Bible Study Devotional: John 3:6-8. “You must be born again.”
As we learned in the previous post, when Jesus speaks of being “born again” or “born from above” he is speaking in completely spiritual terms. Here, the Lord clarifies this and stresses that he is speaking about a reality that is much higher than the physical. The flesh or “physicality” is not a bad or negative thing in the Scriptures unless it is speaking of sinfulness.
We are not our flesh. We are not our body. However, our body belongs to us, or actually to God according to the Apostle Paul. In the flesh, we are capable of doing great things that correspond to the will of God and change others’ lives for the better. In the flesh, we are also capable of doing utterly evil and sinful things as well. This applies to every human being.
The spirit is part of humankind, just like soul is and just like flesh is. God took on flesh and dwelt among us. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. There is a relationship between body and spirit. The body affects spiritual and emotional reality and visa versa. However, there is also a division between spirit and body. “That which is born of Spirit is spirit.” In other words, Jesus teaches us that we are not the ones who have the power to become sons and daughters of God in and of ourselves.
Spiritual rebirth is not accomplished through our own works! God is the one who enlivens us through his Son Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
In speaking with Nicodemus, Jesus is speaking with each one of us. We all tend to have our mindset based on our own physical reality. Jesus states that we should not “marvel” at his words. We should not see them as too difficult to understand and just pass over them while putting them on a pedestal.
The Lord wants us to understand and experience his words and their power for ourselves. He wants us to actually be born again and to realize that he means this spiritually. He wants us to undergo “metanoia” or “repentance” and be remade spiritually into sons and daughters of God through vocal belief in the Messiah’s work, death and resurrection, and undergo the spiritual change that guarantees eternal life and relationship with the Creator of all!
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
In both the Hebrew or Aramaic language that Jesus was speaking and the Greek language that this verse is recorded in, the word for “wind” is the same word for “spirit.” There are many interpretations for this verse, but one thing that is sure is that Jesus was using wordplay to illustrate a point. That point is not that those who are born again are just mindlessly blown around by God’s Spirit.
Rather, I think it is referring to the mysterious designs of God in each of our lives. “The wind blows where it listeth” means that the wind blows where it chooses to or wants to. It moves according to its own designs but it cannot be forced to do anything. It is the same with the mysterious power of the Spirit of God.
We cannot manipulate him, we cannot know his designs, we cannot see his Spirit but we can experience his power and feel his influence in our lives.
May you feel and experience the power of God’s Holy Spirit in your life today and every day!
Amen
“For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.” – Proverbs 8:11
All Bible Verses are from the KJV Unless Otherwise Noted
All images used are in the public domain from Pixabay
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