Scripture speaks about being born from above in several passages. The best known is John 3, which records the Lord’s dialog with the Pharisee, Nicodemus. The other is 1 Peter 1:3. Peter’s discussion comes in the context of praise to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here, he uses the word “born again,” which is a Greek word made up of two parts– “again” and “beget” or “be born.”
Peter connects this with the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and our certain living hope of being raised up with him. This seems to be Peter’s commentary on Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus. Here, Jesus actually uses a term with a double meaning that can either mean “born from above” or “be born a second time.”
Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus was saying and thought he had to re-enter his mother’s womb to be born a second time (John 3:4). Jesus gently corrected him as a “teacher of Israel” and went on to explain that he meant being born from above by the Spirit of the living God. Nicodemus should have connected the Messiah with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit promised in several places in the prophets, such as Ezekiel 36:25-27 and the vision of the resurrection of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37.
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