John 3:6

“⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

            We saw in the last passage that Jesus clarified for Nicodemus what He meant by being “born again.” Nicodemus was asking if it was a physical rebirth, but Jesus explained that this is a spiritual rebirth—one that is born of water and the spirit. Jesus wanted to make sure Nicodemus’s heart was right before God so he could enter the kingdom. He was calling Him to a rebirth of the Spirit to be able to enter that kingdom of God. This was Nicodemus’s true motive for coming to Christ—and it is important to note that Jesus did not reject Him for this desire like He did others who came to Him for other motives because this motive was a true to desire to be with God in His kingdom.

            In this next verse Jesus clarified why this spiritual rebirth is necessary. He gave two different aspects to spiritual birth which are the flesh and the Spirit. He started with the aspect of the flesh, saying not that the physical flesh is evil but being born spiritually in the flesh is likened to being evil. This idea of the corruption of the flesh can be traced back to the first sin of Adam. The second aspect of this verse is “the Spirit.” This is also not what it first appears to be because He was not talking about a generalized spiritual revival or awakening. In this verse, “the Spirit” is capitalized representing a person and in fact represents the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit. Jesus was making a distinction between what is born initially when we are born—of the flesh and evil—but what must happen is a rebirth from the Holy Spirt into a new spirit. Nicodemus would understand what Jesus as saying here as he would grasp the implication of the flesh being sin nature from Adam and the spirit being a new nature controlled by the Holy Spirit.

            To Christians, it is important to recognize the role that the Holy Spirit inhabits not only in salvation but also in our continuing walk with God. We are people of spirit set apart for God which means we must bring our physical flesh into control which can now happen because we are reborn into the Spirit.

            To non-Christians, you cannot change yourself alone. There is nothing you can do spiritually to be saved as you are of the flesh but there is good news! Through Jesus’s sacrifice you are able to call on Him to save you and be born again by the Holy Spirit into a new spiritual life where you will no longer be controlled by yourself and be controlled by God. Again, you cannot do this yourself—there is only hope in Jesus—but there is also nothing that needs to be cleaned up in terms of sin or lifestyle before coming to Jesus because when you do God will take care of that too which is why Jesus called it a rebirth. You will no longer be who you were but what God has made you to be.