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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: Brother Hank: Brother Hank John 3:5 is a verse which has been used by the RC and the Church of Christ to argue the need of baptism as part of being born again. Needless to say I have argued against this since the word of God has made it abundantly clear that we have eternal life the moment we rest in Christ. However, in studying the verse, I find that according to Strong's Concordance "water" in verse 5 of John 3 is indeed literal water. For years I accepted the view that the water was the word of God which ties in with John 5:24 However, if we look at the context we find that Jesus in explaining the new birth to Nicodemas is comparing natural and spiritual. That which is born of the flesh is flesh That which is born of the Spirit is spirit" V.6 It would appear in verse 6 he is comaparing natural birth to spiritual rebirth in response to Nicodemas In V.4 who is incredulous at the idea of rebirth and asks "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother,s womb and be born, can he?" John 3:4 NASB The emphasis by the Lord Jesus is on being born of the Spirit and in V. 8 describes the awsome mystery of His entrance into the heart of an unsaved person. Again the Lord Jesus resorts to natural elements to decribe spiritual reality. Nicodemas "the wind bloweth where it wishes and you can hear the sound of it, but do not know from whence it comes from and where it is going" In other words we can hear the wind, we can feel the wind and we can see the results of the wind on whatever it passes over and yet we cannot see its source. "So is every one that is born of the Spirit." We will see the change and as the person who is born of the Spirit we will feel the change within and yet it is almost impossible to explain the miracle which is wrought within by the Spirit of God. I may be totally wrong, but it seems to me that Jesus was explaining to Nicodemas that we are all born into this world at odds with God and that we must be born from above to be right with God. Just my humble thoughts. Robert |