As I stated in last week's I talked about the importance of John 3 in the development of the doctrine of the new birth. Specifically verses 1-21 are a long discussion on this subject.
"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, 'Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.' Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.' Nicodemus said to him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?' Jesus answered, '...unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again." (John 3:1-7)
Jesus makes it clear to Nicodemus that mere intellectual consent to the idea of him being a messenger from God is not what is necessary to enter heaven; it takes an impossible miracle. Jesus uses the term "born again" which symbolizes the reality of regeneration. In the book of John we usually see the most difficult things to understand being communicated with simple terms. This is what Jesus is doing here, taking a difficult thing to understand and communicating it with simple imagery.
"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." (v 8)
This verse gives us a clear indication of the cause/effect of the new birth and that which is born. My first question when looking at this text is how does this wind illustration work? The first thing we must take from it is that the "wind" (or Spirit, see last week's post) has freedom, "the wind blows where it wishes." Second I want to think of how the comment on the invisible nature and the sound of the Spirit's work relate to the new birth. Further examination of the text will make this clearer but what I think we see here is that the "wind" Jesus is describing is a cause. That is important because many would have you believe that the new birth can only happen once a person produces faith in Christ, this text (and others) insist that the faith is a product of the new birth.
"Nicodemus said to him, 'How can these things be?' Jesus answered him,
Jesus seems as amazed that Nicodemus doesn't see this teaching from the Old Testament as Nicodemus is amazed at Jesus' teaching. This is because Jesus is simply teaching Nicodemus about the New Covenant God had promised (very important, see Ezekiel 11:18-20, 36:25-27, and Jeremiah 31:31-33). The New Covenant is a promise of God changing man's heart; taking away a heart that was at enmity with Him and giving a heart that is responsive to His Law.
What's the point? John 3 is teaching this doctrine in such a way that we cannot understand the new birth to be a response to an act of faith. As we go deeper into this study I will give implications to this doctrine that will show just how important this is for us to see but for now we need to soak in this biblical truth. Next week we will continue in John 3 and look at the most memorized verse in Evangelicalism; namely John 3:16ff. I will show how, in context, this passage does not refute the position of God's sovereignty in salvation (as some would argue that it does) but, rather, it is part of the argument for God's sovereignty.
Grace and Peace,
Stephen
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