Bear in mind also that Nicodemus was part of a religious community that was very faithful (albeit externally) to the revealed will of God up until that time. Like Saul, pertaining to the law, they were blameless (Phil. 3:6).

No New Covenant had been enforced yet. Jesus had not yet died and resurrected. There were no New Testament scriptures with fresh revelation to refer to. The Old Covenant was still in effect and diligently performed according to the teachings of Moses and the prophets. Nevertheless, in spite of all that is mentioned above, Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again if he is to see the Kingdom of God. The inference is quite obvious: Despite the fact that Nicodemus was a sincere, righteous, zealous believer and religious leader, faithful to the Word, prayer and requirements of worship, he was still excluded from the Kingdom of God and lacked any credible insight into it without a valid “born again” experience.

It is no wonder that Nicodemus became quite shocked and confused by Jesus’ response. It would be the same today if you told a faithful, believing Christian that he/she needed to be born again in order to see the Kingdom of God. It just wouldn’t make any sense—after all, they had already professed faith in Jesus or said the “sinner’s prayer.” What more could be required? Maybe this is why Jesus felt it necessary to preface His revolutionary but controversial statement with two amens when delivering this vitally important doctrinal truth to Nicodemus.

The term “born again” can more accurately be translated born from above or born from heaven or born from God. Though bible expositors are somewhat divided on this issue, with some even choosing born anew as the more accurate translation, John’s emphasis in the passage as well as the way the term is habitually used by John argues for above instead of “again” (John 3:31; 19:11, 23). The fact that Nicodemus clearly interpreted (or misinterpreted) the term as meaning again does not argue for it being the most accurate translation, since Nicodemus clearly misunderstood everything Jesus was telling him.

In effect, Jesus was telling Nicodemus that he needed to be born from above, or from a higher or more elevated heavenly dimension. Of course this implies a new birth or rebirth(regeneration), which would make “born again” a probable interpretation. However, Nicodemus missed the most important point of Jesus’ statement. Had Nicodemus experienced a valid spiritual rebirth from a divine or elevated spiritual dimension, causing him to operate from an upgraded or heavenly spiritual position, he would have had the spiritual sight to recognize and understand the Kingdom principle Jesus was communicating.

However, Nicodemus had a problem that is symptomatic of all religion, including religious Christianity—spiritual blindness! Nicodemus wasn’t blind because he lacked sincerity, zeal for God, a disciplined prayer life, or knowledge of His written Word. As a devout religious leader and Pharisee, he was practically blameless in these areas. Nicodemus was blind because he was never born from above (1 Cor. 2:9-16). Therefore, he totally missed the internal principle that Jesus was trying to communicate. Instead, like most religious people do, he interprets Jesus’ words in a carnal, fleshly or external dimension—inquiring how someone old (as himself) could enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born (v. 4).

Jesus, patient and understanding regarding Nicodemus’ internal affliction of spiritual blindness, proceeds to repeat the “born again” principle in a less ambiguous way, prefaced again by double amens to underscore the importance of the truth He is communicating with greater clarity and depth (v. 5).

There are differences of opinion regarding what Jesus actually meant by the term born of water and the Spirit, but these can be easily resolved by examining the context. Jesus is clearly emphasizing a supernatural rebirth that originates from an elevated heavenly dimension through the primary agency of the Holy Spirit. Water in this context, therefore, is synonymous with Spirit, the same as “Holy Spirit and fire” (Matt. 3:11). The supernatural, heavenly dimension of the Spirit is what is in focus here. Even John’s baptism of repentance, using natural water, was never meant as an empty religious ritual or symbol of shallow intellectual repentance from dead works, but as a type and shadow of Jesus’ supernatural baptism of the Spirit that would effect an internal purification and transformation of the heart and spirit of man.

This principle regarding the supernatural operation of the Spirit can be observed again when taking into account the fact that Jesus was employing a play on words here. In the Greek and Hebrew languages, Spirit and wind are translated from the same word. In other words, an alternate translation for the term born of water and the Spirit could be “born of water and the wind.” Jesus may have been employing the Old Testament prophetic imagery of “water” and “wind” in His response to Nicodemus as a familiar concept for recognizing the supernatural work of the Spirit already prophesied in scripture (Is. 44:3-5; Ezek. 36:25-28; 37:9-10).

Without this deep and penetrating work of the Holy Spirit within his heart, Nicodemus would not be granted access into the Kingdom of God—regardless of how morally upright, biblically educated, or religiously zealous he was. Even the fact that he already believed in Jesus did not guarantee access, because that deep internal transformation had not yet taken place to elevate him to a new heavenly frequency that would bring a new revelation or recognition of God and His Kingdom. His thinking was still earthly, fleshly and carnal—a product of blind religion. He had been molded to believe in an earthly kingdom, where his religious sect would have possibly been granted a governing role. He was entrenched in a corrupt legalistic religious system of external conformity—one that elevated correct external behavior above accurate internal architecture. He, as well as the entire religious company of believers who had recently expressed faith in Jesus as a result of the miraculous signs which He did, was willing to accept the blessing of supernatural healing, provision, and victory over every work and power of darkness, but they discarded what He taught and said (v.11). They, like many churches today, wanted and expected a Messiah who would fit into their religious paradigm as well as validate it, when what Jesus really came to do was revise and reform it.

Jesus makes a clear distinction between these two types of believers: “That which is born of the flesh” and “that which is born of the Spirit” (v. 6). The word flesh here is used in a context of being opposite or opposed to the Spirit, and is indicative of that which is carnal, fleshly and corrupt. It is far more than an earthly or physical birth that Jesus is comparing that (or those) born of the Spirit to. He is describing a form of religion described above with no ability to comprehend the high frequency of the Spirit, or effectively access, apprehend or appropriate the supernatural Kingdom. In fact, this form of religion, or a believer of this carnal nature, often tends to oppose that which is truly of the Spirit (Rom. 8:5, 9; Gal. 4:29; 5:17).