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Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. And he came to Jesus at night... "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform the miraculous signs that you are doing, if God were not with him." In reply, Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."... "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." — John 3:1-18

How a respected religious leader discovered that even he had to be born again.

Nicodemus Comes by Night

This is one of my favorite passages—though I admit I have about 6,000 favorite passages. Here we meet a religious man named Nicodemus, a well-known and prominent Pharisee, who came to Jesus by night. Bible teachers speculate endlessly about why he came at night: some say he didn't want to be seen, others say the daytime crowds around Jesus made an intimate conversation impossible. Honestly, it doesn't matter. What we know is that this prominent religious leader sought Jesus out.

What did Nicodemus think about Jesus? He believed Jesus was a teacher come from God, and what convinced him were the miracles. "We know that you are a teacher come from God, because no one could do these miraculous signs unless God were with him." Judging by the flow of John's Gospel, this is early in Jesus' ministry. Most of His ministry happened up north around the Sea of Galilee, but Jerusalem is about 80 miles south, where Jews traveled three times a year for the feasts. Jesus was likely there for one of those feasts, surrounded by multitudes.

"You Must Be Born Again"

Nicodemus clearly came with questions, but Jesus didn't even give him a chance to ask them. He immediately confronted him with truth: "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." Only by being born again can anyone enter the kingdom of God. These words stopped Nicodemus in his tracks—they short-circuited his brain. Three times in this passage Jesus says, "I tell you the truth," assuring Nicodemus of the veracity of His words.

By "born again," Nicodemus understood a second physical birth. That's clear from his question: "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" He's thinking literally, while Jesus speaks metaphorically about a vital spiritual truth. But John 1:14 tells us Jesus is full of grace and truth, so He speaks truth to Nicodemus in a gracious way, walking him through an explanation.

Born of Water and of the Spirit

In verses 5 and 6, Jesus explains: "No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit." Here are two births. The first—born of water, born of flesh—is the physical birth. Most Bible teachers, myself included, understand "born of water" as the moment of natural birth, when labor begins and the water breaks. That which is born of flesh is flesh.

The second birth—born of the Spirit, born of God—is the important one Jesus focuses on. This is something God brings about by His Spirit. Jesus is not speaking in earthly or physical terms. Think about who He's saying this to: Nicodemus is "the teacher" of Israel (the definite article is used). If anyone seemed a shoe-in for heaven by popular reckoning, it was this Pharisee. Yet Jesus tells him that even he must be born again to enter the kingdom.

Why the First Birth Is Not Enough

Why is physical birth alone insufficient? Because when we are born of the flesh, we are born with a sinful nature. We carry the nature of our parents. As we've seen in earlier lessons, we have to be 100% righteous to enter heaven—80% is not enough, even 99.9% is not enough. God said, "As I am holy, so you also are to be holy." But we cannot make ourselves holy. Born of the flesh, we have a fatal flaw, a terminal condition called sin, that must be dealt with.

To explain the Spirit's work, which we cannot see, Jesus uses the illustration of wind. "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going." We can't see the wind, but we see its effects—the moving tree branches, the moving clouds. Astronomers even detect winds on planets like Jupiter by their effects. In the same way, we cannot see the Spirit, but we can certainly see the effects of the Spirit in a person's life.

You Are Israel's Teacher

Still Nicodemus hesitated to believe. Jesus, though gracious, essentially says, "You are Israel's teacher, and you do not understand these things?" Nicodemus should have known about the new birth—and the only place he could have known it was the Old Testament, the only Scriptures they had.

One key place is the prophet Ezekiel, who lived about 500 years before Jesus. In Ezekiel 36, God says: "I will sprinkle water on you, and you will be clean... I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit in you, and move you to follow my laws." God promised a new heart, a new spirit, accomplished by His own Spirit placed within His people. This is where Nicodemus should have gained insight into God's great new work.

Lifted Up Like the Serpent

Why was it important that Nicodemus believe Jesus' words about heaven? Because Jesus is the only one who came from heaven, so He is the authority on how to get there. Then Jesus explains how the sin problem will be solved: "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up." Already at the beginning of His ministry, Jesus points to His death on the cross.

The Old Testament story is from Numbers 21. After leaving Egypt and crossing the Red Sea, the children of Israel wandered the wilderness for 40 years because of their disobedience. When they complained against God, He sent fiery, venomous serpents into the camp, and anyone bitten would die. The people who had wished to return to Egypt now cried out to be saved. God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole, and "when anyone was bitten by the snake and looked at it, he lived."

That seems absurd—isn't there a berry to eat or a remedy to apply? No, just look at the snake on the pole. I guarantee some skeptics refused and died. But everyone who looked was miraculously healed. Notice the symbolism: from Genesis 3, the serpent is associated with sin and Satan, and bronze is a metal that symbolizes judgment. So on the pole is judgment upon sin and Satan—and all who looked in trust were saved.

Bitten by Sin, Saved by Looking

In the same way, all mankind has been bitten by sin and faces death. There is none righteous, no, not one. But we can be saved by looking to Jesus on the cross—trusting in His death for us. Just as the dying Israelite who looked at the serpent was healed, so the one who looks to Jesus and trusts in His death is saved.

Behind all of this is God's love. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son"—the most translated verse in the Bible, the one we see in football stadiums. God's love for humanity is the reason for Jesus' death. Why did God send His Son? To save the world: "I have come to seek and to save that which is lost." There are two responses. The right response is believing and trusting in Him, which leads to salvation. The other is not believing, which leaves a person in their lost condition—like the one who refused to look at the serpent and died.

Two Births Compared

As a religious leader, Nicodemus thought he could enter the kingdom by keeping God's law and traditions. The Pharisees rigorously held to the law and felt that made them righteous. But Jesus tells even this man that he must be born again.

What is the difference between the two births? The physical birth is from man and carries a sinful nature, which is not sufficient for heaven. The spiritual birth is from God and gives a clean heart and spirit—exactly what Ezekiel prophesied—and that new heart is right for entering heaven. The physical birth begins at the moment of conception; according to Scripture, you are a human being from that moment. The spiritual birth can also begin in a moment, by God's action.

Here is a crucial difference: in your physical birth, you played no part—you didn't choose whether, where, or when to be born. But in the spiritual birth, you do choose. And when that birth takes place, a relational change happens: we shift from being God's enemies to God's children, and as His children we receive an inheritance of eternal life.

Becoming a Child of God

How is one born again to become a child of God? John 1:12-13 answers: "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent... but born of God." We must receive Jesus by faith.

This carries an important implication. We are not God's children at physical birth; we are only His creation. People often say, "We're all God's children." It's true we are all His creation, but the right to be called children of God belongs to those who receive Jesus and believe in His name.

What does it mean to receive Jesus? Consider where Jesus is now. Ephesians 1:20 says God seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places. Colossians 3 says Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Hebrews 12:2 says He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. And in Matthew 28:18, Jesus says, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." After His resurrection, Jesus is in a position of authority on a throne in heaven. Who sits on a throne? A King. Jesus is Lord and King over all creation.

Receiving Jesus as Lord

In Acts 2, Peter preaches, "God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." "Christ" is the same word translated "Messiah" in the Old Testament—the Anointed One, speaking of His position as Savior. "Lord" speaks of Master, Authority, King. The right response to His authority is to submit, making Him Lord over our lives.

So receiving Jesus means receiving Him as Lord in order to be born again. In Luke 6 Jesus asks, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?" Receiving Jesus as Lord means coming to Him willing to obey Him. Does that mean we obey Him perfectly every time? Not so much. But we come willing, wanting, trying to obey Him.

Reviewing the Gospel

Let me summarize Course One. What is the good news? In Romans, Paul says, "If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." What does it mean to be saved? Our sins are forgiven. Remember the woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears—"Woman, your sins are forgiven"—and the paralyzed man whose friends lowered him through the roof—"Son, your sins are forgiven... that you may know the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." When we are saved, we are pardoned, released from the penalty of sin, and in that moment we are born again spiritually, our sinful heart replaced with a clean heart.

On what basis can God forgive sin? A payment had to be made. To maintain the seriousness of the law, God sent His Son. On the basis of Jesus' death in our place, I respond by repenting and accepting His death for me, and by receiving Jesus as my Lord. Repentance and receiving Jesus as Lord go together: receiving Him as Lord means I desire to obey Him, which is the same as turning from sin. Receiving Jesus as Lord is how God knows I have repented—it is one of the fruits of repentance. And Jesus becomes Lord when I decide in my heart to make Him Lord, willing to obey Him, and tell Him so in prayer.

The ABCs of Salvation

That brings us to the million-dollar question: Have you personally received Jesus as Lord? On your sheet are the ABCs of salvation. A—Admit that you are a sinner. B—Believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins. C—Confess your sins to God in prayer, turning to Him and accepting Jesus as your Savior. The simple sinner's prayer is: "I know I'm a sinner. I believe Jesus died in my place and rose from the dead. Please come into my heart, be my Lord and Savior. Help me turn from my sins and turn to you in faith. Save me from my sins."

When a person turns to Him in repentance and faith, He forgives the penalty of sin, brings the born-again experience, gives a new heart, and comes to dwell in them by His Spirit. Then He begins the work of sanctification—a big word for cleaning us up. One of the first things He does is change our desires, giving us new desires to seek Him and follow Him. Philippians 2:12-13—one of my favorites—says, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to desire and do what is pleasing to Him." You exert energy to follow Him, and He works in you to want and to do it.

That has been my experience for about 30 years since I trusted Jesus as a little kid. But it does not mean I am perfect—and you will never be perfect in this life. The same Paul who wrote Philippians 2 wrote in Philippians 3, "Not that I have already become perfect, but I press on." We continue to pursue God, knowing He is working in us.

Questions and Answers

On the bronze serpent as a foreshadowing: Every illustration breaks down somewhere, but Numbers 21 is a foreshadowing of Jesus. First Corinthians 10 says the things that happened to Israel were examples written for our teaching, and Galatians says the law was our schoolmaster to point us to Jesus. Stories like the bronze serpent are like a huge sign pointing to Christ.

On why God chose a serpent: Bronze symbolized judgment, and the serpent symbolized sin and Satan, so the bronze serpent pictures judgment upon sin. Second Corinthians 5 says Jesus, "who knew no sin, became sin for us." Just as sin was judged in that serpent, sin was judged in Christ—and those who look to Him are saved.

On still struggling with sin after repentance: Before God dwells in you, you have no hatred of sin. But when His Spirit comes, He gives you a strong dislike of anything that offends Him. This is the struggle Paul describes in Romans 7—"the good I want to do, I don't do." Paul cries, "O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me?" and immediately answers, "I thank God—Jesus Christ." "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus," and God continues His work of transformation as we seek and follow Him.

On 1 John, "anyone born of God does not sin": We read a Bible translated from Greek, an inflected language with tenses that don't always carry over into English. The verb tense there speaks of continually practicing sin. A person born of God cannot continue habitually in sin without conviction. A sinning Christian is the most miserable person on earth, because the Spirit convicts. The verse means a believer will not habitually, comfortably walk in sin.

On the believer's responsibility: Repentance is a change of mind that brings a change of heart—you begin to see things as God sees them, to love what He loves and hate what He hates. We are now in sanctification, being set apart for God's work. Where God's working ends and man's begins, we cannot perfectly answer—"work out your own salvation, for it is God who works in you." Think of Jesus telling the man with the withered hand to stretch it out, or the lame man to take up his bed and walk. Who was working—God or the man? Both. By faith they obeyed, and the power was there.

On resources for those who doubt the Bible: This is apologetics—Course Three, which we won't have this year. Two good starting books are The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel and Evidence That Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell. The manuscript evidence for the Bible is overwhelming: fewer than 20 ancient copies of Homer's Iliad exist, yet we hold it historical, while there are over 25,000 manuscript copies of New Testament documents. The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in 1947, are the biggest archaeological find in history. When someone says the Bible isn't true, first ask, "Have you ever read it?" No one yet has answered yes.

On baptism: We practice believer's baptism—we are not saved by baptism. We baptize for three reasons: obedience to Jesus (Matthew 28), identification with Jesus (who was baptized in Matthew 3), and association with His death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6—going under like death and burial, rising to walk in newness of life). In Acts 8, the Ethiopian asked Philip, "What prevents me from being baptized?" Philip answered, "If you believe, you may." So we baptize after a person believes. Baptism is important, but not required for salvation—the thief on the cross believed and was never baptized, yet Jesus said, "Today you will be with me in paradise."

On "Jesus-only" baptism: Some groups insist on baptism in Jesus' name alone, but Jesus said to baptize "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." I'll side with Jesus. At the end of the day, baptism is an issue of the heart and obedience; it is not essential for salvation.

On losing salvation: I do not believe a person can lose their salvation like they lose their keys. We are 100% secure in Jesus, so stay close to Him. The Bible has many cautions—and when you see a warning sign, the point is to stay away, not to see how close you can get. Regarding the Calvinist and Arminian debate: one side would say a person who falls away was never saved, the other that he lost his salvation—but both agree on what he should do: repent. If a loved one has walked away, don't comfort yourself that they once prayed a prayer; go share the gospel and call them back to Jesus. That's why I do classes like this—so you walk with Jesus.

Closing Prayer

Father, I pray that you would pour out your Spirit upon your church, this group, and that you would stir us and enable us to share these things with other people. As Paul told Timothy, the things we have learned, commit them to others who will be able to teach others also. Help us not to be fearful of the questions people ask, but to point back to the Bible. We thank you that you loved us so much that you gave your Son, that if we believe in Him we would not perish but have everlasting life. And I pray that your transforming power would be at work in each of us, making us more like you. In Jesus' name, amen.