About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman

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It's Really Real   

John, chapter 3 tells us about a conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus, a respected Pharisee and a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin.  We know very little about this conversation other than it appears Nicodemus asked Jesus about His view of the Kingdom  of God .  I say that because Jesus told Nicodemus that "no one can see the Kingdom of God  unless they are born again" (verse 3).

In an attempt to relieve Nicodemus' confusion, Jesus went on to say that "no one can enter the Kingdom of God  unless they are born of water and the Spirit" (verse 5).  Note how Jesus progressed from just simply seeing God's Kingdom to actually entering God's kingdom. 

Since this conversation was about the birthing process, being born of water would refer to a natural birth when the mother's water is poured out of her during the natural birthing process.  Being born of the Spirit, then, would refer to a spiritual birth when God's Spirit is poured out of Him during the spiritual birthing process.  It's why Jesus called this second birth a baptism, or an immersion of the Spirit (Acts 1:8) that filled the disciples (Acts 2:5).  Both births are life-transforming realities.  The spiritual birth ushers a naturally born person into a brand new spiritual reality of life which the Greek grammar of this text confirms.    

The verb tense in the phrases "unless they are born again" (verse 3) and "unless they are born of water and the spirit" (verse 5) are "passive verbs".  This tells me that the process of being born again, whether to just "see" or to actually "enter" God's kingdom, is all of God's doing.  We passively experience the birth.  In short, we can't decide to get reborn on our own and walk into God's kingdom any old time we want.  It's why Jesus said that "no one can come to me unless the Father draws him" (John 6:44).          

Jesus then said that "flesh gives birth to flesh and the Spirit gives birth to spirit" (verse 6).  The verb tense in both births are "perfect, passive, participles".  Perfect suggests that the actual births complete the process that leads to the births.  Passive suggests that the births are not accomplished by the newly born.  Participle suggests that the newly born, whether fleshly or spiritually, has been ushered into a brand new reality of life that he or she has never experienced.  This tells me that being born again completes God's process of inviting us into the reality of His spiritual kingdom. 

Nicodemus' view of entering God's Kingdom was humanistic, based on doctrinal traditions and rituals, as it is in much of today's church.  In many respects today's church has forsaken the reality of being born again of the Spirit.  It has been replaced with a false gospel, a mere mental acknowledgement of a Christian belief system.  Unless the Spirit of the Almighty Creator God is poured into your body and soul via a new birth,  "you do not belong to God" (Romans 8:9).  It's that simple.

Finally, Jesus reiterated His point.  "You must be born again (verse 7).  That's an indicative Greek verb, suggesting that the only way to enter God's kingdom is a transformative, life-enhancing spiritual birth.  To be clear, the concept of being born again is not just a figure of speech or a metaphor.  It's real.  It's a spiritual reality that has far reaching implications in every aspect of your life.