Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be born again: We must be born of the Spirit and not set into the mold of the world

John 3:1-8

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

• A governor over the people comes to Jesus.
• The Kingdom of God will be seen by being born again.
• A natural person does not understand the realm of the Spirit.
• The human spirit must be born again by the Spirit of Christ.
• The flesh is flesh, and the Spirit is Spirit.
• The Spirit is not subjected to the ways of the world.

A governor over the people comes to Jesus. “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.” John 3:1 This scripture portion begins by describing a man who was the ruler over a nation, the Jewish nation. He was a very important person who was influential in shaping the minds and hearts of the people. In that respect, he would be like any ruler over a nation of people, and especially like the thing in this world which directly forms what people think, feel, do, and speak.

“This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” John 3:2

There is a big difference between those who look at external signs to see God and those who see God through the “scarlet cord” which the Spirit reveals. The “scarlet cord” is all about Jesus Christ, who God sent to this world to make atonement for sin. The disciples of Jesus saw the “scarlet cord” and believed that He was the Messiah. They walked with Jesus in broad daylight, sharing the testimony of Jesus, and did not hide in the cover of night to declare that Jesus is the Son of God who came to bring the forgiveness of sin.

Today, this world has another version of God which is all about physical and external signs. They associate their god with the thing which has power over physiology and is able to do physical miracles and forms what they think, feel, do, and speak. It enables the image of the beast to speak and live through a person, and as it lives and speaks through people, they are blind, deaf, and mute to the Spirit. They are conformed to their place in life, their mark in life, as they are groomed to the mark of the beast. It sets itself up as God within us, the temple of God, as people in every city around the world follow it for its power in this world.

The “he” in the verses below is the beast, which is behind the thing which has power over physiology to form what people think, feel, do, and speak. It enables the image of the beast to live and speak through people.

…he opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. 

2 Thessalonians 2:4 nd also Revelation 13:3

“Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3

The only way which anyone will ever see the Kingdom of God is by being born again within the spirit. The thing which forms what we think, feel, do, and speak will never allow anyone to see the Kingdom of God because it does not allow the Spirit to live within a person. It intends to harden the human spirit to build a wall against the Spirit of Christ. It denies the existence of the Divine God, discards the need for Jesus Christ, and blasphemes the Holy Spirit. As followers of Christ, we want the image of Christ to live in us through the born-again experience. We are born again as the human spirit grasps to the Spirit of Christ. We see the Kingdom of God within us, and that is our foresight of the eternal Kingdom of God to come. We believe in God, acknowledge the need for the remission of sin through the Lord Jesus, and we embrace the Holy Spirit. We are born again by an eternal seed which gives eternal life,

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because

“All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
But the word of the Lord endures forever.”

Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

1 Peter 1:22-25

A natural person does not understand the realm of the Spirit. “Nicodemus said to Him, “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

Jesus was accused of having a demon and not being a rational person and was definitely not understood by the Pharisees. They made many accusations against Him, such as saying He spoke blasphemy and that He was not living by the “right” interpretation of the Old Testament. So, when Nicodemus (a prestigious Pharisee) asked Jesus if a grown person had to re-enter the mother’s womb to be born again, you can imagine the sarcasm, criticism, ridicule, and doubt in his voice. The attitude of Nicodemus could be considered a form of “gaslighting,” demeaning, or belittling.

Jesus flat-out told Nicodemus that he was an unbeliever and ignorant to the Spirit of God, “Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.” John 3:10-11

When a person’s mind is focused on the natural realm of the human being, they will never be able to understand the spiritual realm. The teachings of Christ are detested in this world today and Christianity has been cut-off. To believe in God through Jesus Christ is all about living more for the Spirit and less for the flesh. However, the thing which forms what a person thinks, feels, does, and speak is not about the Spirit at all, but is all about human physiology and focusing on human rationale over the Divine God. It causes people to serve the creature human being and to discard the Creator God.

Today, humanism is the clothing worn by those who govern and live by the thing which forms thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and speech. It does not comprehend anything beyond human rationale, Humanism “…is an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems.”

The thing which has power over physiology to form thoughts and feelings enables the image of the beast to live and speak through people. As it lives and speaks through people, it is obvious they are filled with focusing on human dignity, respect, and esteem while despising the Spirit and the need for God and His Son Jesus Christ. By what they say and do, they are conformed to their place in life within the “democratic” society. They are conformed to their mark in life as they are groomed to the mark of the beast.

As Jesus sanely stated, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3

…the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:14

The human spirit must be born again by the Spirit of Christ. “Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” John 3:5

Being born of water refers to the birth of the human being and being born of the Spirit refers to coming to God through Jesus Christ. The human spirit must be born again by the Spirit of Christ through the remission of sin. That is the only way to enter the Kingdom of God

The thing which has power over physiology has no need for the human spirit nor for the Spirit of Christ. There is no way for them to enter the Kingdom of God. It expects people to solely rely on its ability to form what they feel, think, speak, and do. In the process, it hardens the human spirit by coming against human sentimentality and the Spirit of Christ. It expects people to allow the image of the beast to live and speak through them. Needless to say, it is hostile to Gospel of Christ and builds a wall between the human spirit and the Spirit of Christ. As it lives and speaks through people, they are conformed to their place in life, their mark in life is set in place. People are being groomed to the mark of the beast.

As stated in Revelation 12, today’s world is driving to extinction the births born of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. They are killing the born-again experience that comes by being born of water and the Spirit.

The flesh is flesh, and the Spirit is Spirit. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 3:6

Jesus spoke those words to Nicodemus, a very prestigious, pious, and self-righteous Pharisee. At one point, Jesus flat-out told him that he was an unbeliever and didn’t know the Spirit of God John 3:10-11. Now, Jesus is telling Nicodemus that he is living by the carnal flesh and not by the Spirit of God.

By Jesus telling a pious Pharisee he is living for the flesh, we know living for the flesh involves much more than sexual immorality, hate, argumentativeness, anger, murder, drunkenness, etc. Afterall, the Pharisees were very strict against engaging in those types of things. Outwardly and technically, they followed every letter of the Old Testament Law. They were so strict that they trampled all over the Spirit of God. They weren’t able to see the “scarlet cord” in the Old Testament pointing to Jesus Christ as the Messiah, and completely destroyed the belief of those who listened to their fleshly teachings.

There is nothing sufficient in the flesh that can make us right with God, but we are sufficient through the Spirit of Christ, as quoted below,

And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.2 Corinthians 3:4-6

Today, there is a thing in this world that is all about living by the carnal flesh, in the same way that the pious Pharisees lived by the carnal flesh. It gives a form of Godliness outwardly, but inwardly denies God, discards the need for Jesus Christ, and blasphemes the Holy Spirit. It has power over physiology, the human flesh, and is 100% for the flesh and 0% for the Spirit of Christ.

The thing which operates through the flesh of physiology is the same thing which gives people what to feel, think, do, and speak. It endows the flesh with every type of uncanny abilities. It endows with heightened intuition, uncanny knowledge, extraordinary skills, physical comforts, sensual pleasures, amazing physical abilities, authority, emotional responses, specific feelings, social approval etc. It leads people away from Jesus Christ as it enables the image of the beast to live and speak through people as it endows its followers with those fleshly benefits. As people live for the fleshly endowments, they are conformed to their place in life by what they say and do. They are conformed to their mark in life as they are groomed to the mark of the beast.

In any way, shape, or form, whatever is born of the flesh is flesh and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. We must be born again by the water and Spirit to see the Kingdom of God. The Spirit in us is our downpayment of eternal life in the new heaven and new earth.

The Spirit is not subjected to the ways of the world. “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:7-8

When I think of the freedom of the Spirit opposed to being tightly controlled, several images come to my mind. Mostly, that the Spirit gives a sense of individuality to a person, opposed to not having that individual identity. For example, in the days of Jesus, the Pharisees wanted every Jewish person to be identified according to their teachings. They wanted people’s mind and heart to be molded to their interpretation of everything. In contrast, Jesus Christ brought freedom in the Spirit. He brought a freedom to the people which they had never felt before. The Pharisees had no idea what the people would do next because they were no longer following the script given them to follow. To the Pharisees, the people were like the wind blowing and they never knew what the people would do next. The Pharisees lost control of enforcing the letter of the law to the Spirit of Christ.

Nowadays, every person is on the “same sheet of music” from city to city around the world. There is obviously no freedom in the Spirit in what they say, do, feel, or think. Everybody is under the tight control of the thing which gives them what to say, do, feel, and think. To break away from its influence is to break away from acceptance within their “democratic” society. They do not accept the freedom in the Spirit because that freedom causes people to be like the wind blowing in their orderly society.

The thing which forms feelings and thoughts enables the image of the beast to live and speak through people, which is nothing like being free in the Spirit at all. In fact, it blasphemes the Holy Spirit, denies God, and discards the need for Jesus Christ. As it lives and speaks through people, they are conformed to their orderly place in life by what they say and do. They are conformed to their mark in life as they are groomed to the mark of the beast.

As followers of the Spirit of Christ, we are like the wind blowing through the orderly and synchronized “democratic” society of today. While they seek to stop the spiritual winds from blowing, we express our belief in God, we acknowledge the need for the remission of sin through the Lord Jesus, and we embrace the Holy Spirit in what we feel, think, do, and say. We must be born again of the Spirit, and in today’s world we are described as an unharnessed wind, people who march to the beat of a different drummer, an unwanted sound in their “democracy,” and people who have no set course in life.

As Jesus says to us, “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.“

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1