Nicodemus came to the Lord Jesus at night and acknowledged the Lord as a “teacher from God” (Jn. 3:2). The Lord answers him very abruptly, that except any one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus did not need more instruction, but he needed a whole new start. Nicodemus was a ruler and a teacher of the Jews. Yet he did not understand the Lord’s words. The natural man, even the religious man, does not receive the things of the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:14).

The Lord patiently instructs him that He is not speaking of a “rebirth” but of a “new birth.” He was not speaking of another natural birth, but of a spiritual birth. In verse 5 the Lord specifies the agents used in being born again: the Spirit of God and the Word of God.

By our natural birth, we inherited a nature that is corrupt and that had its origin in fallen Adam. By new birth, we receive a new nature that is clean and that has its origin in God Himself. Peter tells us that we are “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4), not that we become divine, but we receive the nature of God Himself that is without sin, the nature displayed in Christ Himself as a holy Man here.

In the animal creation, a dog has a dog nature, and a pig has a pig nature. They are very distinct and each has its own character and works. So the Lord teaches here. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. The flesh nature within us has its “works” (Gal. 5:19–21). The spirit nature within us has its work (vv. 22–23), which yields the features of Christ.

May we rejoice as recipients of this sovereign work of God!