Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
//Here’s a conversation in the book of John that probably didn’t really happen. Jesus is explaining to Nicodemus how to enter the kingdom of God. But scholars doubt the conversation’s historicity on linguistic grounds.
It’s predicated on a play of words, a double entendre. The Gospel was written in Greek, and the Greek word for “again” in verse three carries two meanings: It can mean born a second time, or it can mean born from above. So the conversation continues:
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus assumes the first meaning, and Jesus corrects him to convey the second meaning. Problem is, Jesus didn’t speak in Greek; he spoke in Aramaic.
What do you think he meant by saying “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit” ? .. And, what does it mean.. “be born of water and of the spirit” ?
Hi Michelle! This quote comes from John’s Gospel, and John puts an emphasis on a Spirit-led congregation. Baptism by water is not a new thing, Jews immersed themselves in ritual cleansing baths long before Christianity took hold, but when Christians came along, they claimed the presence of the Spirit. This was an astounding claim, since the arrival of the Spirit was not expected by the Jews until the age of the Messiah…so you can see that Christians were claiming Jesus as the world’s Messiah, claiming the age of God’s rule had begun. So, while there are lots of opinions about just what it means to be “born of the Spirit,” in its oldest form, it just means to come under the rule of the governing Spirit (what most call the Holy Spirit) and become a part of the new age of God’s rule.
“Problem is, Jesus didn’t speak in Greek; he spoke in Aramaic.” This is debated. ABout 8 miles from Nazareth was a Greco-Roman city, whose name escapes me at the moment, and Joseph and his son(s?), as a TEKTON, could have worked there and been exposed to Greek and Latin. It is possible jesus was at least bilingual, and what do I know? I wasn’t there.
Yes, it’s possible Tiberias had an influence and that Jesus grew up bilingual, but I also think it an unlikely conversation, being with a Pharisee and being witnessed (presumably) by Galileans. But I wasn’t there either. 😉
Hi ,
‘Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I
say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see
the kingdom of God.”
(John 3 :3)
He further said “Except a man be born of water & of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God . That which is born of the flesh is flesh & that which
is born of the Spirit is spirit.'(John 3 : 5, 6)
This is an another way
of explanation _:
The meaning of born of
the flesh:
#######
(Lamentations 5:7) says,
‘Our fathers sinned & are
no more;It is we who have borne their iniquities.’
Like Psalmist we were brought forth in iniquity.’
( Psalm 51:5 )
‘And were slaves to those which by nature were no gods. At that time, we
did not know God.’
(Galatians 4 : 8 )
( Romans 5:12,19, 21)
states, ‘Adam sinned & through him sin entered
into the world & death through sin, & spread to
all.’19 Thus, by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners.21 sin
reigned unto death.’
Being sinful from birth ,
man lives after flesh,before salvation which is known
as living by carnal mind.
After salvation too, ‘The
body remains dead,
because of sin, though
Christ is in a man. ‘
(Romans 8:10)
lt is because, ‘Our flesh lusteth against the Spirit & the Spirit against the flesh
& these are contrary the
one to the other.’The works of the flesh are ;Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, Idolatry, lasciviousness
hatred, witchcraft,variance
strife,emulations,seditions, heresies,wrath,murders
Envyings, drunkenness, revellings.That they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.’
(Galatians 5 :17, 19-21)
Due to this dead body, sometimes we listen to satan & not of God, &
do sin again.For Example :
‘When king Solomon was
old, his wives caused him
to follow other gods, so he did not follow the LORD completely as his father David did. Solomon
worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of Sidon & Milcom, the horrible god of the Ammonites.'(1King11 : 4-6)
Another point is that :
Though the person is
saved, the body produces the children, which remain sinful from birth,
These are 2 Examples :
!)’Eli was annointed priest.
But his sons were evil men who did not care about the LORD. They did not care about how priests were supposed to treat people. Whenever someone brings
a sacrifice, priests are supposed to put the meat
in a pot of boiling water. Then their servant is supposed to get the three
-pronged fork & use it to
get some meat out of the
pot or kettle.The priest is supposed to take whatever his helper removes from
the pot with the special
fork. This is what the
priests should have done
for the Israelites who came to offer sacrifices at Shiloh. But that is not what the
sons of Eli did. Even before the fat was burned on the altar, their servant would
go to the people offering sacrifices & say, “Give the priest some meat to roast. The priest won’t accept boiled meat from you.” Maybe the man offering
the sacrifice would say, “Burn the fat first & then
you can take whatever you want.” But the servant
would answer: “No, give
me the meat now. If you don’t give it to me, I’ll take
it from you!” In this way Hophni & Phinehas showed that they did not respect
the offerings made to the LORD.This was a terrible
sin against the LORD. Now Eli was very old, & heard all that his sons did unto all
Israel & how they lay with
the women that assembled at the door of the taber
nacle of the congregation. He said unto them,Why do
ye such things? for I hear
of your evil dealings by all this people. Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that
I hear:ye make the LORD’s people to transgress.If one man sin against another,
the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against
the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto
the voice of their father,
because the LORD would slay them. ‘
( 1 Samuel 2:12- 25 )
!! )’Lord was with Samuel.’
(1Samuel 3: 19)
‘But his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre & took bribes,
& perverted judgment.’
(1 Samuel 8: 3)
After salvation we have to walk with The Holy Spirit.
(Romans 8:11,13 ) says,
‘lf you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.’
And, it is written in :
( 1 Peter 4 : 2 ):
‘You should not live the
rest of the time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to
the will of God.’
(Galatians 5:16) says,
lf we walk with The Spirit,
we will not carry out the desire of the flesh.’ And,
(Romans 8 :2 ) says,
‘ Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes
man free from the law of
sin & death.’
How we come to know
that we are born again?
############
! ) ‘Fruit of the Spirit that is love, joy, peace, longsuff ering, gentleness, good
ness, faith,meekness, temperance, is seen in us.’ ( Gal 5 : 22-23)
!i’We becomesnew creatures.Old things are passed away ;all things become new .’
( 2 Corinthians 5 :17)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^