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Book
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Preparing Context
Gathering the passage
Loading the book, timeline, map, and study notes.
Book
World Stage
Structure
Historical Setting
Holy Spirit / Answer across Scripture
In John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that seeing the kingdom of God requires being born again, or born from above, by water and the Spirit.
Study theme
Holy Spirit
To be born again means to receive new life from God, not merely to improve one's religious behavior. In John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that a person must be born again, or born from above, to see the kingdom of God. He explains this as being born of water and the Spirit and contrasts what is born of flesh with what is born of the Spirit.
This question sits inside Jesus' night conversation with Nicodemus, where religious status is not enough; new birth from God is necessary.
John 3:1-8 is the central passage for this answer. Later in the same chapter, Jesus' words about belief and eternal life show that new birth, faith, and life from God belong together.
Key passages
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
2The same came to him 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."
3Jesus answered him, "Most assuredly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can`t see the kingdom of God."
4Nicodemus 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?"
5Jesus answered, "Most assuredly I tell you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he can`t enter into the kingdom of God!
6That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7Don`t marvel that I said to you, `You must be born anew.`
8The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don`t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
A common misunderstanding is to make new birth only a self-help metaphor or only a visible religious label. Jesus describes God's life-giving work by the Spirit.