You Must Be Born Again

Jesus answered..."Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'" -John 3:5,7

Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless on is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." -John 3:3 (esv)

Piper begins with the first demand of Jesus, and certainly the most important one in relation to the state of our soul. It is Piper's first focus, and it is the first teaching of Jesus found in the Gospel of John, when speaking with the Pharisee Nicodemus. Obviously, if this is an important one it would be prudent of us to fully understand it. Note: Most do not. Often Regeneration (as it is also referred to ) is just blurred into the word salvation, and most confuse regeneration with justification, they are connected but separate.

Jesus gives this demand to Nicodemus and his response is, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" (John 3:4) Which Jesus then asks, "Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?" (John 3:10) Why?

Piper's first subheading in the chapter is "A New Spirit I Will Put Within You", wherein he describes why it is that Nicodemus should know its meaning. Being a Jewish leader he was well versed in the Hebrew scriptures (OT), and knew well that God had referred to this process before. Piper references Ezekiel 36:25-27:

"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 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 a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." (kjv, I have highlighted some actions of God, because I will make a point about that later. Just know God causes these actions and responses)

Which Piper compares to John 3:5, which states, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."

"God promises cleansing from sin and the gift of a new human spirit by the presence of His own divine Spirit" (Piper, pg. 38). Jesus thinks the link should be clear, but it isn't for Nicodemus, so Jesus describes further, "That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6).

To understand the new birth rightly we must first understand our condition before God worked His spirit within us. Piper titles the subtitle, "The Dead Cannot See." We are by nature flesh, born of flesh, and by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3). "We are not born spiritually alive with a heart that loves God. We are born spiritually dead" (Piper, pg. 38). We must understand that we are indeed spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1), I think this John Calvin quote makes a good case for depravity:

"By the phrase born again is expressed not the correction of one part, but the renovation of the whole nature. Hence it follows, that there is nothing in us that is not sinful; for if reformation is necessary in the whole and in each part, corruption must have been spread throughout" (Calvin Commentaries on John 1-11).

Lastly to be understood is who it is that works this new birth within us. Above I highlighted the actions that God takes in the Spirit being placed in us. Jesus says it like this in John 3:8, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not now where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit" (The wind is the same as the Spirit).

"We do not cause ourselves to be born again. The Spirit does that. And the Spirit is free and blows in ways we do not comprehend. We must be born again. But this is a gift of God" (Piper, pg. 39).

I think Piper closes out the subject better than I ever could:

"Look away from yourself. Seek from God what He alone can do for you. Moral improvement of the old you is not what you need. New life is what the whole world needs. It is radical and supernatural. It is outside our control. The dead do not give themselves new life. We must be born again--'not...of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God' (John 1:13). That is what Jesus demands from the world" (Piper, pg. 39).

Citation:
Piper, John. "What Jesus Demands from the World" Crossway Books Copyright © 2006. DG. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Il 60187, www.crossway.com.
ESV Bible
Calvin, John. "Calvin Commentaries on the Whole Bible," Baker Books. 2002.