Born Again - The New Birth

“Ye must be born again!” (John 3:7). Who? Everyone, in order to enter into the kingdom of God; in order to enter into the kingdom of God; in order to be saved. The old natural birth does not count; it must be a new spiritual birth. The Lord Jesus Christ says, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). What did He mean? We search the Bible and find that water is the symbol for the Word of God (“born of water”) here has nothing to do with water baptism, as baptism speaks of death, not birth, so man must be born again of the Holy Spirit, using the Word of God. The Lord makes it very clear that there is a great distinction between the flesh and the Spirit when he says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6)’ flesh remains flesh to the very end.
The Lord explains that there are mysteries in nature which we cannot understand: “The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8, R.S. V.). You cannot see the wind, but you recognize its power; you cannot see the Holy Spirit, but you recognize His power. He is invisible, but He makes His presence felt in a mighty way as He convicts and regenerates sinful men. He changes men completely; you recognize the power, although you do not see it actually working; you see a vain, worldly woman suddenly become a quiet woman of prayer; you see a wicked, godless man changed into a saint; they become new creatures in Christ Jesus, with new desires, new hopes, new ambitions, and new hatreds too; for they hate the old things in which they used to live. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. You do not see the Spirit, but you see the power manifest in the life. In view of these truths we conclude that: (a) God requires the new birth in man because the natural man (I Cor. 2:14) cannot understand spiritual things; they are foolishness to him, no matter how educated, cultured or moral he may be; he entirely lacks the ability to “enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5), being absolutely unable to obey or please God (Rom. 8:7,8). (b) Turning over a new leaf is not the new birth, the new birth being a creation of the Holy Spirit (John 1:12,12;3:5; II Cor. 5:17; Eph.2:10; 4:24); not by producing “happy feelings” or ecstatic “experiences,” but solely by believing the Word of God; the Holy Spirit opens the Word to man’s spirit, as he hears and reads; he is made to understand his present relationship to God and his high destiny, learning that he who was once alien and outcast is now, through infinite grace, a child of God and joint heir with Christ (Rom. 8:16,17). (c) The requirement for the new birth is belief on Christ crucified and risen (John 1:12,12; 3:14,15; Gal 3:24), and it occurs at the instant of belief. (d) Through the new birth the believer lives in Christ, and Christ in the believer (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 2:10; 4:24; I Peter 1: 23-25; I John 5:10-12).
In summation, it is the Word of God received by faith and engrafted in the heart by the Holy Spirit that produces the new birth.