John 3:8, commentary and pictures

Jesus told Nicodemus at night that no one can see or enter God's kingdom without being born again of water and the Spirit. Like wind heard but not seen or directed, the Spirit's work in new birth is real in its effects though its source and course cannot be seen, controlled or fully explained. That birth is an inward change of heart wrought by God alone, cleansing from sin and making a new person in God's image. It cannot be replaced by outward respectability, learning, church membership or ceremony, and must be received through surrender to Christ and faith in His merits. Its reality is known by its fruits in a transformed character, habits, words and unselfish service.

Night Interview with Nicodemus

Jesus spoke these words to Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews who came to Him by night acknowledging Him as a teacher come from God. They belong to His teaching on the new birth, that except a man be born again, born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot see or enter the kingdom of God. In that teaching everyone born of the Spirit is compared to wind that is heard in its sound but whose coming and going cannot be traced.

Nicodemus took the call to be born again as humiliating and answered with irritation and literal misunderstanding, asking how a man can be born when he is old. He did so because he was not spiritually minded enough to discern what Christ meant, and its meaning calls not for irritation or irony but for a humble sense of spiritual ignorance. Yet the words filled him with awe and let gleams of truth penetrate his mind, leading to his question how these things can be.

Christ did not meet argument with argument but, with solemn quiet dignity and earnest love and with hand raised, pressed the truth with greater assurance. No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and of the Spirit. That which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, and no one should marvel at the command to be born again.

The words belong to Christ's lesson to Nicodemus about salvation and the new birth, giving the definite way to heaven, what conversion is and what must be done to be saved. They lay before him the conditions of divine life and the very alphabet and first principles of conversion and true Christian experience. They serve as a guide to the soul, whose most important knowledge about the new birth is experiential knowledge of what it means. Even a master and learned teacher in Israel holding an honorable position must learn these things, having no true conception of what a teacher in Israel should be without this instruction.

John the Baptist's testimony that He who comes from above is above all, speaks what He has seen and heard, and has all things given into His hand is almost the counterpart of this secret interview with Nicodemus. It identifies Jesus as the Promised One of Israel superior to all who are of the earth.

Wind Pictures Spirit's Work

Like the wind blowing where it wishes with its sound heard though its origin and destination remain unseen, so is everyone born of the Spirit, whose work in the new birth is real and evident in its effects though its source and course cannot be seen, controlled, traced, or fully understood. The Spirit works beyond human control and complete understanding, yet the changed life of one born of the Spirit is evident and can be heard and recognized, for those born of the Spirit undergo an unseen work and a change they cannot produce themselves.

The operation of the Spirit cannot be seen or fully explained or defined by human understanding, and conversion cannot be reduced to precise human methods. Like the wind whose source and course cannot be known, the Spirit's operation need not be fully understood for its reality to be recognized, for its effects can be recognized in a life changed by the Spirit. Its source, destination, manner, and governing law cannot be discerned by human reasoning, yet its effects appear in changed lives and actions, and the things of God upon the human heart cannot be reasoned out or explained just as the wind is heard but cannot be explained.

The Holy Spirit is a free, working, independent agency that God uses as He pleases, working freely and independently beyond the boundaries of human reasoning, judgment, or methods. Human minds, judgment, and methods can no more set boundaries to His working or prescribe the channel through which He operates or define its operating law or control where or how it works than they can command the wind to blow in a certain direction and act in a certain manner. As the wind moves in its force, bending and breaking the lofty trees in its path, so the Holy Spirit influences human hearts, and no finite man can circumscribe His work, though its action is evident as the wind is unseen but its action is evident in minds, characters, lives, and actions.

The Spirit's work is a mystery to the unrenewed heart, while to those who humbly and honestly seek to know and do God's will the gospel is revealed as God's saving power, and attempts to explain this work through worldly wisdom lead toward skepticism. Regeneration is a spiritual mystery beyond the full understanding of finite minds, just as life and other processes in the natural world cannot be fully explained, and this limitation is no reason to doubt God's Word.

God has ordained by laws and resources a heavenly communication with man's spiritual life whose action is as mysterious as the operation of the wind. Through divine power this communication returns men to allegiance as subjects of Christ's kingdom, a kingdom not of this world that imprints its influence upon earthly governments without taking any imprint from them. Received in the human heart, this spiritual work makes everyone a new creature without destroying or weakening any capability God has given, purifies every attribute fit for connection with the divine nature, and when man is born from above pervades the soul with heavenly peace.

The work of the Holy Spirit cannot be calculated into precise and methodical rules for how religious exercises should be conducted and how light and grace are diffused. The Spirit converts people in different ways and through different experiences, including gentle change, bringing even hardened sinners to repentance and making them meek and Christlike, and no human can limit or prescribe its work or require conversion to follow a precise or methodical pattern. Those who are exact and methodical about these things and who meddle with the experiences of those who have received the Spirit in large abundance show that they themselves have little of the Holy Spirit, and with more of the Spirit they would meddle less.

New Birth Changes Heart

Being born of the Spirit is an inward change of heart, purposes and springs of action that makes all things new and is needed to discern and enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, so hereditary tendencies to wrong, petted selfishness and suspicious imagining remain unless self is crucified and put away, and being born of the Spirit cleanses flesh and spirit to make a person pure and holy as God is holy, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. Until that inward change takes place the heart itself is the want, and even the strongest evidences are useless to bring light to the soul.

Everyone born of the Spirit receives a decided change wrought within when the truth of God finds place in the heart, with sanctifying power upon life and character seen in fruits of righteousness and in a course testifying to learning of Christ. That change is a living connection of the soul with God and a living faith, nourished continually as branches of the Living Vine, laying hold upon the merits of the blood of the crucified and risen Saviour, Christ our righteousness, so that the person is clothed with Christ's righteousness and not his own and does not depend on what he can do, because nothing can be done without Christ.

The Spirit takes possession of and purifies the heart and mind, the source of evil thoughts and deeds, and when that source is purified the life flowing from it becomes pure. Wicked thoughts and evil deeds are put away, and love, peace, humility, joy and righteous character take the place of anger, envy, strife and sadness, creating a new person and new being in God's image with a righteous, balanced character. This blessing comes when the soul surrenders to God by faith, when the burden is lifted and heavenly light descends though no one sees the hand doing it, and the face reflects heaven's light.

The Spirit renews the heart from within, secretly and steadily transforming the life, softening natural inclinations so that new thoughts, feelings and motives arise. Existing faculties are sanctified rather than replaced, while spiritual faculties are awakened to action and heard and felt in their effects. Those born of the Spirit are changed with purified hearts and renewed minds, receiving a new capacity to know and love God, with heart, soul, mind and strength changed into harmony with God, producing willing obedience to all His requirements and true worship not dependent on sacred place or outward ceremony. This deep inward birth is needed by those who lack an experience of God, justification by faith, and the Spirit's witness that Christ accepts them.

Those born of the Spirit undergo a change they cannot produce themselves, which cannot be produced by human means or power or by efforts to gain holiness by one's own strength. It comes through repentance, humble submission to God, practical acceptance of divine truth, surrender of mind and will, and reliance on Christ as Redeemer, sanctification and righteousness. Faith in Christ so changes the person as to bring victory over the world, human nature and Satan.

The Spirit's work is a new moral birth, a cleansing from sin and renewal in knowledge and holiness. Through it a person shares in Christ's divine life and becomes a laborer together with God, for spiritual life begins with this new birth. Its vitalizing power is needed for souls to be born again and may be sought by earnest, persistent, fervent prayer, in answer to which God can turn human hearts. Once imparted, the new life born of the Spirit is nourished by the Spirit in spiritual union with Jesus, as the Spirit moves and impresses the heart into growing fellowship with Christ.

Being born of the Spirit is conversion in which self dies and a new life of heavenly origin is imparted as the truth is received. It leaves no thread of selfishness in the pattern of life and makes a person dead to the old sinful, self-indulgent character, with changed life purposes to be brought into daily experience as each person seeks to understand his place in the Lord's work.

Conversion Seen in Life

Like wind whose source and course cannot be seen or traced yet whose effects are plainly felt, the Spirit's work in new birth silently and imperceptibly renews the heart and creates new life in God's image. That inward renewal is necessary for salvation and becomes visible in the life of one filled with the Spirit, who lives as someone born again. The change is known by its visible effects in character, habits, and pursuits, especially the habitual pattern of words and actions, and this makes the difference between the converted and the unconverted clear.

Inability to identify the exact time, place, circumstances, or sequence of conversion does not prove a person unconverted, because the work of grace can be fully effective without being obvious as it happens. The Spirit may draw the heart gradually and without the person's awareness through meditation and reflection on Christ, reading of Scripture, or hearing of preaching, making impressions before bringing a more direct appeal to which the person finally and willingly surrenders to Jesus. What is called sudden conversion may therefore be the culmination of the Spirit's long, patient, prolonged work. The Spirit's presence is known by its effects in changed thoughts and conduct, renounced sin, and the growth of love, humility, peace, and joy, and through faith and surrender unseen divine power creates a new person in God's image, so that redemption begins as personal experience in this life while its results extend through eternity.

Those born of the Spirit undergo a real transformation, not merely an outward or ceremonial change, though the experience differs from person to person and the process cannot be fully understood or defined by human reasoning. Some are deeply convicted and then respond with ardent love, gratitude, and joy, while others are converted more gently. Formerly thoughtless, hardened, faithless, or sinful people become serious, repentant, believing, steady, sober, pure, meek, and Christlike, and such changes show that God's converting power has transformed the whole person. Those without an experience of God, justification by faith, or the Spirit's witness of acceptance in Christ need to be born again.

The verse concerns the inward work of grace that cleanses the naturally defiled heart and transforms the life, not the resurrection of the body or a nation's birth in a day. When the heart surrenders to the Lord by faith, the person passes from death to life and experiences deliverance from sin's bondage and burden, with joy replacing sadness. Though no one sees the hand lifting the burden or the heavenly light descending, the blessing comes in that surrender, sinful thoughts and evil deeds are put away, love, humility, peace, and joy replace anger, envy, strife, and sadness, and the face reflects heaven's light.

The new birth is known by its fruits, which bear witness to divine life. A person who receives truth in humble submission is born again as the Spirit works in mind, heart, and will, God's mercy and love become a controlling power, and as the person beholds Christ's grace and glory and recognizes personal smallness, Christ's glory transforms the character, an inward change that is the highest miracle and an example of what God can do in everyone who earnestly submits to Him and seeks to learn and do His will. Those born of the Spirit reveal the truth through speech and action, letting the light of the gospel shine in good works, for the Spirit works through human life bringing heavenly power to bear through what is visible and known. Their faithful service, unselfishness, works of righteousness, Christlike virtues, and unity with other believers show they have received Christ's grace and are consecrated to serve God.

Genuine conversion is a real change of heart and character wrought by the Spirit, not merely a superficial change in habits or church membership. It is seen in love for fellow believers, a light and happy heart, and a new sense of the sacredness of God's work. Everyone born of the Spirit has a heart filled with the love that proceeds from God, leaving no place for self-exaltation or dishonesty, revealing Christ in daily life by being upright in all dealings and doing no sly, cunning, underhand work, with good fruit appearing in the life testifying to the condition of the heart. A person not soundly converted remains governed by former tendencies and shows this in resentment, bitterness, malice, and strife, while true conversion makes a person submissive to God.

Entering God's Kingdom

No one can see or enter God's pure kingdom without being born again from above, born of water and of the Spirit. That which is born of flesh is flesh, so hereditary tendencies to wrong, petted selfishness, and suspicious imagining remain unless self is crucified and put away. Being born of the Spirit cleanses flesh and spirit and makes a person pure and holy as God is holy, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. The Spirit's work in everyone born of the Spirit is like wind blowing where it wishes, heard in its sound but unseen where it comes from and where it goes, real though its source and course cannot be seen or fully traced.

Outward precision in obeying the law cannot take the place of this birth necessary to discern and enter Christ's kingdom and be saved. Church membership and baptism do not prove that a person has been born again, for the new birth is an inward, life-changing experience shown by the Spirit's fruits and a new life in Christ, and unless self dies there is no rising to new life. This new birth is rare, and its absence helps explain the perplexities in the churches. Nicodemus, like the chief of sinners, must humble himself, renounce his own righteousness, receive Christ's righteousness, and depend wholly on Christ, for all is owed to divine grace. Having the theory of truth, even belief in the theory of the third angel's message, is not the new birth, and human righteousness cannot cleanse the impurity, selfish motives, and opposition to God hidden in the heart, which the blood of Christ alone can cleanse and renew in His likeness.

Until that inward change to a new heart with new purposes and new springs of action making all things new takes place, the heart itself is the want and even the strongest evidences are useless. No controversy, arguments, or greater evidence can bring light to the soul or enable anyone to discern and enter the kingdom of God. The need is not more learning nor controversy, but truth and a new heart, and until the heart is changed reasoning about points of difference gives no saving result but strengthens resistance.

The new birth is a change of heart brought about by the Holy Spirit that enables a person to perceive the character of God's kingdom. That work gives divine insight, for the spiritual character of the kingdom can be discerned only by receiving divine light through the cooperation of heavenly intelligences. It comes with faith as a grand, sacred, holy power that works by love and purifies the soul, and without this reconversion in speech and spirit a person stays bound to evil, deceived, and unable to discern truth from the falsehoods of the enemy or between light and darkness.

This birth is necessary to see God's kingdom and to serve and worship God truly and rightly, which does not depend on a sacred place or outward ceremonies. Christ alone can transform the heart and mind, purifying the heart, renewing the mind, giving the life of Christ, and forming His attributes and character in the person, though the work itself is not outwardly seen. Its effects appear in a new capacity to know and love God, willing obedience to all God's requirements, spiritual growth, purifying the soul by obeying the truth, and a life that reflects Christ with the fruits of the Spirit. This spiritual renewal brings a changed character, enabling the person to receive Christ's character as imputed righteousness and to live in newness of life in harmony with Christ's instruction.

Regeneration is an inward work of the Holy Spirit in the heart and conscience by which people are converted to God as individuals, not something brought about by councils or by a community's outward rejection of religious authority. Pride and self-love resist the Spirit of God, and every natural inclination of the soul opposes the change from self-importance and pride to the meekness and lowliness of Christ. Nicodemus began to see heaven's kingdom as he submitted to the Spirit's leading, whose work is real though its movement cannot be traced or controlled. Everyone born of the Spirit experiences this divine renewal through surrender to Christ rather than reliance on moral character or self-righteousness.

Spirit's Unpredictable Final Work

Like the wind whose source and direction cannot be known, the working of the Spirit cannot be predicted by knowing in advance through whom it will be manifested. No one can know when its movements will be realized, what direction they will take, or through whom the Spirit will work, for its source and course cannot be traced and its movement may come through people no one expects. The Spirit will pass by those who have already had their opportunity to recognize God's voice and value the Spirit's work but have failed to do so. In the final work and at the eleventh hour, thousands will recognize and accept the truth and be converted rapidly, even in a day. Their conversions will come so rapidly that the church will be surprised, bringing glory to God alone.

Living and Sharing New Birth

Christ did not leave Nicodemus where doubt would be strengthened but gave him new light and practical points that brought him in contact with all light instead of entering into controversy, and the need is not more learning nor controversy but truth and a new heart, since until the heart is changed reasoning about points of difference gives no saving result but strengthens resistance. In the same way there will be those awakened and convicted yet held by influences like Nicodemus, and workers must keep to the affirmative of the great questions involved and refuse to be led away by opponents into controversy over false theories.

This instruction lays before Nicodemus the conditions of divine life and the very alphabet of conversion and first principles of true Christian experience, which even a master and teacher in Israel holding an honorable position must learn, having no true conception of what a teacher in Israel should be. The same instruction is the most essential part of education for teachers, physicians, and ministers of the gospel, fitting them to deal with human minds in a Christlike manner, and no one holding responsibility as a teacher is qualified without first doing this work of new birth. When Christ's words on conversion are received into the soul they give higher intelligence and deeper spiritual knowledge of what constitutes a disciple and sincere follower of Christ. Without digging deep and being riveted to the eternal Rock by this experience, men remain heady, highminded and self-sufficient and will make shipwreck of faith and turn away from the truth when test and trial come.

The new birth must be truly experienced and seen in the home in words and acts and advancement in the divine life, proving whether one can be called an overcomer. It means making a change now, throwing off lethargy, humbling the heart before the Lord, and arousing to solemn responsibilities, because pride and weakness of faith forfeit God's rich blessings. Having the theory of the truth, even belief in the theory of the third angel's message, is not the new birth; there must be the oil of the grace of Christ feeding the lamp so the light of life shines to those in darkness, or there will be surprise and disappointment when the cry is heard, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh. Being born of the Spirit is a reconversion and a renewal of the Holy Spirit's power that makes a person a child of God and a member of His family, necessary to be reconverted in speech and spirit and changed so as to discern between light and darkness. It requires taking self in hand, conquering wicked feelings that rise in the heart, refusing to let their venom flow forth in words that help Satan, humbling the heart, confessing sin, and having a crooked character made all over again, for God has a controversy with those whose crooked characters keep the work from advancing.

The new birth is a change of heart that can be brought about only by the effectual working of the Holy Spirit molding and fashioning the heart daily, not something people can produce or control; the heart is subdued, made contrite, and changed from within, and they are to submit to its guidance and cooperate with it, with outward conduct following. That work gives divine insight to perceive the character of the kingdom of God, whose spiritual character can be discerned only by receiving divine light through the cooperation of heavenly intelligences. Pride and self-love resist the Spirit of God, and every natural inclination of the soul opposes the change from self-importance and pride to the meekness and lowliness of Christ. Where the change takes place it leads to repentance, obedience, and a life of service to Christ, with a lively sense of the duties due to all with whom one is brought in contact.

When people partake of the Spirit they are born again through divine power, and genuine faith in Christ as Saviour is needed to receive this change. The Spirit's work is accompanied by firm unity and unwavering faith in God. A person who receives God's truth in humble submission is born again: the Spirit works in the mind, heart, and will, and God's mercy and love become a controlling power. As the person beholds Christ's grace and glory and recognizes personal smallness, Christ's glory transforms the character, and this inward change is the highest miracle and an example of what God can do in everyone who earnestly submits to Him and seeks to learn and do His will, known by its fruits which bear witness to divine life.

All who have been untrue to the cause of God, even those who are now first, must speedily repent, fall upon the Rock and be broken, and be born again, or they will soon be last. Without this new birth the spirit that has been cherished will continue to be cherished, mercy's sweet voice will not be recognized, and Bible religion in private and in public will remain a thing of the past. Nicodemus received Christ's lesson and became a believer, showing the change associated with the Spirit's daily molding and fashioning of the heart that gives insight to recognize the character of God's kingdom. A person may not know when or where conversion began, because the Spirit may draw the heart gradually through reflection on Christ, Scripture, or preaching before the person willingly surrenders to Jesus, with its presence known by its effects in changed thoughts and conduct, renounced sin, and the growth of love, humility, peace, and joy. Through faith and surrender to God, unseen divine power creates a new person in God's image; redemption begins as a personal experience in this life, while its results extend through eternity.