John 3:3 Study Bible: Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I tell you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God."

◄ John 3:3 ►

Jesus replied, "Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

Jesus replied
The phrase indicates a direct response from Jesus, emphasizing His authority and the importance of His words. In the Greek, "Jesus" is "Ἰησοῦς" (Iēsous), a name that means "Yahweh is salvation." This highlights the divine mission of Christ as the Savior. The word "replied" suggests a dialogue, indicating that Jesus is engaging personally and directly with Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Jewish ruling council, who sought understanding.

Truly, truly
In Greek, this is "ἀμὴν ἀμὴν" (amēn amēn), a double affirmation that underscores the certainty and importance of what follows. This phrase is unique to the Gospel of John and is used by Jesus to introduce statements of profound truth. It serves to capture the listener's attention, ensuring that the message is received with the gravity it deserves.

I tell you
This phrase is a personal address, indicating that Jesus is speaking directly to Nicodemus. The Greek "σοι λέγω" (soi legō) conveys a sense of personal communication and authority. Jesus is not merely sharing an opinion but is imparting divine truth, which demands a response from the listener.

no one can see
The Greek "οὐδεὶς δύναται ἰδεῖν" (oudeis dynatai idein) implies an absolute impossibility without divine intervention. "See" (ἰδεῖν) goes beyond physical sight to mean understanding or experiencing. This suggests that spiritual insight and participation in God's kingdom are beyond human capability without a transformative act.

the kingdom of God
This phrase refers to the reign and rule of God, both in the present spiritual sense and the future eschatological fulfillment. In the Jewish context, the kingdom of God was a central hope, often associated with the coming of the Messiah. Jesus redefines this expectation, emphasizing a spiritual rebirth as the means of entry.

unless he is born again
The Greek "ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν" (ean mē tis gennēthē anōthen) can be translated as "born from above" or "born again." The term "ἄνωθεν" (anōthen) carries a dual meaning, indicating both a second birth and a birth from a higher place, suggesting divine origin. This concept of rebirth is foundational to Christian theology, symbolizing a radical transformation and renewal of the individual through the Holy Spirit.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Jesus
The central figure in this passage, Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah. He is speaking to Nicodemus about spiritual rebirth.

2. Nicodemus
A Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council, Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night seeking understanding about His teachings.

3. Kingdom of God
A central theme in Jesus' teachings, representing God's sovereign rule and the realm of eternal life.

4. Jerusalem
The city where this conversation takes place, a significant location for Jewish religious life and Jesus' ministry.

5. Pharisees
A Jewish sect known for strict adherence to the Law. Nicodemus, as a Pharisee, represents those who are knowledgeable in the Scriptures but may lack spiritual insight.

Teaching Points

Understanding Spiritual Rebirth
Being "born again" is a spiritual transformation that involves a new beginning in one's relationship with God. It is not a physical rebirth but a renewal of the heart and spirit.

Necessity for Salvation
Jesus emphasizes that seeing the kingdom of God requires being born again, highlighting the necessity of spiritual rebirth for salvation.

Role of the Holy Spirit
The process of being born again is facilitated by the Holy Spirit, who regenerates and renews the believer.

Faith and Belief
Entering the kingdom of God requires faith in Jesus Christ and His redemptive work, which initiates the process of being born again.

Living as a New Creation
Being born again should result in a transformed life, characterized by new desires, attitudes, and actions that reflect Christ.

Bible Study Questions

1. What does it mean to be "born again," and how does this concept challenge or affirm your current understanding of salvation?

2. How does the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus illustrate the difference between religious knowledge and spiritual insight?

3. In what ways can you identify evidence of being "born again" in your own life or the lives of others?

4. How do the concepts of being a new creation in Christ and being born again relate to each other, and how can they be applied in daily living?

5. Reflect on a time when you experienced a significant spiritual transformation. How did this align with the idea of being born again, and what changes did it bring about in your life?

Connections to Other Scriptures

John 1:12-13
This passage speaks about becoming children of God through belief in Jesus, which aligns with the concept of being "born again."

1 Peter 1:23
Discusses being born again through the living and enduring word of God, emphasizing the spiritual nature of this rebirth.

2 Corinthians 5:17
Talks about becoming a new creation in Christ, which parallels the transformation implied in being born again.

Ezekiel 36:26-27
Prophecies about God giving a new heart and spirit, which connects to the idea of spiritual rebirth.

Sermons

Christianity the Kingdom of God	J.R. Thomson	John 3:3
Regeneration	Charles Haddon Spurgeon	John 3:3
The Necessity of Regeneration, Argued from the Immutable Constitution of God	Philip Doddridge	John 3:3
Jesus Humbling Vaunted Knowledge	D. Young	John 3:2, 3
Conversion a Change of Nature		John 3:3-5
Regeneration	W. Anderson, D. D.	John 3:3-5
Regeneration	J. Dyke.	John 3:3-5
Regeneration	H. Bushnell, D. D.	John 3:3-5
Regeneration	R. Kemp.	John 3:3-5
Regeneration	W. Deering.	John 3:3-5
Regeneration a Great Change		John 3:3-5
Regeneration Defined	J. Wesley.	John 3:3-5
Regeneration More than Reformation	J. Beith, D. D.	John 3:3-5
Regeneration Necessary to a Capacity for Heaven	B. W. Noel, M. A.	John 3:3-5
Regeneration Necessary to Admission into Heaven	B. W. Noel, M. A.	John 3:3-5
Regeneration Preceded by Conviction	C. H. Spurgeon.	John 3:3-5
Regeneration, or the Second Birth	C. P. Masden, D. D.	John 3:3-5
Repentance Before Theology	H. W. Beecher.	John 3:3-5
The Birth of the New Man	Andrew Jukes.	John 3:3-5
The Great Change	J. Buchanan, D. D.	John 3:3-5
The Heart Must be Changed	John Owen.	John 3:3-5
The Heart Must be Changed	Ryland.	John 3:3-5
The Lesson by Night	A. Raleigh, D. D.	John 3:3-5
The Means of Becoming Regenerate	B. W. Noel, M. A.	John 3:3-5
The Necessity of Regeneration	Mark Guy Pearse.	John 3:3-5
The Need of Regeneration	Dr. Cumming.	John 3:3-5
The Need of Sinners is to be Born Again	C. H. Spurgeon.	John 3:3-5
The Needful Change Implied in Regeneration	B. W. Noel, M. A.	John 3:3-5
The New Birth	S. A. Tipple.	John 3:3-5
The New Birth	H. W. Beecher.	John 3:3-5
The Physical Effects of Regeneration	W. Anderson, D. D.	John 3:3-5
The Regenerate Endowed with a Meetness for Heaven and a T	B. W. Noel, M. A.	John 3:3-5
The Terms of Regeneration	J. Buchanan, D. D.	John 3:3-5

People

Jesus, John, Nicodemus

Places

Aenon, Jerusalem, Jordan River, Judea, Salim

Topics

Able, Anew, Birth, Born, Can't, Certainly, Declared, Except, Kingdom, Reign, Solemn, Truly, Truth, Unless, Verily

Dictionary of Bible Themes

John 3:3

     1461   truth, nature of
     2377   kingdom of God, entry into
     4010   creation, renewal
     4018   life, spiritual
     5135   blindness, spiritual
     5655   birth
     6696   necessity
     6728   regeneration
     9313   resurrection, spiritual

John 3:1-8

1080 God, living

John 3:1-16

6698 newness

John 3:2-3

2363 Christ, preaching and teaching

John 3:3-4

8319 perception, spiritual

John 3:3-6

6627 conversion, nature of

John 3:3-7

6511 salvation

John 3:3-8

5724 offspring

John 3:3-10

1445 revelation, responses

Library

Notes on the Third Century
Page 161. Line 1. He must be born again, &c. This is a compound citation from John iii. 3, and Mark x. 15, in the order named. Page 182. Line 17. For all things should work together, &c. See Romans viii. 28. Page 184. Lines 10-11. Being Satan is able, &c. 2 Corinthians xi. 14. Page 184. Last line. Like a sparrow, &c. Psalm cii. Page 187. Line 1. Mechanisms. This word is, in the original MS., mechanicismes.' Page 187. Line 7. Like the King's daughter, &c. Psalm xlv. 14. Page 188. Med. 39. The best …
Thomas Traherne—Centuries of Meditations

September 14 Evening
Ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son.--I COR. 1:9. He received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.--Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Be ye . . . followers of God, as dear children.--If children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. The brightness of his glory, and the express image of his …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

February 28 Morning
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.--JOHN 3:16. God . . . hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 31 Evening
What communion hath light with darkness?--II COR. 6:14. Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.--Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Darkness hath blinded his eyes.--Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.--Love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 26 Evening
The Lord Jesus Christ . . . shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.--PHI. 3:20,21. Upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. This was the appearance of the …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

April 8 Evening
They shall see his face.--REV. 22:4. I beseech thee shew me thy glory. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.--No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.--I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh. I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

April 29 Evening
That blessed hope, . . . the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.--TIT. 2:13. Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil: whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus.--Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things.--When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe. The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

November 18 Evening
I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it; and, behold, the half was not told me.--I KGS. 10:7. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.--We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. My speech and my preaching was . . . in demonstration of the …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

April 2 Morning
If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only.--I SAM. 7:3. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.--Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.--Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. Thou shalt worship no other …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 3 Evening
Perfecting holiness in the fear of God.--II COR. 7:1. Dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.--Teaching us that denying ungodliness and wordly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.--Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.--Not as though …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 11 Evening
Behold, I make all things new.--REV. 21:5. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.--If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.--Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump.--The new man, which after God is created in righteousness …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 19 Morning
Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.--HEB. 12:14. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.--There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth.--There is no spot in thee. Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.--As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 16 Morning
It pleased the Father, that in him should all fulness dwell.--COL. 1:19. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.--God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.--Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

September 3 Morning
Neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.--EXO. 13:7. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.--Abhor that which is evil.--Abstain from all appearance of evil.--Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

December 14 Evening
By nature the children of wrath, even as others.--EPH. 2:3. We ourselves also were sometime foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.--Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. Job answered the Lord, and said, Behold, I am vile: what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.--The Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 14 Evening
[The woman's seed] shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.--GEN. 3:15. His visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.--He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. This is your hour, and the power of darkness.--Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above. The Son of God was manifested, that he might …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

July 3 Morning
If children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.--ROM. 8:17. If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.--Thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.--Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. Father, I will that …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

April 20 Morning
There shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand.--DEUT. 13:17. Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.--Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.--Hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Beloved, now are we the sons of God . . . And it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him: for we shall see him …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 21 Evening
I sought him, but I could not find him: I called him, but he gave me no answer.--SONG 5:6. O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies! and the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, for they have even taken of the accursed thing . . . and they have put it even among their own stuff. Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

The Brazen Serpent
'Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.'--JOHN iii. 14. This is the second of the instances in this Gospel in which our Lord lays His hand upon an institution or incident of the Old Testament, as shadowing forth some aspect of His work. In the first of these instances, under the image of the ladder that Jacob saw, our Lord presented Himself as the sole medium of communication between heaven and earth; here He goes a step further into the heart of His work, and under the image, very eloquent …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ's Musts
'... Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.'--JOHN iii. 14. I have chosen this text for the sake of one word in it, that solemn 'must' which was so often on our Lord's lips. I have no purpose of dealing with the remainder of this clause, nor indeed with it at all, except as one instance of His use of the expression. But I have felt it might he interesting, and might set old truths in a brighter light, if we gather together the instances in which Christ speaks of the great necessity which dominated …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Lake and the River
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'--JOHN iii. 16. I venture to say that my text shows us a lake, a river, a pitcher, and a draught. 'God so loved the world'--that is the lake. A lake makes a river for itself--'God so loved the world that He gave His... Son.' But the river does not quench any one's thirst unless he has something to lift the water with: 'God so loved the world that He gave His... …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Teacher or Saviour?
'The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto Him, Rabbi, we know that Thou art a Teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except God be with him.'--JOHN iii. 2. The connection in which the Evangelist introduces the story of Nicodemus throws great light on the aspect under which we are to regard it. He has just been saying that upon our Lord's first visit to Jerusalem at the Passover there was a considerable amount of interest excited, and a kind of imperfect faith …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Wind and Spirit
'The wind bloweth where it listeth, and them hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.'--JOHN iii. 8. Perhaps a gust of night wind swept round the chamber where Nicodemus sat listening to Jesus, and gave occasion for this condensed parable. But there is occasion sufficient for it in the word 'Spirit,' which, both in the language in which our Lord addressed the ruler of the Sanhedrim, and in that which John employed …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

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