What Is Born Again in the Bible
John 3:one-10
Now at that place was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by dark and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that y'all are a instructor come from God, for no i tin practise these signs that you practice unless God is with him." iii Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to y'all, unless one is born once again he cannot see the kingdom of God." four Nicodemus said to him, "How can a human be born when he is sometime? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and exist born?" five Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you lot, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the mankind is flesh, and that which is built-in of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Practise non curiosity that I said to you, 'Y'all must exist born again.' 8 The air current blows where it wishes, and y'all hear its sound, but yous do non know where it comes from or where it goes. And so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." 9 Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" 10 Jesus answered him, "Are you the instructor of Israel and yet y'all do not understand these things?
I of the most difficult bug in Bible interpretation is to understand how the New Attestation uses the One-time. I have in front of me a massive commentary called Commentary on the New Testament Employ of the Old Testament edited by C.Thousand. Beale and D.A. Carson. It is a swell work which seeks to give answers virtually how New Attestation writers used the Sometime Attestation. Sometimes it is very difficult to make up one's mind how the Old Testament is beingness used in the New. When it comes to Christ's rebuke of Nicodemus in John 3, even the best of New Attestation scholars are often perplexed, wondering what Christ meant when he rebuked Nicodemus concerning his ignorance.
In the in a higher place passage, Christ is talking most the new birth. To make things as unproblematic every bit I can, Christ tells Nicodemus that no one can enter God'south kingdom unless he has been born again. This idea of being born once more tin can too mean "born from above." Nicodemus, though desirous to go against the grain of Jewish leadership and follow Christ, is confused by Christ's teaching. He takes him quite literally believing that Christ is saying that we must laissez passer through the birth canal twice. He responds with what seems to exist a valid question to Christ'south confusing and, seemingly, radical argument. "How can these things be?"
Christ does not miss a beat in lowing the hammer on Nicodemus' ignorance. "Are you the teacher of Israel and yous don't know these things?" In other words, Nicodemus was the theology professor of the 24-hour interval. He was a leader of the congregation of Israel. He was supposed to know these things! How could he pb without know this basic truth?
Concerning this John Calvin adds to the rebuke:
As Christ sees that he is spending his fourth dimension and pains to no purpose in teaching so proud a human, he begins to reprove him sharply. And certainly such persons will never make any progress, until the wicked confidence, with which they are puffed upwards, be removed. . . Simply still Nicodemus, with all his magisterial haughtiness, exposes himself to ridicule by more childish hesitation about the first principles. Such hesitation, certainly, is base of operations and shameful. For what religion accept we, what knowledge of God, what rule of living well, what hope of eternal life, if we do non believe that human is renewed past the Spirit of God? (Calvin's Commentaries: John 3:x).
Just how was Nicodemus supposed to know these things? Why does Christ come down and then hard on him? Was the new birth taught in the Old Testament? If and so, where?
These are expert questions. The offset affair nosotros may try to do is find some parallel with such pedagogy explicitly taught in the Erstwhile Testament. New Testament scholars take offered some possibilities:
Jeremiah 31:33
But this is the covenant that I will make with the firm of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law inside them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbour and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the to the lowest degree of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jer 31:33 ESV)
Ezekiel 11:nineteen
And I will give them ane eye, and a new spirit I volition put within them. I will remove the center of stone from their flesh and give them a center of flesh, 20 that they may walk in my statutes and go on my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I volition exist their God. (Eze 11:19 ESV)
If, indeed, these are the passages that Christ was speaking of then the process of being "built-in again/from above" would conduct the connotation of a "new outset" (Kostenberger, John, ECNT, 123). However, while I certainly see the redemptive theme present in both these passages, I don't see the radical idea of existence "birthed" once more being explicit enough to bring about Christ'southward rebuke.
Other passages proposed by scholars include Isa. 29:10, Deut. 30:6, Ps. 51: 6, and Ps. 51:x. I even heard a message from a prominent Former Testament professor who linked this text to Psalm 87:4-7, assertive that the new birth is explicitly alluded to there. However, I call up information technology is a fleck of a stretch to endeavour to find explicit reference to the new nascency in any i Old Testament passage. Nevertheless, I am not arguing against Jesus. Nicodemus should take known nearly the new birth. Nicodemus should not have been surprised. Equally the "instructor of Israel" his hope and pedagogy should have been grounded here.
So where exercise we detect the new birth in the Old Testament? I am glad you asked. While I don't believe that there is any one passage of Scripture we can point to, I exercise believe at that place is a theological theme throughout the entire Erstwhile Testament that necessitates Christ'southward new birth theology. Information technology goes all the way back to the fall. The offset time that expiry is mentioned in the Bible is in Gen. 2:17 where God warns Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge: "Just of the tree of the knowledge of expert and evil you shall not eat, for in the 24-hour interval that yous consume of information technology you lot shall surely dice." The consequence of eating the tree was decease. Only one chapter later on, Adam and Eve both ate from the tree, but they did non die. In fact, Adam lived 930 years! How is information technology that he died "the day" he ate of information technology?
Theologians accept wrestled with this question for some fourth dimension. It would seem that the best answer we can give is that death entered into the human status on that solar day in two ways: 1) Man was forced out of the Garden and no longer had admission to the tree of life (Gen. 3:22-23). In this sense, that mean solar day they were prevented from eternal life and therefore that day death began. two) Most importantly for our purpose hither, the solar day they ate of the tree of life they died spiritually. Permit me state the obvious: spiritual death is the opposite of spiritual life. Throughout the Scriptures humanity is shown to be in its natural condition spiritually dead. "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins," "But God . . . made us live together in Christ" (Eph. 2:4). Since the spiritual death of the offset human, Adam, every human always born has been withal-born spiritually. This is what theologians refer to as "imputed sin." Because of our connexion with the sin and decease of Adam, we as well take inherited sin and decease (Rom. 5:17-19).
Being born again is nothing less that a complete restoration of spiritual life. All of humanity was separated from God in Eden. Through the cross that separation was bridged. In Adam we have the imputation of sin and decease. Through Christ nosotros have the imputation of righteousness and life. We are either constitute death in Adam or live in Christ.
Nicodemus was rebuked not because there was a particular passage in the Old Testament that escaped his notice, merely because he was unaware of humanities spiritual condition since Gen. iii. Nicodemus should have known that people must be born over again in order to inherit eternal life and enter the Kingdom precisely considering he should have know that they were dead. The merely hope for a dead man is resurrection. The just hope for spiritually dead people is to exist born again or "from to a higher place."
While Christ's rebuke of Nicodemus was harsh, it is goose egg less than a rebuke for a failure to acknowledge the utter helpless condition that all of humanity faces outside of Christ. The new nascency was but as necessary for people in the Old Testament is it is for all people.
If I am right and Christ's rebuke of Nicodemus is due to his theological ignorance, this should serve equally a stern alarm for many of those out in that location who see our identification with Adam equally something that can be sacrificed. Imputed sin is the reason why we are expressionless. Our deadness is the reason why we need to be born again. The distressing thing is that I believe there are many prominent leaders in the church today who would say to Christ "How can these things exist?" due to their neglect of the reality of humanities nevertheless-born status.
Source: https://credohouse.org/blog/is-the-new-birth-in-the-old-testament-or-why-was-christ-so-hard-on-nicodemus-in-john-310
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