John 3:1-8

You Must Be Born Again

You Must Be Born From Above

You Must be Born of the Water

You Must be Born of the Spirit

You cannot see the Kingdom of God

Jesus to Nicodemus about being Born Again

A Detailed Verse by Verse Commentary

Ministry of the Holy Spirit

Jesus and Nicodemus

John 3:1-8

John 3:1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 3:2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him” (John 3:1-2) NIV

After Jesus described to Nicodemus the necessity of being “born again” of the “water” and the “Spirit”. Nicodemus asked him, “How can this be?” In answer Jesus gave to this high official a mild reproof. He said, “You are Israel’s teacher,” Jesus continued, “and do you not understand these things?” (John 3:9-10).

So, we ask, what was known from the Old Testament Scriptures, of the “New Birth” and to be “Born of the water and the Spirit” as Jesus described to Nicodemus (John 3:3-8)?

1st OT Witness to being Born Again, of the Spirit.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation

And uphold me by Your generous Spirit”

Ps 51:10-12 NKJV

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me”

Ps 51:12 NIV

David’s prayer for renew, to be rebuilt anew, by the Holy Spirit has the idea of starting fresh all over again.

2nd OT Witness to being Born Again, of the Spirit

All creatures look to you

to give them their food at the proper time.

When you give it to them,

they gather it up;

when you open your hand,

they are satisfied with good things.

When you hide your face,

they are terrified;

when you take away their breath,

they die and return to the dust.

When you send your Spirit,

they are created,

and you renew the face of the ground.

Ps 104:27-30 NIV

The symbol of death is taking “away their breath,” and being buried in the ground as “dust.” Then God send his Spirit and created them anew. Next follows a changed life, after coming from the dust of the ground, and by the Spirit renewed. Then they live a new life—Born Again—life of praise and song as they now live to please God. This is a good illustration of being born again. From a life of sin, renewed to a life of praise, wanting to please God.

I will sing to the Lord all my life;

I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

May my meditation be pleasing to him,

as I rejoice in the Lord.

Ps 104:33-34 NIV

Nature gives us a glimpse of the New Birth. Israel had New Moon celebrations (Num 10:10). There were the waning, half-moon, new moon, and full moon. In the moon there was a monthly rebirth.

John 3:3 To a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus: “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are Born Again [from above]

3:3 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. NKJV

3:3 Jesus replied, "I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God." NET

“No one can see the kingdom of God” (3:3) and “No one can enter the kingdom of God.” (3:5) NIV

“He cannot see the kingdom of God” (3:3) and “He cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (3:5) NKJV

Brief Introduction

Jesus says that only the Born Again can see God’s kingdom and what a glorious kingdom it will be, for “the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt 13:43). Seeing means to perceive, to experience and embrace God’s coming kingdom, as one’s heart’s desire. In the New Birth “the eyes of your heart are enlightened” (Eph 1:18) and we become “alive” in Christ (Eph 2:5).

We will always need more understanding about the Ministry of the Spirit

Teaching about the Spirit we will always be growing in understanding, and we will be in constant discovery. We don’t think it is possible to write, to preach, to teach about the Spirit and conclude that we have a complete understanding. As the Spirit comes from the Father God, it carries mysteries that will leave you always in further need to understand. We feel this study of the Spirit will always be inadequate, always be needed to be re-written, to further explain or to correct a misunderstanding in the study of the Spirit, who has the mind of God as Paul says: “no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Cor 2:11).

A Universal – All time —Testing Truth

Very truly—Most assuredly, I tell you a solemn truth. No one can see the Kingdom of God without, unless you are born again. This is the first doctrine taught by Jesus in the Book of John, coming right after the Wedding of “Cana of Galilee” (John 2:1). It is a universal and global testing truth. All Christians of varies faiths throughout the Christian era, till the return of Christ, this is an absolute.

Is it possible to know about the Bible and not be born again? Yes, this with what Jesus telling Nicodemus, an esteemed teacher in the temple. Without being born again, no amount of Biblical knowledge, education, prophetic interpretation or keeping of the Law, will gain for them a welcome into the kingdom of heaven.

Born From Above, Not On Earth, but Coming From God

Born Again: The Greek word is AH-no-then, which means not only again but also “from above.” This brings out the idea of source and origin of our “new birth” as from heaven. It does not come from our human will power or our power of choice or from something that we have done to earn it. Instead, it comes to us by God’s power and God’s will, on account of faith that He gave to us.

“To all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12, 13).

The expression “Born of God” is used only in the first letter of John, seven times and once “born of Him”. It carries the same meaning as Born Again, pointing out that it is made possible by God the Father.

The Spirit Always Comes from Above

When Jesus was baptized John the Baptist said, “At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him” (Matt 3:16; Lk 3:22).

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting” (Act 1:1,2). They received the Spirit because they had been present with Jesus, listening to his words and teachings. They had already had an experience with the Spirit when Jesus “breathed on them and said, “’Receive the Holy Spirit’” (John 20:22).

The Spirit comes from heaven, not at our command, but at the will of God.

Influence of Spirit Filled Believers

Paul describes the influence of the Spirit: “This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words” (1 Cor 2:13). We are most likely to receive the Spirit when someone around us is Spirit filled. Meaning they love the Lord Jesus Christ, with humility, with joy and love. Likewise, we will be influenced by the Spirit when someone teaching us is led by the Spirit.

The Spirit Comes to us in Unexpected Ways and Places

We can receive the Spirit in the most unexpected ways. Places where you did not plan for this to happen. You could be all alone. You could be almost anywhere.

Most often, when we receive the Spirit, it is an unforgettable encounter that is accompanied by prayers, crying and tears. With confession accompanied with much love and praise for God. With some it starts when they are young, something happens that is edged in their minds giving them an awareness, an “anointing” (1 John 2:20), that God loves them and they love God.

All the above is true, yet the Spirit must be renewed, refreshed by prayer, learning how the Spirit speaks to them, grounding themselves in Scriptures, especially the New Testament. Little Scriptures will lead to a hemorrhage of the Spirit in their lives. Our advice is don’t substitute religious books, in the place of verse-by-verse Scripture study, always accompanied by much and more prayer. The Spirit is the true expositor of the Word.

Repeat Paul prayer; “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better” (Eph 1:17).

Those Born Again are Given a New Life

Born Again, Born from Above: Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus was saying. He thought Jesus was saying something impossible. He asked, how could one “enter a second time into their mother’s womb” (John 3:5), since to Nicodemus, Jesus was not making any sense.

Jesus was not talking about a rebirth through our mothers, instead He was talking about the presence of the Spirit that comes and “lives [dwells, abides] with you and will be in you” (John 14:17).

Paul reminded the early church members, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor 11:16).

This is from inside a believer, a new presence into our lives. When the “apostles” were “arrested” and thrown into “public jail,” at night “an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail.” He told them to go to a public place, “stand in the temple courts” when many people are present, “tell the people all about this new life” (Acts 5:18-20). “Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Rom 6:4).

What blessings does the Spirit bring into our new life?

“Spirit of truth” (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13), convicting us of the truth of the Gospel.
“Spirit of wisdom and revelation” (Eph 1:17), to know the ways of wisdom for your life.
“Spirit of grace” (Heb 10:29), making God’s grace known into our lives.
“Spirit of Christ” (Rom 8:9), bringing an awareness of Christ in our lives.
“Spirit of his Son into our hearts” (Gal 4:16), God giving us love from the presence of Jesus
“Spirit of God” (Rom 8:14), bringing to us the promise and assurances of our Father.
“Power of the Spirit of God” (Rom 15:19), giving us power from above for service and growth.
“Spirit of the living God” (2 Cor 3:3), giving to us a living presence, not from this world.
“Spirit of faith” (2 Cor 4:13), giving us warm, certain, unshakable faith.
“Spirit of glory and of God rests on you” (1 Pet 4:14), God gives us the Spirit from His personal glory.

When we first come to Christ, it is often an event that is unforgettable in our lives, many can remember the day or the moment, they came under the influence of the Spirit, giving them a life-giving changing experience, they have been “made alive in the Spirit” (1 Pet 3:18).

The New Birth Brings a New Set of Clothes

“Put off your old self [person]” and “put on the new self [person]” (Eph 4:24). We are to “take off your old self with its practices and put on the new self that is being renewed in knowledge and image of its creator” (Col 3:9,10). The idea of is that we are being renewed and made new or Born Again.

We are to be recreated into the image of our creator, this is a “new creation” (2 Cor 5:17), a “new life” (Rom 6:4). Before being born of the Spirit, we are like children of Adam and Eve. Now after being born of the Spirit, we become a distinctly “new creation”—"children of God” (John 1:12). This can only be done through “the gospel, by the power of God” (2 Tim 1:8). “So that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom 15:13). The power of God and the power of the Spirit are closely related; God’s power is sent to dwell in us through “His Spirit” (Rom 8:11).

Being “born of the Spirit” (John 3:8), we are recreated to become “God’s chosen people, holy and dearly love” (Col 3:12). We are to be “made new in the attitude of your minds” and to put on the new self [new person], created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:23,24).

The emphasis we need to understand is that the task of the Spirit is nothing less than re-creation. This is what it means to be Born Again.

The New Birth Brings a New Set of Clothes

The emphasis we need to understand is that the task of the Spirit is nothing less than re-creation. This is what it means to be Born Again.

Ten New Garments for Born Again

Through being Born of the Spirit, the Spirit of God Himself, we are able to put on new clothes with 10 new habits of “(1) compassion, (2) kindness, (3) humility, (4) gentleness and (5) patience. (6) Bear with each other and (7) forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (8) And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (9) Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. (10) And be thankful” (Col 3:12-15).

The Born Again Will not Want to Practice Old Habits

Colossians list ten things we are to remove: “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs [your body] to your earthly nature: (1) sexual immorality, (2) impurity, (3) lust, (4) evil desires and (5) greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming, coming on those who are disobedient. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: (6) anger, (7) rage, (8) malice, (9) slander, and (10) filthy language from your lips” (Col 3:5-8).

Through being born of the Spirit, the Spirit of God Himself we are enabled to strip off the old garments we have inherited from Adam, our old habits. Paul says we are to “put [them] to death” (Col 3:5) and “rid yourself” (Col 3:8) of them. To “put to death” is an active verb. Think of it as present and future intensive. This is stronger than “Thou shalt not.” These are stubborn weaknesses of our inherited nature we are to put off, to be laid aside, to be remove from our lives, to be renounced, to be lifted up to God and taken away. It implies a deliberate action of discarding something that is inappropriate. Only through the ministry of the Spirit is this possible at all.

In Summary

In summary the New Birth, is the work of God through “His Spirit” (1 Cor 2:22), that changes the whole direction of our inner thoughts and desires. “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires” our condition before we were Born of the Spirit, “but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires” (Rom 8:5).

“If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here” (2 Cor 5:17). This is entrance into the kingdom of heaven on earth that carries a seal for the “day of redemption” (Eph 4:30). “In the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time” (Titus 1:2). This is way beyond, from eons of time, long ago. God planned to reveal His love to you through the Spirit. Imagine the excitement of God, when the time came, when He was able to do just what he promised, before time was counted, God promised to Himself he would do. To give you a “new birth into a living hope” (1 Pet 1:3).

There is great joy and bursting hope when you have been born again. Like that of a mother who experiences the birth of her first newborn child.

John 3:4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” 3:5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. NIV

3:4 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?” 3:5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. NKJV

“No one can see the kingdom of God” (3:3) and “No one can enter the kingdom of God” (3:5) NIV

“He cannot see the kingdom of God” (3:3) and “He cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (3:5) NKJV

Twice Repeated Lesson an Absolutely Essential Gospel Teaching

Jesus repeats the necessity of the New Birth for the second time for emphasis. This makes the rebirth experience—absolutely essential. All Bible teachers should dwell on this theme frequently and often. What Jesus repeats twice carries special significance. All church congregations should be very familiar with these truths.

Yet every teacher should acknowledge that by study and scholarship they cannot understand the New Birth experience, unless it is given to them from above, it cannot ever be understood. What Jesus told the Jews “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world” (John 8:23), is the reason why they could not see Jesus as the Son of God, and the same reason applies to us until we are Born Again.

“The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God… no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received… is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us…The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit…But we have the mind of Christ [when Born Again]” (1 Cor 2:10-16).

We understand the New Birth only by experience. We can understand it only because it is given to us by the Spirit, making it plain and applying it in our lives. The Spirit does not leave us without a witness to his presence. Chiefly seen when there is more love for God in your heart and others in response; with increased humility, honest and “clear conscience toward God” (1 Pet 3:21), by an ever- widening deeper confession of sin.

Knowing Bible stories and history does not save, neither keeping commandments save us. Only by being Born Again of the Spirit are we brought into the family of God, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God” (Rom 8:14). More serious is the ideas that “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit” (1 Cor 2:14). Even the lesson Jesus is teaching us in John 3, can be only understood because the “eyes of your heart may be enlightened” (Eph 1:18).

Many are Taught By God these Truths

Once while visiting in a hospital, we were explaining to a frail senior woman who had suffered a minor stroke, the joy of the New Birth. She responded to me that she knew about being born again. She explained it in a way that we had never heard before. We intended to share something new with her, for she was a believer for many years. Yet she shared some understanding about the New Birth that we had failed to connect, even though we had spent hours studying and praying over these passages. She explained it in one short sentence, and we were stunned, with the clarity and depth of her understanding! She knew this for God had revealed it to her a long time ago. We have used her insight in the following discussion.

Born of the Water—Newness of Life

First: Water is illustrated by childbirth. If we are born again, we will show child-like trust and humility. We will want to be “poor in Spirit” (Matt 5:3). For we know that Jesus made child-like humility a testing truth: “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted,” another word for being born again, “and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 18:3 NKJV). Only the Spirit can do this for us.

Second: Water is illustrated by baptism: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4). This new life, new style of living, is something only the Spirit can do.

It was the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you” (Rom 8:11). As we die in symbol buried under the water of baptism, then come up out of water. This is an illustration of re-birth and receiving of the Spirit.

Born of Water and the Spirit

The water and Spirit, they go together. It is not just going through the motion of being baptized. It is baptism of and by the Spirit. Water is the symbol of what the Spirit does for us. It is the experience of being washed, having our stains and sins washed away from us, left in the water. Paul writes about this experience, “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor 6:11)

This is what makes all the difference, just physical baptism, without the Spirit, there is no new birth.

In the purest sense death and resurrection of Jesus is the very center of the gospel. Baptism is the outward ceremony that directs our minds to the death and resurrection of Jesus.

When we are under the water in baptism, in symbol we wish to “die(d) to sin” (Rom 6:2), that accompanies confession and repentance. We have confessed our sins, now we want them left in the grave forever. As Jesus took our sins upon him on the cross and paid the penalty for our transgression, then He carried them to the grave and left all our sins in the tomb, then rose to a new life.

“Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead” (Col 2:12). The expressions “raised” and “working of God” is a reference to the New Birth. It is God’s work in and for us, by His Spirit that we are raised from spiritual death and darkness “according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).

Paul describes water baptism, in symbol we are “baptized into Christ Jesus” and “baptized into his death” (Rom 6:3), so that afterwards we may be raised from death, with wages of sin on our head, while under the water in baptism, through the power and glory of God, “so that we my live a new life” (Rom 6:4). The wages of ours have been removed from us and place on our Savior.

“Surely he took up our pain

and bore our suffering,

yet we considered him punished by God,

stricken by him and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities.

The punishment that brought us peace was on him,

and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to our own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

Isa 53:4-6

In the Beginning—The Spirit of God was First on Scene

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit [ruwach] of God was hovering over the water” (Gen 1:1,2). The Hebrew word for Spirit ruwach means “Spirit, wind, breath.” The next used in Genesis the Spirit of God is called “my Spirit” (Gen 6:3). Paul calls the Spirit “the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph 4:30). The Spirit and God the Father are very close, so close “because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God” (Rom 8:27). The Spirit always knows the will of God and seeks to lead us into God’s will for us.

Before creation started, the Spirit of God was present. In the NT we understand the Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit. Paul writing to the Roman believers assured them that they are “not in the realm of the flesh [fallen nature from Adam] but are in the realm of the Spirit [Born of the Spirit], if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you” (Rom 8:9). Paul further says, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God” (Rom 8:14). Jesus was “full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness” (Lk 4:1).

Born Again men and women, born of the Spirit, will know by experience, by prayer, by song what it means to be led into the will of God, for each day. This is our privilege. This knowledge of God’s love, God’s will and direction for our lives is from “the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:28).

Yes, it is a gift that we did not, have not ever done anything at all to deserve this privilege. This wise gift that was present at the creation of our world, is present with us and brings his abiding presence into us.

At the Creation of Man and Woman, the Spirit was Present

“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Gen 2:7). The Hebrew word for breathed is neshamah: meaning “Breath, spirit and soul”.Job describes the act of creation as “The Spirit [ruach] of God has made me; the breath [neshamah] of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4). David sees the Spirit as the Holy Spirit: “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit [ruach] from me.” (Ps 51:11).

Think for moment at the creation of man the work assigned by the Spirit of God. God takes the dust of earth and outlines man. He breathed into the dry dust face man, His Spirit. The Spirit instantly moves into this dry dust and gives heart, muscles, brain, blood, circulation, immune system, hands, and feet, all at once. Adam sits up and stands up and there is a living being.

The New Birth by the Spirit of God, is a Reenactment of Creation

By being Born Again by the Spirit God has started a brand-new creation on earth. Not in plants and animals, but inside the lives of those in Christ. So, as in the first creation when God created the world. “Darkness” (Gen 1:2) was before we are Born Again, and a new light, a new life starts after we are Born Again of the Spirit. We are given new reasons to live, new outlooks on the future, new power from the Spirit. This is realized as we “make it our goal to please him” (5:10). As we lean “to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength” (Mk 12:33).

All this change takes place by being re-born or “Born by the power of the Spirit” (Gal 4:29). We become, we possess, we have, we experience a “new life” (Acts 5:20). In short, we are God’s “new creation” (2 Cor 5:17). As Adam and Eve begin their life, with no past. So likewise, our past reckless life of dishonor with careless behavior is now past. We start a new day, every day. By the Spirit being breathed into us by God our only Father. For the Holy Spirit is “God’s Spirit” (1 Cor 3:16).

The Song by Emily Davenport, encapsulates the concept of being Born Again by the Breath of God, the Holy Spirit. It is by the new breath, from the Spirit’s presence, the breath of God, in our lungs, that we pour out our praise. And what a beautiful sound it is.

You give life

You are love

You bring light to the darkness

You give hope

You restore

Every heart that is broken

And great are You Lord

It’s Your breath in our lungs

So we pour out our praise

Written by Emily Davenport Oct 21, 2015

What are the Benefits of Being Re-born of the Spirit

When Adam was created, brought to life, by the breath or Spirit of God, he moved from one state of non-existence, ordinary dry dust that could easily fly away and disappear. Into becoming a living being, with heart, muscles, eyes, mind, conscience with perfect health. In a similar way, God sends His Spirit, the Holy Spirit into our lives so that we might “be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters” (Rom 8:29).

Everyone "Born of God" (1 John 3:9) is truly firstborn. Now what are the benefits of being God's firstborn?

We become God’s temple where God dwells by His Spirit (1 Cor 3:16)

We learn to pray in the Holy Spirit (Eph 6:18)

We are taught to walk in the Spirit (Gal 5:16)

The Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me” (John 16:26).

We are privileged to be guided by the Spirit (John 16:13)

We are personally taught by the Spirit (John 14:26)

The Spirit is to “abide or live” with us and to be “in” us (John 14:17)

We are to be strengthen in our inner being by the Spirit (Eph 3:17)

We are to keep in step with the Spirit (Gal 5:25)

We must not quench the Spirit’s fire (1 Thess 5:19)

True worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth (John 4:23)

We are to live by the Spirit (Gal 5:25)

When Spirit filled, we learn to “love in the Spirit” or love from the Spirit (Col 1:8)

We are to serve God in the Spirit (Phil 3:3)

We are sanctified by the work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ (1 Pet 1:2)

Praise be to the God and Father, in his great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ into an inheritance that can never perish (1 Pet 1:3)

We are to live according to God in the Spirit (1 Pet 4:6)

We are to be made alive in the Spirit (1 Pet 3:18).

We are to be circumcised of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code (Rom 2:29)

We are to have fellowship in the Spirit (Phil 2:1)

We are to be sealed with the Spirit, a sign of God’s ownership of us (2 Cor 1:21-22)

We are to receive the anointing of the Spirit (1 John 2:20,27)

We are to be born, given a new birth, by the power of the Spirit (Gal 4:29)

We are to be a dwelling where God lives by his Spirit…a holy temple to the Lord (Eph 2:21,22)

We are given access to the Father through the Spirit (Eph 2:18)

We are to praise God in the Spirit (1 Cor 14:16)

We are to serve God by his Spirit (Phil 3:3)

We are to sing songs from the Spirit singing to God (Col 3:16)

The Spirit God gives us is power, love and self-discipline. (2 Tim 1:7)

We are to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will,

with all the wisdom & understanding that the Spirit gives (Col 1:9)

This is who we know that He [God] lives in us: we know it by the Spirit He gave us.

(1 John 3:24)

“No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. This is how we know that we live in him [in His love]: He has given us His Spirit. (1 John 4:12,13)

New Earth at Creation Week—Compared to—New Birth from the Spirit of God

We belong to the line of Adam, from which all humanity has receive a fallen nature that does not know God or want to know His will. As Scriptures testify about us “There is no one righteous, not even one…there is no one who seeks God” (Rom 3:10,11). David confessed sins all pervasive character, Surely, I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Thus, David pleads with God “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow” (Ps 51:5,7).

Now, through faith in Jesus, God sends His Holy Spirit to dwell in us, with us, moving us, transferring us, out of the old line of Adam and setting us free into the new line of Christ. “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17). Co-heirs tells us that we are not just adopted on paper, but have been included with Christ, as family with “the Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation (Col 1:15).

This is very humbling and unbelievable that by faith, through the Spirit, we have destiny that we in no possible way, have any right to be and “heir of God.”

This is a description of “born of the Spirit.” One of the benefits of being Born of God is that you are set free. We “are justified freely by his grace” (Rom 3:24). “Through Christ Jesus the law [force/power] of the Spirit who gives life [New Birth] has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Rom 8:2). From the control of our fallen nature, some aspects all at once. Other habits of our old nature lose their controlling influence with prayer, faith, hope and submission to Scriptures. It is like a child’s strength increases from the first step into adulthood.

The process of being Born Again, is a reenactment of the creation account. Paul says that we are God’s “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Eph 2:10). Born of the Spirit believers become part of the “Kingdom of God” (John 3:3), becoming a new person where “we serve in the new way of the Spirit” (Rom 7:6), with “citizenship in heaven” (Phil 3:20). “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God” (2 Cor 5:17,18).

Just as Adam and Eve had nothing to do with their creation, being brought to life from the dust of the ground. This is the only way a believer can find a new life. This is not something they do; it is what God will do for them. It is through the hands of God, touching our lives, that we become “His workmanship.” We are “raised up with Christ and seated in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:6). Meaning that, new influences that come from the Spirit start to awaken us.

“He wakens me morning by morning,

wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.

The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears

I have not been rebellious,

I have not turned away.” (Isa 50:4,5)

As the results we begin to naturally love God, love Scriptures about God, love to pray, seek for places to pray for longer periods of time, our hearts are moved by spiritual music, and seek after spiritual things that we never did before. We love God more and know that we love Him. Now we have a desire to “do the will of God” (John 7:17) from within.

Every day we look to God for directions and wisdom to honor Him in everything we do. We are grieved to see others humiliated or harmed in any way. We pray about almost everything. We are thankful for everything and look for things to thank God for his undeserved blessings. Our recognition of evil becomes sharper. Our confessions of past sins are quickly related to God. We even tell God about the sins want we wanted to do, we were tempted to carry out, but did not and could not do, in prayer with thankfulness. Because we know that we have been “sprinkled with His Blood” (1 Pet 1:2), whereby there is forgiveness of sins, at the foot of the cross.

Adopted into a New Line of Christ, the Son of God

We are transferred from the line of Adam’s inheritance into a new line of Christ, the Son of God with his inheritance and power. We are adopted into the family line of God, through faith in Christ our Savior, and given the Holy Spirit from God to manifest our new value as we have become really truly, like Children of God.

We are “transformed into his [God’s] image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18). Just like Adam was made into the “image of God” (Gen 1:27), we are “conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom 8:29).

When we have experienced being “born of the Spirit” (John 3:6), we are picked up out of our old line we were born into—the old Adam of inherited traits, tendencies, weakness and proclivities to love oneself. We are moved into a new line of the Second Adam, Christ Jesus. His family heritage becomes, by the Spirit, our heritage, a new awareness enters into our conscience.

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned… But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man [Adam], how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man [Adam], death reigned through that one man [Adam], how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” (Rom 5:12,15-18)

God adopts us into a new line belonging to the Father God through faith we are moved into “in Christ” where we become “a new creation” (2 Cor 5:17). This only becomes a reality when we, by the blood of Christ have our sins washed away, this is what is meant when Jesus said we must be “born of the water” (John 3:5). Under the water we leave the old habits of our heritage and when rising out of the water we take on new habits.

The baptism ceremony cannot do this for us, it is just a symbol, only the Spirit can accomplish this great change in our lives. We have a new focus, a new ID, a new path we travel down in life.

Before we were re-created, we “worship(ed) the beast and its image” (Rev 14:9), the “beast, for it is the number of a man” (Rev 13:8). We worshiped other people, believed other authors, followed false prophets, accepted philosophies, sought after education as a means of enlightenment, loved the power of money, carried around endless sexual fantasies, lived for pleasure, keeping all things we own in life, just for ourselves. Those who worship the “Beast” have no understanding of the ministry of the Spirit, for they are focused on themselves.

Now that we are adopted into the family line of Christ, we are transformed by God’s Spirit. We have “put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:24).

Adoption Brings New Powers, not From Ourselves, but From the Spirit

Those who are adopted by God have new resources, new powers. Because “the law of the Spirit [authority] who gives life has set you free from the law [power] of sin and death” (Rom 8:2). Thus, through the Spirit’s authority, we are able to “put to death…whatever belongs to your earthly nature” (Col 3:5).

The expression “put to death” is an active verb. Think of it as present and future intensive. This is stronger than “Thou shalt not.” These are stubborn weaknesses of our inherited nature, so they don’t respond well to an order to not do something. They boil out from our inbred or cultivated family traits that are rebellious or indifferent to God’s will. They are careless in how they hurt others, putting them down in shameful ways. It is a fact that old habits will boil out of our inherited sinful natures, which love to sin. When tempted, when we have fallen into a trap where our old nature rises up to defend ourselves with anger. In prayer to God, with confession saying passionately, “Help us, O God of our salvation, For the glory of Your name; And deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins, For Your name’s sake!” (Ps 79:9).

God comes to our rescue through the Spirit. “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you” (Rom 8:11).

We don’t do this casually; we do it with a sense of awe and unworthiness. Therefore, all believers in heaven can say they have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev 7:14). Notice “made them white” meaning they have their former way of life, not just forgiven, but they have moved into a spiritual condition where they want to be like their Savior, “in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Tim 4:12), “with absolute purity” (1 Tim 5:2). This is the New Birth.

“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;

I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him,

And show him My salvation.”

Psalms 91:14-16

Never Ever Turn Back to Our Old Nature

If we turn “back to the weak and miserable [worthless] forces” of sexual pleasures, we can be “enslaved by them all over again” (Gal 3:9). The real and obvious danger is we can place ourselves back into the old line of Adam, with its lust of the flesh and the resultant separation of God. Sure, we believers do fall backwards, but less often, and for very short periods, as conviction of sin settles on us, and we turn to God for help. Because we are adopted by our New Father God. We have the greatest privilege and honor to carry the promises of God’s Son, “everyone who asks receives” (Matt 7:8) to our Father. What a privilege to be able to “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16).

After a fall into an old habit, a born-again believer will have no desire to dwell there, in that fleeting pleasure—at all. Because it makes us miserable, sad and brings darkness into our souls, an emptiness. We want to live a life like the Apostle John told his family of believers, “No one who is born of God [Born Again] will continue to sin, because God’s seed [His Spirit] remains in them; they cannot [willfully with determination] go on sinning, because they have been born of God” (1 John 3:9). Sure, believers make mistakes. They are not sinless and never will be, because it is not of themselves that they despise sin, but it is the Spirit inside them, without the guest of the Spirit of God, they would still be a vile sinner. The “seed” planted internally, that makes us crave “to please God” (1 Thess 4:1), to do good and “to please the Spirit” (Gal 6:8).

Even after a serious fall, we hate the sin we did, and it gives us pain, regret with tears not pleasure.

Have mercy upon me, O God,

According to Your lovingkindness;

According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,

Blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

And cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my transgressions,

And my sin is always before me.

Against You, You only, have I sinned,

And done this evil in Your sight—

That You may be found just when You speak,

And blameless when You judge.

Ps 51 NKJV

Since we who have “who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit” (Heb 6:4). We who “have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Pet 2:3), will “set our hearts on things above, were Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Col 3:1). We will want to do this, we will daily strive to this, not alone but moved along this path by the Holy Spirit, for “the Spirit helps us in our weakness” (Rom 8:26). The Spirit does not give us a list of rules, but instead gives us love for God and “we make it our goal to please him” (2 Cor 5:9) and “live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God” (Col 1:10).

To protect us: God Anoints and Seals us as His Treasure

“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Cor 1:21,22). To be sealed means ownership, which was the purpose of a seal in ancient times.

This is a very sobering thought, to think of ourselves as being owned by God. Because we believe in His Son Jesus Christ, God gives us the Holy Spirit, also called “His Spirit who lives in you” (Rom 8:11). This privileged of being “sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph 4:30), is the results of believing in “the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation” (Eph 1:13).

To receive the Spirit we don’t have to follow a favorite preacher or Gospel teacher. We don’t have to attend a particular meeting where we are promised to receive the Spirit. We are not called to speak in unknown languages anymore then raise the dead first. To receive the Spirit is what God wants to give you.

What are his terms, believe the message of truth the gospel. Confess your sins and focus on Christ, his life, teaching, and that of His Apostles. “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Lk 11:13). Ask God for His Spirit, to sanctify you. Know for sure, God wants to give you, His Spirit.

Teach me to do what pleases you,

because you are my God.

Let your kind [good] Spirit lead me,

so that I can walk in a safe place.

Your name is great, Lord,

so please keep my life safe.

You do what is right,

so bring me out of my troubles.

Ps 143:10,11 Easy English Bible

The Spirit Fights Our Flesh, or we Would be Adrift in Helplessness

Without being “Born of the Spirit.” Having the Spirit give us new life with a strong desire to please God, to do good and love others—we would be hopeless, helplessly adrift with constant spiritual failure. Our prayer would sound like this:

Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.

I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold.

I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me.

I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched.

My eyes fail, looking for my God.

Ps 69:1-3

After baptism by “the working of God” (Col 2:12), by “circumcision not performed by human hands” (2:11). God creates a buffer zone as if with a knife cutting away controlling habits. God makes a separation between our selfish pleasures and prideful desires, called the flesh, which would prevent us from yielding to the will of God. The Spirit brings not just a knowledge of right and wrong, but a new power that is able to resist old patterns of sinful desires. A new presence that frees our natural inclination to follow our flesh, to a new natural inclination to follow after our risen Christ by faith in love.

“So, I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want [your flesh wants]. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Rom 5:16-18). To not be under the law is for the Law to not find you guilty and thus you fall under its condemnation. Since we are to be, “sanctified by the Holy Spirit” (Rom 15:16).

The Spirit plants its “fruits” (Gal 5:18) in opposition to the works of the flesh. “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live” (Rom 8:13).

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 3:5 he [God Himself] saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal [daily regeneration] by the Holy Spirit, 3:6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior. 3:7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:4-7

Focus on the Resurrection to Bring the Spirit into our Lives

As we focus on the cross, we find forgiveness of sin. As we focus on the resurrection we receive the Spirit. “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you” (Rom 8:11). Resurrection, illustrated in coming out of the water of baptism, is where we find the Spirit, because it was the Holy Spirit, with God and His Son, which raised Jesus from his tomb.

The Holy Spirit in Pentecost came after the resurrection. The Apostle Peter shares the same context in his general letter to all believers “Praise be to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth [born of the Spirit] into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3,4).

John 3:6 [1st] Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the [2nd] Spirit gives birth to spirit. 3:7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ NIV

3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 3:7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ NKJV

Jesus teaches there is a distinction between physical birth and spiritual re-birth.

Being born a Jew or a Christian, attending Christian schools, knowing about the Bible, being a baptized member of the church, will not make one fit to see heaven. Why? Because there is a problem. Nobody can “see the kingdom of God, unless they are born again” (John 5:3), “born of the Spirit” (John 3:6). Natural human birth cannot qualify us to go to heaven. It all started with Adam where “sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way, death came to all people, because all sinned” (Rom 5:12).

We need to be born into a new family line, made possible the by the gift of the Holy Spirit, “if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you” (Rom 8:11).

Let’s reword the first part of this sentence: Flesh Give Birth To Flesh

Human life comes from human parents: which will include inbred tendences to sin and a hopeless death. Parents can only give their fallen likeness to their children, even if their parents are personally born of the Spirit.

Let’s reword the second part of this sentence: Spirit give birth to spirit

The Holy Spirit alone can make it possible for us to “participate in the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4). The Spirit is “God’s Spirit” (1 Cor 3:16); it brings an influence into our lives that is not from this world. Thus, the Holy Spirit alone can give us the Spirit. The Holy Spirit alone can influence our human spirit, “the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Rom 8:16).

The Spirit gives Birth to the spirit

This means that being Born Again is only accomplished through the work of the Spirit. For we are “saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth” (2 Thess 2:13). The presence of the “Spirit” is a “gift” from God (Acts 2:38). “And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ” (Rom 8:9), because the Spirit and Christ are inseparable.

It means being “led by the Spirit” (Rom 8:14) and walking “in the same footsteps by the same Spirit?” (2 Cor 12:18) and letting the Spirit “teach you all things and will remind you of everything” (John 14:26) Jesus has taught.

This is what it means to be Spirit born. Only the Holy Spirit can give us the genuine experience of being born of the Spirit. No human being can claim to offer or give you the Holy Spirit. Only the Spirit can give us the “Spirit who is from God” (1 Cor 2:12). “This is how we know that we live in Him [God] and He [God] in us: He has given us of his Spirit” (1 John 4:13).

It is only through the Holy Spirit’s divine influences in our lives that the prophecy, pointing the work of Jesus when He will come is fulfilled. “Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth” (Lk 3:5; Isa 40:3-5). The crooked thoughts and ideas that arise out of our hearts, by means of the Spirit, are made straight and loyal, according to the gospel. Our sinful nature, this side of heaven, often will become twisted in an assault on our thoughts coming from our sinfulness. Only the “Spirit of God” can push them away and renew our thoughts toward peace and love. The Spirit can make our crooked thoughts straight. The Spirit will give us a clear picture of our twisted thoughts and plans—so we can confess them, and the Spirit can correct them.

The flesh gives birth to flesh

All human efforts in self-improvement, commandment keeping, paying tithe or church attendance without the New Birth, will fail. If they are depending on these things to prepare them for heaven, without being Born of the Spirit, will not succeed.

When we are Born Again of the Spirit, “all things become new” (2 Cor 5:17 NKJV). The Spirit changes our heart’s desires and our enjoyment of true goodness. We treasure and hold very dear the love of God, after having tasted it, we know that the “Lord is good” (Ps 34:8; 100:5; 135:3; 145:9; Lam 3:25; 1 Peter 2:3).

Jesus says the Spirit will stay with us “forever” (John 14:16), there is no time we can safely be absent from the Spirit. We need a governor of our fallen flesh, “mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God” (Rom 8:7); “The mind governed by the flesh is death” (Rom 8:6). Thank God, through being born again, born of the Spirit, “the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace” (Rom 8:6). For only by “the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live” (Rom 8:13).

Now it is our privilege to ask the Father in the name of Jesus to send the Spirit to set our minds on what the Spirit wants for us. To place a space in our hearts where the Spirit can take control. Over time we will see the Spirit’s influence on our thoughts and behaviors. We will know, without a shadow of doubt, that the changes that have occurred in our lives, comes from God’s Spirit.

Be Careful Not to Grieve the Spirit

We must be careful “not to grieve the Holy Spirit” by “unwholesome talk” by “bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice” (Eph 4:29-31). We must be very careful in watching videos that have swearing and cursing of God. Voluntarily listening to this spiteful language, lustful behavior presented as normal. We tell you this will impact the Spirit dwelling inside you. This can grieve the Spirit, and in the process, you will lose the peace of God. Thankfully the Spirit will return as we pray: “Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me” (Ps 51:11).

When under assault with twisted thoughts, use the treasure of Spirit’s presence to guard your life, your eyes, and your ears. For “The Spirit” God has given to us is of “power, love and self-discipline” (2 Tim 1:7). This is just what is needed to defeat the enemy that lies within and without us. When we fail, the Spirit will bring us back again and again to teach us about our weaknesses and to make us strong in the Lord.

I love you, Lord; you are my strength.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;

my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.

He is my shield, the power that saves me,

and my place of safety.

I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,

and he saved me from my enemies.

Ps 18:1-3 NLT

The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;

He is their stronghold in time of trouble.

The Lord helps them and delivers them.

He delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

because they take refuge in Him.

Ps 37:39-40

John 3:8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

3:8 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.”

The wind…can’t tell where it comes from or where it’s going

Perhaps there was a quiet breeze blowing on Jesus as he was talking with Nicodemus. Jesus used this as an illustration to teach us lessons about the Spirit.

The wind has no boundaries; it is present globally. The wind stands for the wishes and actions of the Spirit that moves all over our wide world. In general terms the Spirit moves in stealth mode, in contrast to Judaism. Everything had a physical presence, the temple, altars and priesthood. Everything was calendar based on the seven feast days of the year. It was animal based, where a physical lamb or ox was presented for atonement.

Now there is a new kind of worship. As Jesus told the woman at the well, “true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks” (John 4:23). This worship is not sanctuary based, as in a specific location in Jerusalem, where all are mandated to attend, bringing their tithes and offerings.

The Spirit has an unseen presence moving on a global, yet individual scale. Changing us, teaching, reproving, judging and providing a place where God can be at “home” (John 14:23) in us. True worship is done with the Spirit’s presence and influence. This is a radical difference with Judaism, which is very visual, organized based worship, led only by male Levites.

The Spirit Moves on All, like a “wind”

It is personal, just as each feels the force of the wind, even if others are around us. It is beyond the intellect, past human reason. It cannot be controlled by any individuals or organizations. The Spirit does not come to our request or demand. When the Spirit comes, he comes on his own terms, like the wind.

We can’t see the Spirit coming to us or where it is moving next. The “fruits of the Spirit” (Gal 5:22) are placed in our hearts, where we want to be kind and patient. We find a new element inside us that we want to do good to others. We know God has “chosen” us and are “dearly love” children of God. Thus, we want to clothe ourselves with “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience…” (Col 3:12-15)

The Spirit will show how we can make a difference in the lives of others. We become aware of the love and grace of God on a personal level. But we can’t tell when this started, it just does happen.

The Spirit moves upon our desires, like the wind. The Spirit’s presence will give us a real sense that something is different in our feelings and our hearts desires giving us a God centered love, “because God is love” (1 John 4:8)

The Spirit has a “mind” (Rom 8:27)

The Spirit can give us instruction as when Paul and his team were “kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia” (Acts 16:6). The Spirit can be “grieved” (Eph 4:30) and “lied” to (Acts 5:3).

Yet we want to be very careful, we don’t go beyond what Scriptures say, in declaring definite absolute descriptions for the Spirit. The Spirit is called: “God’s Spirit;” (1 Cor 3:16); “Spirit who is from God” (1 Cor 2:12); “Spirit of our God;” (1 Cor 6:11) and “The Holy Spirit of God” (Acts 4:30). Since “no one has ever seen God” (John 1:18), neither can we see the Spirit that comes from God, as no one can see the wind. The Spirit brings us God’s wisdom into our lives. As Paul has prayed, “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives” (Col 1:9).

Since Jesus said, “God is Spirit” (John 4:24), then it can be said that God is not a person, created from dust, as was Adam and Eve. It follows to reason that the Holy Spirit, whose name is Spirit, may not be what we would consider a person, as Jesus was born as a person from his mother. But really, none of this is worth arguing over, there is much we don’t know or understand, and it would be wise to acknowledge it. It is far better to dwell on the ministry of the Spirit, being Born Again of the Spirit, as Jesus has taught us, then debating the nature of the Spirit.

The Spirit is unique, being able to live in millions of born-again believers all at the same time, although there are millions that are being influenced by the Spirit, yet there is just “one Spirit” (Eph 2:18; 4:4). The Spirit is without a physical presence, we cannot see the Spirit, as Jesus taught us “the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him” (John 14:17).

In some mysterious way, although we cannot see the Spirit, we come to know the Spirit will always lead us to God and his Son. A false Spirit or “a different spirit from the Spirit you received” (2 Cor 11:4), will wish believers to accept things not taught by God or his Son. They will try to keep the attention of those who listen to them, on themselves, their ideas, their experiences, not that of Christ. They “preach Christ out of selfish ambition” (Phil 1:17). Meaning everything is about themselves, leaving little room for the ministry of the Spirit.

The Wind Blows where it Pleases

The wind does what it wishes to do, so does the Spirit follow its own wishes. No one can tell the wind to change directions or stop blowing! In an open letter the disciples sent to the Christian Gentiles, they supported their advice, affirming that they had the Spirit’s approval, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 15:28).

The Spirit is independent of education or position of trust in the church or in the community. We cannot control the Spirits influences. We cannot command, demand the Spirit to come, it is not our call. We cannot give directions to the Spirit. We cannot make an image or build a building for the Spirit to be present. There are no ethnic or national boundaries of the Spirit. The Spirit moves across the borders’ unseen. Most often the Spirit is sweetly present in the humble man or woman that many pass by them without acknowledgment. The Spirit is not present in one that seeks to draw attention to themselves, to appear great in the eyes of others.

Even though we can’t see the wind, we can feel its effects, know that it is true and can’t be denied. The movement of the Spirit is something that can be known by personal experience, you will feel its presence. As the wind is real, so is the Spirit that moves on us, like the wind that effects our whole body, we are Born Again.

As in the longest prayer of Paul, he wanted God “out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being” so that we will become “rooted and established in love” (Eph 3:16,17). This is the work of the Spirit, to root our heart in love for God, for Christ and for those in fellowship with Christ.

Such was the experience on the Day of Pentecost. “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:1,2). It was the sound of the wind, not the wind velocity. The sound produced the presence of the Spirit, with a profound life changing effect on them, bringing them gifts of the Spirit. They enjoy “peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17). As Jesus said, “But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:17).

Today, after Pentecost the sound we hear of the Holy Spirit’s presence is praise and joy. “At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth…” (Lk 10:21).

Today we reap the benefits of the Sound of the Wind at Pentecost

The Spirit as a wind came at the coming of the Spirit in Pentecost, to give the new gifts needed to support the spread of the gospel. After Pentecost the sound of the Spirit is heard in changed lives. This is how we know the Spirit is moving in our lives, blowing on us, as has Jesus explained in John 14-16 about the nature and function and receiving of the Spirit, after Pentecost.

“Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5).
“And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:52)
“God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5).
“If by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live” (Rom 8:13)
“Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17)
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness…” (Gal 5:22,23)
“God sent the Spirit … who calls out, “Abba, Father.” (Gal 4:6).
“Through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith, righteousness for which we hope” (Gal 5:5)
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18).

Two ways to prepare ourselves to receive the Spirit

The first way to prepare yourself to receive the Spirit: is to read and study Scriptures to grow your faith. Because “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17 NAS).

Thus, don’t spend much time on media or sermons, which often have only fragments of the gospel. Instead, open and study for yourself the NT.

Take the teaching of Jesus and his Apostles very serious. “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7; 14:24; 17:18). Then claim this promise to Jesus with faith: “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:15).

The second way to be open to receive the Spirit, is being “poor in spirit” for it only those who will receive “the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matt 5:3).

When we come empty handed to God in prayer. Acknowledging our spiritual poverty before God. That you have nothing to give, no work to perform in order to gain the favor of heaven. Only to those who recognize their spiritual poverty before God, the kingdom of heaven is given. The presence of the Spirit in our lives is always accompanied by deep humility and a steady focus on NT Scriptures. This is true worship.

The Spirit will show us, if we listen, our times of pride, selfishness, stubbornness, self-centeredness and our poverty in the currency of love to God and others. Yes, the Spirit will show us, reveal to us what hindrance we maintain that prevent the Spirit from indwelling in us. If we are stubborn and don’t want to acknowledge our pride, the Spirit will try again and again to arouse us from our certain death, “for God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble” (James 4:6).

In my alarm I said,

“I am cut off from your sight!”

Yet you heard my cry for mercy

when I called to you for help.

Love the Lord, all his faithful people!

The Lord preserves those who are true to him,

but the proud he pays back in full.

Be strong and take heart,

all you who hope in the Lord.

Ps 31:22-24

The End of John 3:1-8

Written by: Brothers & Sisters in Scripture Fellowship