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NASB | John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 3:3 Jesus answered him, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless a person is born again [reborn from above--spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified], he cannot [ever] see and experience the kingdom of God." |
Subject: "Born-again Christian" redundant? |
Bible Note: Barry, the problem with the "water" interpretation being seen as referring to the watery birth in the womb, i.e, natural, physical birth, is that it has Jesus stating the obvious to Nicodemus. Jesus is not telling Nicodemus anything that the Jewish leader doesn't already know. Nicodemus already knew that he had been born of woman (John 3:4). So obviously Jesus was not saying to him, "Now, Nicodemus, your first step in being able to see the kingdom of God is that you've got to be born of woman." How is Nicodemus supposed to reply to that? By saying, "But, Lord, you can see for yourself that I've already been born of woman; otherwise, I wouldn't be standing here before you." .... Barry, please note how the Amplified Bible handles John 3:5: "Jesus answered, I assure you most solemnly I tell you, unless a man is born of of water and (even) the Spirit, he cannot (ever) enter the kingdom of God." "Water", used in conjunction with "Spirit," strongly suggests the idea of cleansing, of regeneration. This interpretation more closely fits the immediate context here and the broader context of other passages, some of which I cited in my previous post. --Hank |