The Established Path of Discipleship

John 3:1-15

Have you ever started a conversation with someone on a particular subject, and they started talking about something else? It’s almost like they start answering questions you aren’t even asking. It would be aggravating, wouldn’t it? Or have you ever had this humbling experience? Someone new to your line of work corrects you and then says, “You should have known better.” I imagine you would feel humbled, embarrassed, and maybe even a little peeved. I don’t know if Nicodemus felt this way in this passage of Scripture, but he certainly had these two things happen to him. He initiated a conversation with Jesus on one subject, and then Jesus started talking about something else. When Nicodemus asks Jesus to clarify what he is saying, Jesus corrects Nicodemus by essentially telling him he ought to know what he is talking about.

Jesus, known for his directness, wastes no time in his conversation with Nicodemus. This nighttime dialogue unveils profound truths about the kingdom of God and the concept of new birth. We come to understand that the Holy Spirit causes this new birth in Christ, and we gain a comprehensive view of the spiritual birth process. From this passage, I’ve discerned three distinct phases in this process:

1. The revelation of human inability (vv. 1-3; 5; 10-13)

In verses 1-3, Nicodemus, a prominent Pharisee, visits Jesus at night and starts this exciting conversation with Jesus. He begins by complimenting Jesus in verse 2. Nicodemus recognized something special about Jesus because he knew no one could do what Jesus did without God’s power, but this was the extent of Nicodemus’ understanding. Jesus does not respond to Nicodemus’ compliment but starts talking about something else. He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” In verse 5, Jesus says essentially the same thing, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” What can we learn from this? We learn that…

            Fallen humans are incapable of recognizing or entering the kingdom of God.

Jesus is quite emphatic about this. This is why he prefaces his words with “truly, truly.” Unless something happens to a fallen human being—a human being who is dead in their trespasses and sins—they cannot see, nor can they enter the kingdom of God. Why not? They cannot see or enter the kingdom of God because, in their fallen state, they are incapable of doing so.

Nicodemus recognized God’s power, but he was still spiritually blind. He could not recognize the Messiah, who brought the kingdom of God—the rule and reign of God—to human beings. In verses 10-13, Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” If Nicodemus understood the Old Testament correctly, he should have understood that righteousness and access to the kingdom of heaven could never come from trying to obey the law. In verse 11, Jesus says, “I say to you, we speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.” What did Jesus know? What did Jesus see? He knew the kingdom of heaven—he saw the kingdom of heaven. So Jesus was eminently qualified to explain how one gains access to the kingdom of heaven. Jesus says in verse 13 that he is the only one who has ascended and descended from heaven.

This strikes right at the heart of our “can-do” spirit as Americans. We don’t like anyone telling us we can’t do something. However, fallen human beings cannot do anything about their sinful situation. Something has to happen before anything can be done. What has to happen?

2. The regeneration of the Holy Spirit (vv. 4-8).

Now, I don’t think Nicodemus is stupid. I think he wants to understand what Jesus is saying. So, he naturally asks how someone can be born again in verse 4. Jesus explains how this happens in verses 5-8:

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 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.

Jesus describes this process of spiritual birth as being born of water and the Spirit. It is different from being born from a mother’s womb—that which is born of flesh is flesh. It is a spiritual birth. It is being born again—the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. Regeneration is the bringing of life to something dead. In our case, we are dead in our trespasses and sins. Dead people cannot see nor understand anything, much less the kingdom of God.

I love Jesus’s metaphor of the wind. You don’t see the wind coming; it just comes. The wind does not ask you for permission to blow; it just blows. This is what Jesus says happens when people are born of the Spirit. What Jesus is saying is…

The Holy Spirit blows the dust from our spiritual eyes, causing us to see and understand the kingdom of God.

This happens when we are born again—when the Holy Spirit regenerates us—we see and understand the kingdom of God for the first time in our lives. Whereas before, as fallen humans, we were dead in our trespasses and sins according to Col. 2:13, now we can see. Now, we know and understand what Jesus is talking about. We even recognize Jesus for who he is for the first time. We can now see and know He is the Christ, the Messiah, who came to save us and set us free.

This is what it means to be born again—it means to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Col. 2:13 describes it this way, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.” It is being made alive. Now, common sense tells us that before something or someone dead can do anything, they must be made alive. The Holy Spirit makes us alive. You could say it this way, “I once was dead; now I am alive.”

There is a clear progression in Scripture. Things happen in a particular order. First, we are made aware of our sinfulness and inability to do anything about it. Then, we are regenerated—made alive—born again. We see and understand the kingdom of God for the first time. What happens next?

3. The Response of Faith (vv. 14-15).

In verse 14, Jesus refers to what happened in Numbers 21. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” What happened in Numbers 21? The people of Israel rebelled against God. God sent fiery serpents to punish them for their rebellion. The people cry out to Moses and confess their sins. Moses cries out to God, and God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent and lift it up on a pole. Those who look at the bronze serpent will not die from the snake bites but live. Jesus tells us he must be lifted up in the same way. He will be lifted up not on a pole, but on a cross. Verse 15 is essential to understanding the passage. Jesus is lifted up on a cross, “That whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

After the Holy Spirit opens our eyes, we understand Christ’s work on the cross and respond by believing.

When we get to this point in the process of spiritual birth, we cannot do anything but believe. Just think about it for a minute. God reveals to us our total inability to do anything about our sinful state. The Holy Spirit comes and opens our eyes to the truth of the kingdom of God, causing us to understand it, and he makes us alive. Once you have been made alive by the Spirit of God and made to truly understand the truth of the Kingdom of God through the work of Jesus Christ, you cannot do anything but respond in faith. At that point, it is all you want to do. You want to confess with your mouth and believe with your heart that Jesus is Lord and God has raised him from the dead (Rom. 10:10).

Some have called this irresistible grace, but I prefer to call it overcoming grace. People resist God’s grace all the time. People have resisted God’s grace in the Bible. God overcomes my resistance and my dead heart by changing them. Once he changes my heart, I only want to believe and follow him. His grace overcomes all my sin, rebellion, and resistance—God kept coming after me, and His Holy Spirit caused me to be born again. Then I bowed my knee and heart and confessed Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I wasn’t a puppet. God did not violate my free will. God changed my will and enabled me to see and understand the work of Christ, and then I said, “I believe.”

The Latin word for this doctrine is ordo salutis. It means the order of salvation. From this passage, the order is clear. God makes us aware of our sinful hearts and our inability to do anything about them. Next, the Holy Spirit causes us to be born again, giving us a new heart that can see and understand his kingdom and Christ’s work on the cross. Then, after that happens, we respond in faith and believe. The order is critical. I don’t believe and then my heart is changed. It is the opposite. God changes my heart, giving me a new heart, and then I believe. We are born again, then we believe, and not vice versa. If our belief caused us to be born again, we could take credit for our salvation. The Bible clearly defines who gets the credit for salvation—God (1 Pet. 1:3). God saved us. How? “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit,” as it says in Titus 3:5.

Conclusion

The implications of this passage for living our daily lives are tremendous. If God’s grace is so powerful and His Holy Spirit so powerful that he caused me to be saved, can I trust that God will keep me saved? Absolutely—remember the doxology in Jude? “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy” (Jude 24).

Our sinful tendency is to rely on our strength to grow in our relationship with Christ. You will become frustrated and bitter if you rely on your strength and ability to grow. Instead, rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. You will see God changing you from one degree of glory to another, transforming you daily into the image of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18). The Holy Spirit is the one who caused us to be born again. The Holy Spirit is also the one who gives us the power to grow. Next time you feel weary and like giving up the fight against sin and despair, remember it is the Holy Spirit at work in you. It is not you but Christ in you, the hope of glory. And don’t forget this: the hope of glory is more powerful than any sin or despair that threatens to rob your peace and joy.