John 3:3 - You Must Be Born Again To Enter The Kingdom Of God.
John 3:3 - You Must Be Born Again To Enter The Kingdom Of God.
John 3:3 (KJV) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God.
John 3:3 (NCV) Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, unless
one is born again, he cannot be in God's kingdom."
John 3:3 (CWR) Jesus answered, "Miracles alone are not enough
evidence to believe in the kingdom of God. Unless a person is born
again, he cannot belong to God's kingdom."
Every man must have two births, one from heaven, the other from
earth-- one of his body, the other of his soul: without the first he
cannot see nor enjoy this world, without the last he can not see nor
enjoy the kingdom of God. As there is an absolute necessity that a
child should be born into the world, that he may see its light,
contemplate its glories, and enjoy its good, so there is an absolute
necessity that the soul should be brought out of its state of darkness and
sin, through the light and power of the grace of Christ, that it may
be able to see, or, to discern, the glories and excellencies of the
kingdom of Christ here, and be prepared for the enjoyment of the kingdom
of glory hereafter. (Adam Clarke Commentary)
Birth is the beginning of life; to be born again, is to begin to
live anew, as those who have lived much amiss, or to little purpose.
We must have a new nature, new principles, new affections, new
aims. By our first birth we were corrupt, shapen in sin; therefore we
must be made new creatures. No stronger expression could have been
chosen to signify a great and most remarkable change of state and
character. We must be entirely different from what we were before, as that
which begins to be at any time, is not, and cannot be the same with
that which was before. This new birth is from heaven, vs. 1:13, and
its tendency is to heaven. It is a great change made in the heart of
a sinner, by the power of the Holy Spirit. It means that something
is done in us, and for us, which we cannot do for ourselves.
[Matthew Henry Commentary]
To be born anew is to undergo such a radical change that it is
like a new birth; it is to have something happen to the soul which
can only be described as being born all over again; and the whole
process is not a human achievement, because it comes from the grace and
power of God. [Barclay Commentary]
All of us are born in sin. Our "first birth" makes us children
of Adam, and this means we are children of wrath and of
disobedience (Eph. 2:1-3). No amount of education, religion, or discipline
can change the old nature; we must receive a new nature from God.
[Wiersbe Expository Outlines]
The necessity of the new birth grows out of the incapacity of
the natural man to "see" or "enter into" the kingdom of God. However
gifted, moral, or refined he may be, the natural man is absolutely blind
to spiritual truth and impotent to enter the kingdom; for he can
neither obey, understand, nor please God. . . The new birth is not a
reformation of the old nature (Rom 6:6, note), but a creative act of the
Holy Spirit. [Scofield SB]
The only way to enter the kingdom of God is through the new
birth. "Born again'' means born from above. It is the work of God and
not the work of human beings. It is the new birth which the Holy
Spirit gives. Being born again is mysterious like the blowing of the
wind. It is a miracle after the analogy of the virgin birth of Jesus
Christ (Mt 1:18-25; Lk 1:34-35) and that of the first creation (Ge
1:1-2). . . . The new birth is possible through Christ's sacrificial
death on the cross and through faith in Him as God's antidote for the
poison of sin. . . . The new birth is the door to eternal life.
[Disciple SB]
Like the unseen but powerful wind, the Spirit of God operates in
ways which humans cannot predict or fully comprehend. [Cambridge
Annotated SB]
How, then, are we to be saved? "As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness," so the Son of man has been lifted up, and
everyone who has been deceived and bitten by the serpent may look and
live. "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the
world." John 1:29. The light shining from the cross reveals the love of
God. His love is drawing us to Himself. If we do not resist this
drawing, we shall be led to the foot of the cross in repentance for the
sins that have crucified the Saviour. Then the Spirit of God through
faith produces a new life in the soul. DA168-177
This is what it means to be "born again." It means to experience
a spiritual rebirth: to know an inner transformation of the
sin-hardened heart; a redirection of the life toward God.
Only a supernatural work by God the Holy Spirit within us can
accomplish so dramatic a change.
And so when Jesus says, "You must be born again," He simply
means that to enter His kingdom, you and I must let God into our
lives, to work there as He pleases. When we do, eternal life will be
ours--now--and through the miracle of the new birth our life on earth will
become fresh and new. [The 365-Day Devotional Commentary]
Guard jealously your relationship to God. Jesus prayed "that
they may be one, even as We are one"--nothing between. Keep all the
life perennially open to Jesus Christ, don't pretend with Him. Are
you drawing your life from any other source than God Himself? If you
are depending upon anything but Him, you will never know when He is
gone.. [My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers]
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