fhansen
Oldbie
Jesus tells us that He knocks at our door and if we open it He'll come in and dwell with us. And that we must remain in Him after that. One particaptes in whether or not they'll be regenernated even though regeneration, itself, is totally a work of God's. It's a jourrney for man, and not a one-time event only. There's no end to the exent that one can be made just, regenerated. And we can always refuse and reject that work.John 3:3-10
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely, they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?
So let’s go through this point by point.
1- to enter the kingdom of God a person must be born again( a 2nd time)
2- flesh gives birth to flesh ( 1st birth )
3- the Spirit gives birth to spirit( 2nd birth )
4- the wind(spirit) blows wherever IT pleases
5- we hear the sound of the wind but do not know where it is coming from or going to
6- the same with the Spirit( we see its effects but not its coming or going)
7- the spirit is the same as the wind- it does as it pleases and we see its effects in both the natural(wind) and supernatural ( spirit)
8- nowhere in this passage does it say that a man chooses to be born again
9- the new birth is compared to the physical birth just as the wind is compared to the spirits work
10- in both cases of birth God is the Active One and the one who is birthed is passive in the process.
Summary: just as flesh gives birth to flesh( 1st birth as a person) so too does the Spirit give birth to the spirit(the new birth- born again)
There can be no other reading into the text but what has been outlined in the 10 points. Those 10 points are directly from the text.
Regeneration-born again has to do with the wind in the context and parallels the new birth in that process.
This topic is specifically the New Birth, Born Again of the Spirit which is compared to the Wind and how it operates as Jesus the Master Teacher illustrated in John 3 to Nicodemus.
Here are a couple of questions to ponder from the text.
1- Do you control or have any influence over the wind?
2- Can you call the wind?
Neither can a person call Gods Spirit in the new birth as it’s an Act of GOD. See John 1:13. Born again by God.
The PARALLELS and CONTRASTS Jesus makes in the passage are the following 10 off the top of my head reading through the passage:
1- the 2 births
2- the wind and the spirit
3- flesh and the spirit
4- water and spirit
5- earthly and heavenly things
6- effects of both the wind and spirit
7- the seen with the unseen
8- the physical with the supernatural
9- knowing and not knowing, understanding and not understanding
10- entering the kingdom and not entering the kingdom
hope this helps !!!
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