every man, woman, and child must be transformed into Christ's likeness, and without that change no one can be welcomed into the kingdom of heaven. It may be called a reconversion experienced before seeing the kingdom of heaven.
Ye must be born again is the condition and first principle of divine life, the very alphabet of conversion and true Christian experience laid before Nicodemus. It is the essential work that must be received into the soul before anyone is qualified to be a teacher, giving higher intelligence and deeper spiritual knowledge of what constitutes a disciple and sincere follower of Christ. Teachers, physicians, and ministers of the gospel need this new birth as the most essential part of their education to deal with human minds in a Christlike manner, for even a learned teacher in Israel lacked a true conception of what a teacher should be without it. Without digging deep and being riveted to the eternal Rock in this experience, profession ends in murmuring at strait truth, apostasy under test and trial, and shipwreck of faith like those who walked no more with Christ.
Without it there is no safety in mere legal religion, outward form, forms and precise ceremonies, self-righteousness, or natural religion. A merely outward form of Christianity has no saving power or ability to reform the life, and a self-righteous, self-exalting heart marked by selfishness and hypocrisy is deceived and destroyed. Human nature cannot be trusted on its own, and without a regenerated and transformed nature with Christ woven into the character there is no hope. This birth is not only of water but also of the Spirit whose influence works upon the heart, for without that transformation people remain governed by unsanctified tempers and self, and their spiritual blindness must be removed so they can recognize their true condition, leaving even the worst sinner with no more hope than those still unborn again.
Christ's word to Nicodemus reaches down to the present time and speaks to each person individually, requiring a new birth as the receiving of another heart from God, as when God gave Saul another heart, because God looks upon the heart and without this inward change no one can see the kingdom of God. It applies especially to those handling sacred things and standing in the most responsible positions in leadership and management as managers and directors, including those who have put a misshapen mold upon the cause and mishandled sacred trusts. Those who have perverted principles, shown unbelief and fear to advance and open new territory and uplift the standard in new places, and misshaped the work in supplying means and misappropriated money raised for needy new fields must be broken as a potter's vessel is broken and reconstructed and be converted in heart, soul, and body.
Everyone who would enter the heavenly city and be saved must be born again by a genuine change of heart and a right relationship with God. Merely pretending to be changed cannot prepare anyone for eternal life, but is like building on sand. Without conversion the mind and soul are not renewed, and the person cannot enter the holy city or become perfect in righteousness.
Transformation It Produces
The new birth is not a modification or improvement of the old life but an entire transformation of nature, a death to sin and self and the beginning of an altogether new life. It is not patching a worthless old character by keeping supposed good motives, impulses and actions while discarding only the more objectionable features, nor mixing some of self with some of Jesus. To be born again is to discard the whole old garment of character, with its maxims, customs, theories of religion and commandments of men, and to receive from Christ the new garment woven in the loom of heaven, the robe of His righteousness, with the whole heart surrendered and no part reserved for hereditary or cultivated evil. This radical change remakes the entire man with new motives, ends the old sinful self-indulgent character, changes life purposes, reshapes character and conduct so that justice and mercy and the love of God become an abiding principle, and without it no one can be counted complete in Christ or see God. It is especially required of self-righteous sinners and those connected with church institutions whose carnal hearts rebel against full transformation, for patchwork religion that retains harshness, severity, self-importance and selfishness while professing zeal is of no value and an abomination.
It gives a new heart with new desires, purposes, motives, springs of action, tastes and capacities, for human nature cannot develop its own goodness and spiritual things cannot be received by the natural person. The hard heart is changed and cleansed from sin and idols, dormant spiritual faculties are awakened to action with determination to overcome through the power of Christ, and this is not merely a special change in feelings nor outward profession or superficial reform. Natural, inherited and cultivated tendencies are changed, the stubborn heart is subdued, unprofitable selfishness is cast away, the will is brought into subjection to God's will, and the moral image of God begins to be restored in the heart. Christ within shapes words and actions and changes influence at home, in the church and in the world, and this new birth is the beginning of acceptable service and of seeing the kingdom of God.
Self must die and Christ be formed within and revealed in the character, for only He can change the character and make it fit for heaven. This means turning from sin and transgression, seeking transformation with faith in Jesus, renouncing own righteousness, relying wholly on Christ, receiving His righteousness by imputation through faith, and acknowledging all strength and worth as gifts of divine grace. Clinging to old perversities and natural traits shows the absence of His mind and character, and selfishness and cherished faults must come home with power until the Holy Spirit transforms and refines the person and Christ's character can be imputed. Even those who regard their conduct and moral character as correct must humble themselves as sinners and enter life in the same way as the greatest sinner.
The Holy Spirit must purify the whole nature from moral defilement, bringing a radical change in thought, character and capacity for enjoyment through conversion and complete surrender, with Christ dwelling in the heart by faith. This birth is from God and not from human descent or will, and the Spirit must create a clean heart in those who accept the truth before they can keep the commandments and do His word. The heart must be renewed and a new moral taste created before a person will love to obey the law, making the person good as a good tree bears good fruit, for outward appearance or profession alone cannot establish moral character.
Evil thoughts and deeds, anger, envy, strife and a contentious spirit are put away, false ingrained ideas are changed, and passions are subdued with the will brought under Christ. In their place come humility, love for fellow believers, a happy heart, peace and meekness, with personal confession of sin and humility before God and a clearer sense of the sacredness of His work. The born-again person acts with a single aim to glorify God, works humbly and distrusts self, has Christ ruling within with no desire to imitate the world's display in dress, homes and words, and finds valuable traits of character made useful in Christian service when the heart is sanctified.
The inward change is seen outwardly in a new and holy life in Christ, doing His work, honoring Him, remaining grateful for redeeming love, faithful in service, humble rather than haughty or selfish, and watchful unto prayer. A new spirit takes possession, the branch becomes a living part of the Vine, faith passes into knowledge and the Word is understood, and the Word received and practiced expresses its sublime truths in life and character. This newness of life is not merely something novel to discuss but purifying the soul by obeying the truth and living in harmony with Christ's instruction, requiring coming to the light and understanding His sacrifice, sharing His divine life and laboring together with God.
It is thorough conversion carried into deeper practical godliness, beginning spiritual revival and reformation, with truth received in the heart sanctifying life and character so the fruits of righteousness show learning from Christ. The new creature grows progressively by overcoming evil, responding to good and reflecting Jesus' character in increasing light toward maturity, feeding on Christ as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word by eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Those who walked according to the course of this world and the prince of the power of the air, living in lusts of the flesh as children of wrath destitute of spiritual life, must be quickened together with Christ, infused with the Holy Spirit, delivered from bondage to self, saved and ennobled with widened thoughts, raised to sit in heavenly places. It is not merely having once begun the course but persevering to the end, enshrining truth in the heart and doing Christ's will to obtain the crown of life, mounting step by step heavenward with feet placed on Christ as the first round of the ladder, built as lively stones into a spiritual house.
Baptism declares that the change has taken place, the believer counted dead to the old life and risen to walk with Christ in newness of life. Conversion means receiving a new heart and adoption into God's family through the simple plan of salvation, illustrated when the persecutor became wholly devoted to Christ and received power to live as God's child and serve others. It does not mean waiting in sadness for years for some marked evidence of acceptance or peculiar change before daring to profess Christ and claim to be His child, for God accepts when a person becomes weary of sin, loses desire for worldly pleasure and resolves to seek Him earnestly, and believing that acceptance at once gives privileges otherwise lost.
Call To Every Hearer
The command reaches those handling sacred responsibilities as surely as it reached Nicodemus, for even men in the most responsible positions as managers, directors, ministers, medical workers, and teachers must be born again and thoroughly converted in heart, soul, and body. This new birth is a conversion represented by a new birth in which the traveler strips off self and the loads of the world, falls on the Rock and is broken as a potter's vessel, and is reconstructed to become as a little child. The Holy Spirit strips away self-righteousness, Pharisaism, pride, and hardness of heart and gives a heart of flesh made soft and tender by His indwelling presence, cleansed from every moral defilement. Those thus born again learn Christ's meekness and lowliness, are formed in the divine likeness, receive new spiritual life through God's enduring word, and learn to distinguish between what is sacred and what is common. Without it even men of grey hairs who hinder instead of help, give a wrong mold to minds, carry the leaven of evil, and work against the enterprise and its managers have no hope of acquittal at judgment, and those in trust fail to be Christians in every sense, fail to bear a powerful witness for truth, and skim the Word instead of digging as a miner for hidden ore.
Church members, professed followers, and even those who have accepted the truth and the Sabbath need this same thorough conversion, for church membership, baptism, or outward profession alone does not make them a strength to the church nor prove they are sanctified through the truth. True conversion is the experience of being born again, which transforms the character, brings the will into harmony with God's will, changes the inner spirit that moves actions from self-confidence to surrender, and plainly distinguishes God's people from worldlings by following God's plan. Without self dying many remain unsanctified, shallow, and lukewarm, without depth or a discerning sense of the requirements for sharing in God's spiritual kingdom, like a leafy fig tree with great display but no fruit, while those truly born again are humble, meek, lowly, and fruitful. This need applies both to those who have never experienced conversion and to those who have forgotten their cleansing from past sins and returned to harmful habits, calling for removal from the church of all that offends God, especially sowing seeds of jealousy and envy, so that conduct is changed and the work can go forward.
Even those who regard their conduct and moral character as upright and correct must humble themselves as sinners and be made new in the same way as the greatest sinner. Christ's light exposes impurity and selfish motives hidden in the heart, showing that human righteousness cannot cleanse sin and that only Christ's blood can cleanse and renew the heart in His likeness.
Those persisting in judging, faultfinding, envy, jealousy, resentment, bitterness, malice, harshness, and a contentious or wrong spirit must be born again and thoroughly converted. Such a distorted view of others reflects defects in their own hearts that must be supervised, conquered, and confessed, with the will brought into harmony with God's will and the individual self taken in hand so wicked feelings are not allowed to flow forth in words that aid Satan. One who has lived without restraint, following impulse without upright principles, conscientious sentiments, and high and noble thoughts in a course that offends God, must turn square about and make a complete change of life, receiving truth to sanctify the heart, purify the character, subordinate the earthly to the eternal, and make Christ all and in all as the object of love. Without this fresh conversion and renewal of the Holy Spirit's power to make them children of God, such persons corrupt others, hinder the work, show by word and spirit that they are untrustworthy and cause strife, receive harm and no help, and render their talent and influence detrimental to the advancement of the truth.
Every worker, father and mother, and women laboring for souls must experience the new birth and show religion in the home in words and acts, proved by advancement in the divine life and fitness to be called an overcomer. It requires thorough work that goes all the way without stopping short or sliding back, coming to God as one is and relying wholly on Jesus, throwing off lethargy, humbling the heart, and arousing to solemn responsibilities. Outward discipleship, interest in Christ's work, or some belief in Him is not enough; the soul must be cleansed, the character changed through Christ's transforming grace, childish self-willed traits removed, and speech reshaped after Christ by receiving Him as personal Saviour and yielding will and way to Him. Faith must not stop with theory of truth or of the third angel's message, like lamps without oil, but must receive the oil of the grace of Christ to feed the lamp and shine the light of life to those in darkness, lest pride and weakness of faith deprive of God's blessings and leave surprise, disappointment, and loss when the cry Behold the Bridegroom cometh is heard. Women who teach souls to seek this new birth in Christ Jesus do a precious work, and the church needs the Holy Spirit's vitalizing power with earnest, fervent, effective prayer to bring souls to it, for God can turn hearts.
Those not born again are called to read the third chapter of John and humble themselves under God, for the new birth is necessary for them. Christ's word calls every sinner and backslider to a new life through full dedication to God, a decision for eternity made by coming to God in prayer, confessing sins and departure from God with tears, dying to self, receiving a new spirit and pardon by faith, and following in baptism. A person is not soundly converted until genuine faith receives Christ as Saviour and this inward change of heart worked by divine power takes place, and those who do not know what spirit moves them must surrender so grace makes the light in their hearts a living guide to actions. Those who respond go home encouraged and signally blessed, and preaching this call brings the Spirit and power of God upon speakers and hearers with deep general feeling.
Conversion is an individual work of regeneration in heart and conscience, in which God renews the heart and creates a clean heart before a person can walk in God's ways and keep His commandments. This renewal creates a new moral taste that loves obedience, joins the person to heaven, makes partakers of the divine nature, and enables escape from the world's corruption, appearing in a life of love, faith, humility, obedience, and complete trust in Christ rather than in outward appearance, profession, or temporary emotional reform. A community's rejection of religious authority or acceptance of faith does not itself effect it, and councils cannot decree it. Each person must be inwardly changed and reconverted in speech and spirit to discern between light and darkness, become teachable, receive correction, and serve in harmony, being created anew with a new mold of character through breaking Satan's yoke, taking Christ's yoke, and having God's law written in mind and heart so His life diffuses through the entire being in loving service fit for the courts above.
No one should be surprised at the requirement, for every person without exception must be born anew from above. It is not a second bodily birth but an inward spiritual change wrought by God, not by blood, descent, or human will. Without it no one can see, discern, enter, or inherit the kingdom of God here or hereafter. It is the unseen yet real work of the Holy Spirit, like the wind whose effects are seen and felt though its coming and going cannot be traced or controlled, and no human effort, argument, learning, or will can produce it. It is not a modification or improvement of the old life but a thorough transformation of nature, giving a new heart with new desires, purposes, and motives that is seen outwardly in a new and holy life.
Encounter With Nicodemus
The word was spoken to Nicodemus, an educated and honored Jewish leader whose interest in the teaching he had heard led him to seek further understanding of its truths. He was a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews and a member of the national council, rich and influential, learned in the law, holding high position among the rulers, and at the same time wealthy, learned, and benevolent. He came by night for a private meeting after seeing works of healing and hearing the teaching, and he approached with timidity.
He came to Jesus by night for a private interview, acknowledging Him as a teacher come from God. The night interview took place on the Mount of Olives, where the conditions of conversion were laid before Nicodemus as a great teacher in Israel. Christ met him as an honored rabbi with an open, receptive heart and gave him precious instruction, speaking to him personally about the need to be born again. While ministering to the poor, He also studied to find ways of reaching the rich, seeking the acquaintance of the wealthy and cultured Pharisee, the Jewish nobleman and the Roman ruler, accepting their invitations, attending their feasts, and making Himself familiar with their interests and occupations, that He might gain access to their hearts and reveal to them imperishable riches. Nicodemus had been taught by Jesus that every person must be born again.
Jesus did not meet argument with argument but pressed home the necessity of the new birth with solemn, quiet dignity and with greater assurance as a renewed pressing of the truth. He spoke with earnest love in look and tone, so that the hearer was filled with awe without being offended, even while realizing his humiliating position. Gleams of truth penetrated the mind and led to asking how these things can be.
Nicodemus answered with irritation and literal misunderstanding, asking how an old man, how a man when he is old, could be born, because he was not spiritually minded enough to discern its spiritual meaning. He was more puzzled about how the new birth happens than convinced of its necessity, and his teaching exposed his spiritual ignorance and Israel's need for inward change rather than outward religious observance or obedience to the letter of the law. Instead of feeling irritated over plain truth and answering with irony, he should have held a far more humble opinion of himself, for even a learned, influential religious leader and a master in Israel needs this change. The change required is a new heart with new purposes and new springs of action, everything changed and made new, and until it takes place the want remains in the heart and even the strongest evidences presented would be useless, since it is not produced by controversy, arguments, or stronger evidence. It is a new moral birth of cleansing from sin and renewal in knowledge and holiness, wrought by the Spirit whose work is real though its action is not controlled or fully understood.
The teaching began to change Nicodemus and became part of the work that must take place in the heart for salvation to inherit the kingdom of heaven. He searched the Scripture to receive life rather than to debate a theory, and began to see the kingdom of heaven as he submitted to the Holy Spirit's leading, whom the Spirit molds and fashions daily to give insight into the kingdom. He became a true believer and later spoke against the Sanhedrin's effort to condemn without a hearing, speaking out boldly in the council in favor of justice so that he could not be shamed out of defending Him. In this way he recognized Jesus as the world's Redeemer when He was lifted up on the cross, learning the same lesson that calls people to look and live by believing that salvation comes through grace and not through obedience earning favor.
The word belongs to the words recorded in John 3:1-16. It belongs to the lesson given to Nicodemus which lays out the terms of salvation distinctly and can guide a soul even if it had no other Bible text. It is teaching about the way of life whose truths were recorded for the instruction of many and remain vital and important in every age. What was given in that secret interview has almost its counterpart in John the Baptist's testimony that He who comes from above is above all and that belief on the Son gives everlasting life, showing that John identified fully with the cause of Christ and defended Jesus as the superior Promised One of Israel whose way he came to prepare.
Meaning Of The Command
Marvel not means no one should be surprised at the requirement, for being born again is necessary to enter God's kingdom. This birth is spiritual and distinct from physical birth, not a bodily rebirth but the inward work of God's Spirit upon the human heart. The Spirit must act to purify the heart, putting away selfishness so that the person becomes holy and a righteous and balanced character can develop. Its transforming effects are seen and felt in the life, as evil thoughts and deeds are put away and love, peace, and humility take the place of anger, envy, and strife.
Ye must lays the command on every person just as on Nicodemus, for everyone must be born again. Intellectual understanding and religious piety do not remove this need, nor do learning, argument, or position, for what is needed is not controversy or stronger evidence but truth and a changed heart. This renewal is born of the Spirit and not merely of the flesh, and it is essential to see and enter God's kingdom. Like the wind's movement, the Spirit's work in this new birth cannot be traced, controlled, or fully explained by human understanding, yet its reality is evident and its effects can be recognized in a person's life. People may be awakened and convicted yet remain held back by influences, as Nicodemus was, and without a changed heart reasoning over disagreements about Christ's message does not save but can strengthen resistance. The call is a truth all can understand and applies to professed followers of Christ who have not been made new.
Born again means born anew, born from above, a spiritual, inward change. It is the only hope for those who assent to God's will without surrendering their particular sins, who must realize personally that without this new birth they cannot see the kingdom of God. The unregenerate heart must be cleansed from sin and transformed before it is fit for God's kingdom, calling for inner holiness and not merely external religious forms or strict outward observance. It is not bodily resurrection nor a nation being born in a day. To see the kingdom and to worship the Father in spirit and in truth requires this birth of the divine Spirit, for communion with heaven is not gained by seeking a holy mountain or a sacred temple, and religion is not to be confined to external forms and ceremonies. The religion that comes from God is the only religion that will lead to God, purifying the heart and renewing the mind to give a new capacity for knowing and loving God and giving willing obedience to all His requirements. This is true worship, the fruit of the working of the Holy Spirit, by whom every sincere prayer is indited and made acceptable to God, so that wherever a soul reaches out after God there the Spirit is working and God will reveal Himself to that soul, for the Father is seeking such worshipers to receive them and make them His sons and daughters.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh and remains flesh, while that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, giving spiritual life. Natural human life and natural growth cannot develop a symmetrical Christian character, and no one can bring about the change by will or self-transformation. The new birth comes to as many as receive Christ and believe on His name, giving them power to become the sons of God, born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh but of God. The believing born-again soul knows the Spirit of truth, for He dwells with and shall be in such, and Christ promises such followers that He will not leave them comfortless. Like the wind, the Spirit's work is real even when its source and course cannot be seen. It delivers from Satan's bondage and a tyrant's oppression and redeems to stand under Christ's banner as His own. Taking the name of Christian is a pledge to be true to God, bound up with Him and the angels in family relation, no longer living to self but to God whose they are and whom they serve, shown by discarding all that is unbecoming and living a new and holy life with actions such as become saints, proving worthy of the sacred trust conferred.
The change is not produced by controversy, argument, stronger evidence, learning, or holding a teaching position. Even to Nicodemus, a great teacher in Israel and a learned master, entry into divine life was presented as requiring conversion, showing that learning does not replace the need to be transformed by God's grace. His great learning could not give him the new understanding he needed from God. Even those who possess Scripture and religious knowledge must undergo spiritual rebirth, for natural or legal religion, self-righteousness, and spiritual pride cannot take its place. Receiving Christ's words into the heart brings deeper spiritual knowledge of what it means to follow Christ. The new birth brings new ideas and makes a person teachable and able to understand the science of redemption, which is found through faith and oneness with Christ, for feeding on Jesus, the bread of life, makes the believer one with Christ in God.
Work Of The Spirit
The new birth is the inward work of God's Spirit, real though unseen like the wind whose sound is heard without knowing where it comes from or where it goes. Its source and course cannot be seen, traced, or controlled, but its effects in the life can be seen and felt in a changed life. Outward reform alone cannot bring a person into harmony with God, for the renewing work begins in the heart and transforms the life from within. The Spirit purifies the heart, cleanses it from sin and moral defilement, removes wicked thoughts and deeds, and renews it in true knowledge and holiness. Natural inclinations are subdued, passions are brought under Christ, the will is brought under Him, and new thoughts, feelings, motives, desires and capacities arise while existing faculties are sanctified rather than replaced.
Anger, envy, and strife are put away and replaced with love, peace, humility and meekness, forming a righteous character in God's image and fitting for God's holy kingdom. The cleansing of the temple illustrates the purification needed by everyone who would receive eternal life, and this converting power is needed by people now, who must imitate Christ and through His grace and righteousness become pure in character. Regeneration is a mystery too deep for the human mind to explain or fully understand, yet inability to comprehend it is no reason to doubt God's Word, any more than facts of nature are rejected because they cannot be explained.
No human invention, effort, or will can produce this transformation and no one can regenerate himself; it comes only by the effectual working of the Holy Spirit. It is wrought as the soul repents, is made contrite, humbles itself, surrenders mind and will by faith, yields in obedience to God, and cooperates with the working of the Holy Spirit rather than trying to work the Spirit. God's Spirit gives a new mind, purifies life, subdues the stubborn heart, and changes character so that it can fit the holiness of God's kingdom and obey His commandments. Outward reform alone is not enough while sin is cherished in the heart; the change begins within and works outward, bringing the whole person into obedience to Christ and a life of service, and it requires a practical acceptance and application of divine truth. Faith in God's love shown in the gift of His Son and through Christ makes a person new, overcoming the world, subduing human nature, and defeating Satan.
The new life is connected with believing in Christ who was lifted up as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, so that as bitten Israelites were healed by looking in faith at the lifted bronze serpent, sinners receive life by looking in faith to the Son of Man for everlasting life. As the Spirit shapes the heart daily He gives divine insight to perceive the spiritual character of God's kingdom, with firm unity and unwavering faith, and with the cooperation of heavenly agencies and heavenly beings. People are born again through partaking of the Holy Spirit, gaining a lively sense of duties toward others through divine light. Pride and self-love resist the Spirit, and natural inclinations oppose the change from self-importance and pride to Christ's meekness and humility.
Necessity For The Kingdom
To see, discern, enter, and inherit the kingdom of God here or hereafter, a person must be born again, for without a new heart no one can understand its requirements or have spiritual eyesight to follow Christ. This birth is spiritual and not merely a change in outward conduct, wrought by the converting power of the Holy Spirit changing the heart, subduing the passions and bringing the will under Christ's will. Before serving God acceptably self must die, and the teaching must take hold with power in those clinging to faults, selfishness, and pride, forming a character fit for everlasting life by sincerely fearing God, doing what is right, upholding integrity, and becoming like Christ in character. It requires humility, a teachable spirit, and spiritual discernment which the natural person lacks, and those carrying sacred responsibilities must learn Christ's meekness and lowliness, or they remain vulnerable to temptation and fail to distinguish sacred things from common ones.
The new birth must take place here in this present world of test and trial, not in heaven. That it is required to enter heaven will never change, for the natural traits, temperament, and disposition of every man, woman, and child must be transformed into Christ's likeness, and without that change no one can be welcomed into the kingdom of heaven. It may be called a reconversion experienced before seeing the kingdom of heaven.
Ye must be born again is the condition and first principle of divine life, the very alphabet of conversion and true Christian experience laid before Nicodemus. It is the essential work that must be received into the soul before anyone is qualified to be a teacher, giving higher intelligence and deeper spiritual knowledge of what constitutes a disciple and sincere follower of Christ. Teachers, physicians, and ministers of the gospel need this new birth as the most essential part of their education to deal with human minds in a Christlike manner, for even a learned teacher in Israel lacked a true conception of what a teacher should be without it. Without digging deep and being riveted to the eternal Rock in this experience, profession ends in murmuring at strait truth, apostasy under test and trial, and shipwreck of faith like those who walked no more with Christ.
Without it there is no safety in mere legal religion, outward form, forms and precise ceremonies, self-righteousness, or natural religion. A merely outward form of Christianity has no saving power or ability to reform the life, and a self-righteous, self-exalting heart marked by selfishness and hypocrisy is deceived and destroyed. Human nature cannot be trusted on its own, and without a regenerated and transformed nature with Christ woven into the character there is no hope. This birth is not only of water but also of the Spirit whose influence works upon the heart, for without that transformation people remain governed by unsanctified tempers and self, and their spiritual blindness must be removed so they can recognize their true condition, leaving even the worst sinner with no more hope than those still unborn again.
Christ's word to Nicodemus reaches down to the present time and speaks to each person individually, requiring a new birth as the receiving of another heart from God, as when God gave Saul another heart, because God looks upon the heart and without this inward change no one can see the kingdom of God. It applies especially to those handling sacred things and standing in the most responsible positions in leadership and management as managers and directors, including those who have put a misshapen mold upon the cause and mishandled sacred trusts. Those who have perverted principles, shown unbelief and fear to advance and open new territory and uplift the standard in new places, and misshaped the work in supplying means and misappropriated money raised for needy new fields must be broken as a potter's vessel is broken and reconstructed and be converted in heart, soul, and body.
Everyone who would enter the heavenly city and be saved must be born again by a genuine change of heart and a right relationship with God. Merely pretending to be changed cannot prepare anyone for eternal life, but is like building on sand. Without conversion the mind and soul are not renewed, and the person cannot enter the holy city or become perfect in righteousness.
Transformation It Produces
The new birth is not a modification or improvement of the old life but an entire transformation of nature, a death to sin and self and the beginning of an altogether new life. It is not patching a worthless old character by keeping supposed good motives, impulses and actions while discarding only the more objectionable features, nor mixing some of self with some of Jesus. To be born again is to discard the whole old garment of character, with its maxims, customs, theories of religion and commandments of men, and to receive from Christ the new garment woven in the loom of heaven, the robe of His righteousness, with the whole heart surrendered and no part reserved for hereditary or cultivated evil. This radical change remakes the entire man with new motives, ends the old sinful self-indulgent character, changes life purposes, reshapes character and conduct so that justice and mercy and the love of God become an abiding principle, and without it no one can be counted complete in Christ or see God. It is especially required of self-righteous sinners and those connected with church institutions whose carnal hearts rebel against full transformation, for patchwork religion that retains harshness, severity, self-importance and selfishness while professing zeal is of no value and an abomination.
It gives a new heart with new desires, purposes, motives, springs of action, tastes and capacities, for human nature cannot develop its own goodness and spiritual things cannot be received by the natural person. The hard heart is changed and cleansed from sin and idols, dormant spiritual faculties are awakened to action with determination to overcome through the power of Christ, and this is not merely a special change in feelings nor outward profession or superficial reform. Natural, inherited and cultivated tendencies are changed, the stubborn heart is subdued, unprofitable selfishness is cast away, the will is brought into subjection to God's will, and the moral image of God begins to be restored in the heart. Christ within shapes words and actions and changes influence at home, in the church and in the world, and this new birth is the beginning of acceptable service and of seeing the kingdom of God.
Self must die and Christ be formed within and revealed in the character, for only He can change the character and make it fit for heaven. This means turning from sin and transgression, seeking transformation with faith in Jesus, renouncing own righteousness, relying wholly on Christ, receiving His righteousness by imputation through faith, and acknowledging all strength and worth as gifts of divine grace. Clinging to old perversities and natural traits shows the absence of His mind and character, and selfishness and cherished faults must come home with power until the Holy Spirit transforms and refines the person and Christ's character can be imputed. Even those who regard their conduct and moral character as correct must humble themselves as sinners and enter life in the same way as the greatest sinner.
The Holy Spirit must purify the whole nature from moral defilement, bringing a radical change in thought, character and capacity for enjoyment through conversion and complete surrender, with Christ dwelling in the heart by faith. This birth is from God and not from human descent or will, and the Spirit must create a clean heart in those who accept the truth before they can keep the commandments and do His word. The heart must be renewed and a new moral taste created before a person will love to obey the law, making the person good as a good tree bears good fruit, for outward appearance or profession alone cannot establish moral character.
Evil thoughts and deeds, anger, envy, strife and a contentious spirit are put away, false ingrained ideas are changed, and passions are subdued with the will brought under Christ. In their place come humility, love for fellow believers, a happy heart, peace and meekness, with personal confession of sin and humility before God and a clearer sense of the sacredness of His work. The born-again person acts with a single aim to glorify God, works humbly and distrusts self, has Christ ruling within with no desire to imitate the world's display in dress, homes and words, and finds valuable traits of character made useful in Christian service when the heart is sanctified.
The inward change is seen outwardly in a new and holy life in Christ, doing His work, honoring Him, remaining grateful for redeeming love, faithful in service, humble rather than haughty or selfish, and watchful unto prayer. A new spirit takes possession, the branch becomes a living part of the Vine, faith passes into knowledge and the Word is understood, and the Word received and practiced expresses its sublime truths in life and character. This newness of life is not merely something novel to discuss but purifying the soul by obeying the truth and living in harmony with Christ's instruction, requiring coming to the light and understanding His sacrifice, sharing His divine life and laboring together with God.
It is thorough conversion carried into deeper practical godliness, beginning spiritual revival and reformation, with truth received in the heart sanctifying life and character so the fruits of righteousness show learning from Christ. The new creature grows progressively by overcoming evil, responding to good and reflecting Jesus' character in increasing light toward maturity, feeding on Christ as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word by eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Those who walked according to the course of this world and the prince of the power of the air, living in lusts of the flesh as children of wrath destitute of spiritual life, must be quickened together with Christ, infused with the Holy Spirit, delivered from bondage to self, saved and ennobled with widened thoughts, raised to sit in heavenly places. It is not merely having once begun the course but persevering to the end, enshrining truth in the heart and doing Christ's will to obtain the crown of life, mounting step by step heavenward with feet placed on Christ as the first round of the ladder, built as lively stones into a spiritual house.
Baptism declares that the change has taken place, the believer counted dead to the old life and risen to walk with Christ in newness of life. Conversion means receiving a new heart and adoption into God's family through the simple plan of salvation, illustrated when the persecutor became wholly devoted to Christ and received power to live as God's child and serve others. It does not mean waiting in sadness for years for some marked evidence of acceptance or peculiar change before daring to profess Christ and claim to be His child, for God accepts when a person becomes weary of sin, loses desire for worldly pleasure and resolves to seek Him earnestly, and believing that acceptance at once gives privileges otherwise lost.
Call To Every Hearer
The command reaches those handling sacred responsibilities as surely as it reached Nicodemus, for even men in the most responsible positions as managers, directors, ministers, medical workers, and teachers must be born again and thoroughly converted in heart, soul, and body. This new birth is a conversion represented by a new birth in which the traveler strips off self and the loads of the world, falls on the Rock and is broken as a potter's vessel, and is reconstructed to become as a little child. The Holy Spirit strips away self-righteousness, Pharisaism, pride, and hardness of heart and gives a heart of flesh made soft and tender by His indwelling presence, cleansed from every moral defilement. Those thus born again learn Christ's meekness and lowliness, are formed in the divine likeness, receive new spiritual life through God's enduring word, and learn to distinguish between what is sacred and what is common. Without it even men of grey hairs who hinder instead of help, give a wrong mold to minds, carry the leaven of evil, and work against the enterprise and its managers have no hope of acquittal at judgment, and those in trust fail to be Christians in every sense, fail to bear a powerful witness for truth, and skim the Word instead of digging as a miner for hidden ore.
Church members, professed followers, and even those who have accepted the truth and the Sabbath need this same thorough conversion, for church membership, baptism, or outward profession alone does not make them a strength to the church nor prove they are sanctified through the truth. True conversion is the experience of being born again, which transforms the character, brings the will into harmony with God's will, changes the inner spirit that moves actions from self-confidence to surrender, and plainly distinguishes God's people from worldlings by following God's plan. Without self dying many remain unsanctified, shallow, and lukewarm, without depth or a discerning sense of the requirements for sharing in God's spiritual kingdom, like a leafy fig tree with great display but no fruit, while those truly born again are humble, meek, lowly, and fruitful. This need applies both to those who have never experienced conversion and to those who have forgotten their cleansing from past sins and returned to harmful habits, calling for removal from the church of all that offends God, especially sowing seeds of jealousy and envy, so that conduct is changed and the work can go forward.
Even those who regard their conduct and moral character as upright and correct must humble themselves as sinners and be made new in the same way as the greatest sinner. Christ's light exposes impurity and selfish motives hidden in the heart, showing that human righteousness cannot cleanse sin and that only Christ's blood can cleanse and renew the heart in His likeness.
Those persisting in judging, faultfinding, envy, jealousy, resentment, bitterness, malice, harshness, and a contentious or wrong spirit must be born again and thoroughly converted. Such a distorted view of others reflects defects in their own hearts that must be supervised, conquered, and confessed, with the will brought into harmony with God's will and the individual self taken in hand so wicked feelings are not allowed to flow forth in words that aid Satan. One who has lived without restraint, following impulse without upright principles, conscientious sentiments, and high and noble thoughts in a course that offends God, must turn square about and make a complete change of life, receiving truth to sanctify the heart, purify the character, subordinate the earthly to the eternal, and make Christ all and in all as the object of love. Without this fresh conversion and renewal of the Holy Spirit's power to make them children of God, such persons corrupt others, hinder the work, show by word and spirit that they are untrustworthy and cause strife, receive harm and no help, and render their talent and influence detrimental to the advancement of the truth.
Every worker, father and mother, and women laboring for souls must experience the new birth and show religion in the home in words and acts, proved by advancement in the divine life and fitness to be called an overcomer. It requires thorough work that goes all the way without stopping short or sliding back, coming to God as one is and relying wholly on Jesus, throwing off lethargy, humbling the heart, and arousing to solemn responsibilities. Outward discipleship, interest in Christ's work, or some belief in Him is not enough; the soul must be cleansed, the character changed through Christ's transforming grace, childish self-willed traits removed, and speech reshaped after Christ by receiving Him as personal Saviour and yielding will and way to Him. Faith must not stop with theory of truth or of the third angel's message, like lamps without oil, but must receive the oil of the grace of Christ to feed the lamp and shine the light of life to those in darkness, lest pride and weakness of faith deprive of God's blessings and leave surprise, disappointment, and loss when the cry Behold the Bridegroom cometh is heard. Women who teach souls to seek this new birth in Christ Jesus do a precious work, and the church needs the Holy Spirit's vitalizing power with earnest, fervent, effective prayer to bring souls to it, for God can turn hearts.
Those not born again are called to read the third chapter of John and humble themselves under God, for the new birth is necessary for them. Christ's word calls every sinner and backslider to a new life through full dedication to God, a decision for eternity made by coming to God in prayer, confessing sins and departure from God with tears, dying to self, receiving a new spirit and pardon by faith, and following in baptism. A person is not soundly converted until genuine faith receives Christ as Saviour and this inward change of heart worked by divine power takes place, and those who do not know what spirit moves them must surrender so grace makes the light in their hearts a living guide to actions. Those who respond go home encouraged and signally blessed, and preaching this call brings the Spirit and power of God upon speakers and hearers with deep general feeling.
Conversion is an individual work of regeneration in heart and conscience, in which God renews the heart and creates a clean heart before a person can walk in God's ways and keep His commandments. This renewal creates a new moral taste that loves obedience, joins the person to heaven, makes partakers of the divine nature, and enables escape from the world's corruption, appearing in a life of love, faith, humility, obedience, and complete trust in Christ rather than in outward appearance, profession, or temporary emotional reform. A community's rejection of religious authority or acceptance of faith does not itself effect it, and councils cannot decree it. Each person must be inwardly changed and reconverted in speech and spirit to discern between light and darkness, become teachable, receive correction, and serve in harmony, being created anew with a new mold of character through breaking Satan's yoke, taking Christ's yoke, and having God's law written in mind and heart so His life diffuses through the entire being in loving service fit for the courts above.