No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

 

John 3:5-8 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus was a high-ranking rabbi at the time, and Jesus was a young man in his 30s. However, he secretly visited Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi.” Although he knew that Jesus came from God, he thought of Him as a rabbi, not the Son of God. However, Jesus told Nicodemus, “Unless you are born of water and the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of God.” That is, being born again. To be born again is not to be born of your physical parents, but to be born of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” This means that only those who are born of the Spirit can enter the kingdom of God. Nicodemus could not understand.

Being born again does not mean that the body dies and is reincarnated, but that although the body is alive, it is born again from heaven. It is an incomprehensible word. That is why most people today think of being born again as a state of the mind. It means being born again not of the mind, but of the spirit. There is a spiritual body, not a physical body. The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:44, "It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body." The spiritual body is not born of blood. People do not believe it because it cannot be seen with the physical eyes, but there is a spiritual body.

John 3:9-13 "Nicodemus answered and said to him, 'How can these things be?' Jesus answered and said to him, 'Are you a teacher of Israel, and do you not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, we speak what we do know, and testify to what we have seen, and you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things, and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven but He who came down from heaven—the Son of Man who is in heaven.'"

Jesus scolded Nicodemus, saying, “Do you not understand these things as a teacher of Israel?” In the Old Testament, when people sinned, they offered sacrifices according to the law. Since the sacrificial animal died, the animal took the sins of the sinner, so the sinner died with the sacrificial animal and was reborn. It is wrong to think that the sinner did not die, but only the sacrificial animal died. The death of the sacrificial animal is the death of the sinner. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross is united with the death of sinners. Why do you not understand this logic?

Born again of water and the Spirit, water signifies the death of the fleshly body (the body of sin). This is expressed by water baptism. If they had lived in Noah's time, they would have drowned. If they had lived in Sodom and Gomorrah, they would have burned to death. This is expressed by fire baptism. Therefore, sinners believe that they have died with Jesus, and are resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit and are born with a spiritual body. Baptism symbolizes death. When a lamb is sacrificed, its blood is sprinkled (water baptism) and its flesh is burned (fire baptism). Sprinkling the blood signifies death to sin (forgiveness of sin), and burning the flesh signifies the death of the fleshly body.

The newly born spiritual body is under the control of the Holy Spirit, so Satan cannot approach it, as 1 John 3:9 and 5:18 say. It is at the right hand of God in Christ. Those who are born again must remember that they are always in Christ. That is why they should not live for this real flesh that was crucified with Jesus on the cross. The fleshly mind (greed) constantly tries to block the spiritual mind in every way.

The kingdom of God is not established in a place formed by bloodline. That is why discord occurs first within a family. In Matthew 10:35-39, it says, "For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's enemies will be the members of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. For he who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." The kingdom of God is not established by bloodline.

Ephesians 2:1 says, "And you he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience." Those who follow the ways of the world are the children of Satan. Regarding those who follow the ways of the world, Ephesians 2:3 says, "Among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest."

Following the customs of the world means doing what the flesh wants. Those who follow what the flesh wants are children of wrath. However, those who repent and are born again as spirits follow what the spirit wants. Those who realize that they are children of wrath can repent. Otherwise, even if they live in church, they are still under the control of Satan. If they live for what the flesh wants while living in church, they are children of wrath. Today, we must ponder what the flesh wants.