Being Born Again from Above.
We are to be born again from above.
This precept is derived from His Word (blessed be He):
Key Scripture
John 3:1-16
There was a man among the P'rushim, named Nakdimon, [Nicodemus] who was a ruler of the Judeans. This man came to Yeshua by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know it is from God that you have come as a teacher; for no one can do these miracles you perform unless God is with him." "Yes, indeed," Yeshua answered him, "I tell you that unless a person is born again from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." Nakdimon said to him, "How can a grown man be 'born'? Can he go back into his mother's womb and be born a second time?" Yeshua answered, "Yes, indeed, I tell you that unless a person is born from water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. What is born from the flesh is flesh, and what is born from the Spirit is spirit. Stop being amazed at my telling you that you must be born again from above! The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but you don't know where it comes from or where it's going. That's how it is with everyone who has been born from the Spirit." Nakdimon replied, "How can this happen?" Yeshua answered him, "You hold the office of teacher in Isra'el, and you don't know this? Yes, indeed! I tell you that what we speak about, we know; and what we give evidence of, we have seen; but you people don't accept our evidence! If you people don't believe me when I tell you about the things of the world, how will you believe me when I tell you about the things of heaven? No one has gone up into heaven; there is only the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. Just as Moshe lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed.
Supportive Scriptures
Mark 16:16
Whoever trusts and is immersed will be saved; whoever does not trust will be condemned.
John 5:24
Yes, indeed! I tell you that whoever hears what I am saying and trusts the One who sent me has eternal life - that is, he will not come up for judgment but has already crossed over from death to life!
Acts 4:12
There is salvation in no one else! For there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by whom we must be saved!
Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the Good News, since it is God's powerful means of bringing salvation to everyone who keeps on trusting, to the Jew especially, but equally to the Gentile.
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in that the Messiah died on our behalf while we were still sinners.
Romans 6:3-5
Don't you know that those of us who have been immersed into the Messiah Yeshua have been immersed into his death? Through immersion into his death we were buried with him; so that just as, through the glory of the Father, the Messiah was raised from the dead, likewise we too might live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will also be united with him in a resurrection like his.
Romans 10:8-9
What, then, does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart." - that is, the word about trust which we proclaim, namely, that if you acknowledge publicly with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord and trust in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be delivered [saved].
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is united with the Messiah, he is a new creation - the old has passed; look, what has come is fresh and new!
Ephesians 4:4-9
But God is so rich in mercy and loves us with such intense love that, even when we were dead because of our acts of disobedience, he brought us to life along with the Messiah - it is by grace that you have been delivered. That is, God raised us up with the Messiah Yeshua and seated us with him in heaven, in order to exhibit in the ages to come how infinitely rich is his grace, how great is his kindness toward us who are united with the Messiah Yeshua. For you have been delivered [saved] by grace through trusting, and even this is not your accomplishment but God's gift. You were not delivered [saved] by your own actions; therefore no one should boast.
Titus 3:4-6
But when the kindness and love for mankind of God our Deliverer was revealed, he delivered us. It was not on the ground of any righteous deeds we had done, but on the ground of his own mercy. He did it by means of the mikveh of rebirth and the renewal brought about by the Ruach HaKodesh, whom he poured out on us generously through Yeshua the Messiah, our Deliverer.
1 Peter 1:3
Praised be God, Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who, in keeping with his great mercy, has caused us, through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah from the dead, to be born again to a living hope ...
1 Peter 1:23
You have been born again not from some seed that will decay, but from one that cannot decay, through the living Word of God that lasts forever.
Commentary
The common understanding of scholars is that Yeshua's exhortation to Nicodemus in John 3:7 that he "must be born again from above" was a reference to his first birth being from the waters of natural childbirth. There is, however, another way to understand this, and that is that man's first birth was also from above - from the waters of creation (Genesis 1:1-2) - and that man's original death due to Adam's disobedience required that he be "born again from above" in order for him to have eternal life, which was God's original intention.
One might argue that being "born again" (while it is God's desire for us all) is not a true mitzvah because the power to accomplish it is God's and not ours. True, the supernatural power to cause a man to be born from above is God's alone, but God gave us the key to unleash His power by receiving His son Yeshua - our Messiah - as we read in John 3:14-16:
Just as Moshe lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed.
Trusting [NKJ: Believing in] Yeshua as our Messiah (savior) means repenting of our former unbelief and accepting his sacrificial death as ours, and our means of receiving God's forgiveness.
Now every cohen stands every day doing his service, offering over and over the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this one, after he had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, sat down at the right hand of God, from then on to wait until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has brought to the goal for all time those who are being set apart for God and made holy. (Hebrews 10:11-14)
As a Messianic Jewish believer in Yeshua I am sometimes confronted with the following question or a variation of it:
"I consider myself a good person. All the things the Bible teaches I try to do, and all the virtues the Bible teaches I try to have. Are you telling me that just because I do not believe that Yeshua is the Messiah I am destined for Hell?"
My answer to the question is always the same:
"Your standing with God and your salvation are not for me to judge, nor is it for me to tell God whom he can save and whom He cannot. I can only tell you that Acts 4:12 of the New Covenant Scriptures teaches that "There is salvation in no one else" [meaning no one other than Yeshua], and that "there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by whom we must be saved!" Notice that the Scripture I quoted is God's promise that if you repent of your sins and receive Yeshua as your Messiah, YOU WILL BE SAVED! If you want to take your chances and negotiate with God for some other way to heaven, that's up to you. But If you want to be sure of your salvation, I would advise you to do it the way that God guaranteed."
Classical Commentators
This Mitzvah is not addressed by any of the Jewish classical commentators.
NCLA: JMm JFm KMm KFm GMm GFm
Tikkun America - Book of Mitzvot: Mitzvah A12.
We are to be born again from above.
This precept is derived from His Word (blessed be He):
Key Scripture
John 3:1-16
There was a man among the P'rushim, named Nakdimon, [Nicodemus] who was a ruler of the Judeans. This man came to Yeshua by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know it is from God that you have come as a teacher; for no one can do these miracles you perform unless God is with him." "Yes, indeed," Yeshua answered him, "I tell you that unless a person is born again from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." Nakdimon said to him, "How can a grown man be 'born'? Can he go back into his mother's womb and be born a second time?" Yeshua answered, "Yes, indeed, I tell you that unless a person is born from water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. What is born from the flesh is flesh, and what is born from the Spirit is spirit. Stop being amazed at my telling you that you must be born again from above! The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but you don't know where it comes from or where it's going. That's how it is with everyone who has been born from the Spirit." Nakdimon replied, "How can this happen?" Yeshua answered him, "You hold the office of teacher in Isra'el, and you don't know this? Yes, indeed! I tell you that what we speak about, we know; and what we give evidence of, we have seen; but you people don't accept our evidence! If you people don't believe me when I tell you about the things of the world, how will you believe me when I tell you about the things of heaven? No one has gone up into heaven; there is only the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. Just as Moshe lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed.
Supportive Scriptures
Mark 16:16
Whoever trusts and is immersed will be saved; whoever does not trust will be condemned.
John 5:24
Yes, indeed! I tell you that whoever hears what I am saying and trusts the One who sent me has eternal life - that is, he will not come up for judgment but has already crossed over from death to life!
Acts 4:12
There is salvation in no one else! For there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by whom we must be saved!
Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the Good News, since it is God's powerful means of bringing salvation to everyone who keeps on trusting, to the Jew especially, but equally to the Gentile.
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in that the Messiah died on our behalf while we were still sinners.
Romans 6:3-5
Don't you know that those of us who have been immersed into the Messiah Yeshua have been immersed into his death? Through immersion into his death we were buried with him; so that just as, through the glory of the Father, the Messiah was raised from the dead, likewise we too might live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will also be united with him in a resurrection like his.
Romans 10:8-9
What, then, does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart." - that is, the word about trust which we proclaim, namely, that if you acknowledge publicly with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord and trust in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be delivered [saved].
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is united with the Messiah, he is a new creation - the old has passed; look, what has come is fresh and new!
Ephesians 4:4-9
But God is so rich in mercy and loves us with such intense love that, even when we were dead because of our acts of disobedience, he brought us to life along with the Messiah - it is by grace that you have been delivered. That is, God raised us up with the Messiah Yeshua and seated us with him in heaven, in order to exhibit in the ages to come how infinitely rich is his grace, how great is his kindness toward us who are united with the Messiah Yeshua. For you have been delivered [saved] by grace through trusting, and even this is not your accomplishment but God's gift. You were not delivered [saved] by your own actions; therefore no one should boast.
Titus 3:4-6
But when the kindness and love for mankind of God our Deliverer was revealed, he delivered us. It was not on the ground of any righteous deeds we had done, but on the ground of his own mercy. He did it by means of the mikveh of rebirth and the renewal brought about by the Ruach HaKodesh, whom he poured out on us generously through Yeshua the Messiah, our Deliverer.
1 Peter 1:3
Praised be God, Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who, in keeping with his great mercy, has caused us, through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah from the dead, to be born again to a living hope ...
1 Peter 1:23
You have been born again not from some seed that will decay, but from one that cannot decay, through the living Word of God that lasts forever.
Commentary
The common understanding of scholars is that Yeshua's exhortation to Nicodemus in John 3:7 that he "must be born again from above" was a reference to his first birth being from the waters of natural childbirth. There is, however, another way to understand this, and that is that man's first birth was also from above - from the waters of creation (Genesis 1:1-2) - and that man's original death due to Adam's disobedience required that he be "born again from above" in order for him to have eternal life, which was God's original intention.
One might argue that being "born again" (while it is God's desire for us all) is not a true mitzvah because the power to accomplish it is God's and not ours. True, the supernatural power to cause a man to be born from above is God's alone, but God gave us the key to unleash His power by receiving His son Yeshua - our Messiah - as we read in John 3:14-16:
Just as Moshe lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed.
Trusting [NKJ: Believing in] Yeshua as our Messiah (savior) means repenting of our former unbelief and accepting his sacrificial death as ours, and our means of receiving God's forgiveness.
Now every cohen stands every day doing his service, offering over and over the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this one, after he had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, sat down at the right hand of God, from then on to wait until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has brought to the goal for all time those who are being set apart for God and made holy. (Hebrews 10:11-14)
As a Messianic Jewish believer in Yeshua I am sometimes confronted with the following question or a variation of it:
"I consider myself a good person. All the things the Bible teaches I try to do, and all the virtues the Bible teaches I try to have. Are you telling me that just because I do not believe that Yeshua is the Messiah I am destined for Hell?"
My answer to the question is always the same:
"Your standing with God and your salvation are not for me to judge, nor is it for me to tell God whom he can save and whom He cannot. I can only tell you that Acts 4:12 of the New Covenant Scriptures teaches that "There is salvation in no one else" [meaning no one other than Yeshua], and that "there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by whom we must be saved!" Notice that the Scripture I quoted is God's promise that if you repent of your sins and receive Yeshua as your Messiah, YOU WILL BE SAVED! If you want to take your chances and negotiate with God for some other way to heaven, that's up to you. But If you want to be sure of your salvation, I would advise you to do it the way that God guaranteed."
Classical Commentators
This Mitzvah is not addressed by any of the Jewish classical commentators.
NCLA: JMm JFm KMm KFm GMm GFm
Tikkun America - Book of Mitzvot: Mitzvah A12.
