But as many as received him, to them
gave he power to
become the sons of God,
even to them
that believe on his name:
Which were born,
not of blood,
nor of the will
of the flesh,
nor of the will
of man, but of God
(John
1:12-13)
There’s
not a man alive with an ounce of gumption who will say that salvation comes
from self-determination. There is no man so holy as to declare himself, or
another person, a child of God. The new birth is a spiritual activity that
belongs only to a Sovereign God who is the source of all life. John, in these
verses has us understand that he is not referring to the physical birth. He is
referring to the new birth, being born of God, which has nothing to do with
human achievement.
When
I think of the new birth, my mind rushes to Nicodemus. This was a new thing for
him, and though he didn’t understand the concept, he was certainly willing to
listen and learn. What he did with the information given to him by the Lord
Jesus Christ himself, we will not know until we arrive in heaven.
Like
many folks with whom we come in contact, he was a gifted man, moral and quite
refined according to John 3:1. He was a man of the Pharisees, a ruler of the
Jews. What could Nicodemus possibly need from Jesus of Galilee that he would
come to him in the dark of night. The same thing we need of the Giver of Life,
the Man sent from God, the Miracle Worker. He needed to understand what it
meant to be born again, for Jesus is telling him that without the new birth it
will be impossible to see the kingdom of God.
“Well,
Lord, how in the world can a grown man such as I—? I’m not a kid. In fact, I’m
an older man— Explain to me how a man can enter the second time into his
mother’s womb and be born.”
Jesus
must have smiled, knowing that Nicodemus, an intelligent man, was not grasping
the spiritual aspect of which he spoke. The omniscient God certainly had the
answer. He told Nicodemus he must be born of water and the spirit, and Jesus
continues his conversation by contrasting the physical birth and the spiritual
birth (water and spirit) by telling him the flesh produces flesh while the
Spirit produces that which is spiritual. This was not meant to shock Nicodemus.
He was simply to believe that to become a part of God’s spiritual kingdom, he
must experience a spiritual birth. It boiled down to this: “Marvel not (don’t
be shocked) that I said unto thee, ye must be born again.”
“But
Master, I’m still not clear on this,” Nicodemus must have said. “How does this
all take place?”
“The
wind blows,” Jesus told him, “and you hear the sound of the wind blowing, but you
cannot tell where it originates. Neither do you know where it goes when it
passes you by. But you do enjoy the luscious cooling of the breeze on a hot
summer day, no questions asked.”
Nicodemus
still didn’t understand. Jesus gently rebuked the ruler with some strong words,
reminding him he was an intelligent man.
Human
birth does not give you spiritual life; only God who is life can impart life.
Spiritual life originates above in the loving heart of God. It cannot be
inherited from parents even though they may have been holy parents; it doesn’t
come about by self-effort or self-determination. It isn’t the will of man,
human influence, good works, church membership, or baptism that brings a dead
soul to life; the privilege of imparting life belongs to the giver of life. Salvation
is supernatural and is fully a gift of God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). There is
only one way to become a child of God. “To be born not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:13).
Central
to the theme of scripture is the doctrinal truth that God is the giver of
physical life and he is the giver of new life in Christ (spiritual life).
Humanity is impotent to become what it was destined to be without the transcendent
power of God.
Are
you born of God?
Victor W. Baugh, Sr., Th.D.,
Ph.D.
Pastor, St. Luke AME Church
Havana,
Alabama
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