But indicates that this case, concerning Nicodemus, differs from the case in the foregoing verses, John 2:23-25. There the people believed into the Lord because they saw the miracles He performed. The Lord could not commit Himself to such people. But the case in this chapter concerns life in regeneration; it reveals that this book is not for miraculous things but is only for life. This is why in this book even the miracles done by the Lord are called signs, signifying that the Lord came for life so that God might be multiplied (John 12:24), not for miracles so that man might be benefited.

Nicodemus considered Christ a teacher who had come from God. This indicates that he might have thought that he needed better teachings so that he could improve himself. But the Lord's answer in the next verse unveiled to him that his need was to be born anew. To be born anew is to be regenerated with the divine life, a life different from the human life received by natural birth. Hence, his real need was not better teachings by which he could improve himself, but the divine life by which he could be remade. He was seeking for teachings, which belong to the tree of knowledge, but the Lord's answer turned him to his need for life, which belongs to the tree of life (cf. Gen. 2:9, 17).

Or, born from above. So in v. 7. To be born anew is to be born from above, from heaven, that is, to be born from God, who is in heaven.

In spiritual things, to see is to enter into (v. 5).

The kingdom of God is the reign of God. It is a divine realm to be entered into, a realm that requires the divine life. Only the divine life can realize the divine things. Hence, for one to see, or to enter into, the kingdom of God requires that he be regenerated with the divine life.

Lit., out of.

The words of water and the Spirit should have been plain to Nicodemus, without any need of explanation. In Matt. 3:11 John the Baptist spoke the same words to the Pharisees; hence, they should have been fully understood among the Pharisees. Now Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees, was conversing with the Lord, and the Lord spoke these familiar words. "Water" was the central concept of the ministry of John the Baptist, that is, to terminate people of the old creation. "Spirit" is the central concept of the ministry of Jesus, that is, to germinate people in the new creation. These two main concepts together constitute the concept of regeneration. Regeneration is the termination of people of the old creation with all their deeds, and the germination of people in the new creation with the divine life.

Lit., out of.

The first Spirit mentioned here is the divine Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, and the second spirit is the human spirit, the regenerated spirit of man. Regeneration is accomplished in the human spirit by the Holy Spirit of God with God's life, the uncreated eternal life. Thus, to be regenerated is to have the divine, eternal life (in addition to the human, natural life) as the new source and new element of a new person.

Plural in Greek.

The Greek word for wind is the same as that for spirit. Whether it is rendered wind or spirit depends on the context. This verse refers to something that blows, the sound of which can be heard, indicating that the word should be rendered wind. A regenerated person is like the wind, which can be recognized but which is beyond understanding; even so, it is a fact, a reality.

Lit., out of.

Things on earth here does not mean things of an earthly nature but things that take place on earth, including redemption and regeneration. In the same principle things in heaven in this verse does not mean things of a heavenly nature but things that take place in heaven. In the next verse the Lord said that He was the One who descended out of heaven and who was still in heaven. This indicates that He knew the things that took place in heaven, because He was the One who was in heaven all the time.

Some ancient MSS omit, who is in heaven.

This chapter deals with regeneration. Regeneration, on one hand, brings the divine life with the divine nature into us. On the other hand, regeneration terminates the evil nature of Satan in our flesh. In Gen. 3 Satan, the serpent, injected his nature into man's flesh. When the children of Israel sinned against God, they were bitten by serpents (Num. 21:4-9). God told Moses to lift up a bronze serpent on their behalf for God's judgment, that by looking upon that bronze serpent all might live. That was a type. Here, in this verse, the Lord Jesus applied that type to Himself, indicating that when He was in the flesh, He was in "the likeness of the flesh of sin" (Rom. 8:3), which likeness is equal to the form of the bronze serpent. The bronze serpent had the form of the serpent but was without the serpent's poison. Christ was made in "the likeness of the flesh of sin," but He did not participate in any way in the sin of the flesh (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). When He was lifted up in the flesh on the cross, by His death Satan, the old serpent, was dealt with (John 12:31-33; Heb. 2:14). This means that the serpentine nature within fallen man has been dealt with. When a man is regenerated with the divine life in Christ, his satanic nature is annulled. Because of this, in this portion of the Word, when the Lord revealed the matter of regeneration to Nicodemus, He specifically mentioned this point.

Nicodemus might have considered himself a moral and good man. But the Lord's word in this verse implied that regardless of how good Nicodemus might have been outwardly, he had the serpentine nature of Satan inwardly. As a descendant of Adam, he had been poisoned by the old serpent, and the serpent's nature was within him. He needed the Lord not only to be the Lamb of God to take away his sin (John 1:29) but also to be in the form of the serpent that his serpentine nature might be dealt with on the cross and that he might have eternal life. In the principle set forth in ch. 2, this is the changing of death into life.

This is the divine life, the uncreated life of God, which not only is everlasting with respect to time but also is eternal and divine in nature. So in vv. 16, 36.

The world here refers to sinful, fallen people, who constitute the world. They have not only sin but also the poisonous element of the devil, the ancient serpent; hence, they have become serpents. They need Christ to die for them in the form of a serpent and be judged by God as their Substitute (v. 14); otherwise, they will perish (v. 16). Although men are utterly fallen, God still loves them with His divine love, which is Himself (1 John 4:8, 16), because they are vessels created by God according to His own image to contain Himself (Gen. 1:26; Rom. 9:21a, Rom. 9:23). Moreover, He so loves them that He gave them His only begotten Son, His expression, that they might obtain His eternal life to become His many sons and be His corporate expression for the fulfillment of His eternal New Testament economy. Hence, God first regenerates them by His Spirit (vv. 3-6) that they may have His eternal life (vv. 15-16, 36a). Then He fills them with His unlimited Spirit (v. 34) that they may become the bride of Christ, who is above all and is all-inclusive (vv. 31-35), to be His increase and fullness (vv. 28-30).

Believing into the Lord is not the same as believing Him (John 6:30). To believe Him is to believe that He is true and real, but to believe into Him is to receive Him and be united with Him as one. The former is to acknowledge a fact objectively; the latter is to receive a life subjectively.

Or, judge.

Or, judged.

Or, judgment.

I.e., does evil habitually. The same word is used in John 5:29.

Or, exposed, uncovered.

According to the context, truth here denotes uprightness (as opposed to evil — vv. 19-20), which is the reality manifested in a man who lives in God according to what He is, and which corresponds with the divine light, which is God, as the source of the truth, manifested in Christ. See note 1 John 1:6⁶.

The increase in this verse is the bride in v. 29, and the bride there is a living composition of all the regenerated people. This means, in this chapter on regeneration, that regeneration not only brings the divine life into the believers and annuls the satanic nature in their flesh, but it also makes them the corporate bride for Christ's increase. The last two points, the annulling of the serpentine nature in the believers and the believers' being made the bride of Christ, are fully developed in John's Revelation. The book of Revelation reveals mainly how Satan as the old serpent will be fully eliminated (Rev. 20:2, 10) and how Christ's bride, the New Jerusalem, will be fully produced (Rev. 21:2, 10-27).

Verses John 3:31-36 unveil to us the immeasurableness, the unlimitedness, of Christ. He is such an immeasurable and unlimited One, who comes from above, who is above all, to whom the Father has given all, and who dispenses the Spirit without measure. Such a One needs a universal increase to be His bride to match Him, as revealed in vv. 22-30. He who believes into this immeasurable One has eternal life; he who disobeys this One is under the wrath of God.

From, of, and out of are the same word in Greek. Since persons, matters, and things on the earth are from the earth, they are of the earth. He who comes from heaven refers to one who is out of heaven; therefore, such a one is of heaven.

See note John 6:63³.