John 3:3

Verily, verily,. say unto thee.

This form of expression was often upon the lips of Jesus to give emphasis to an unusually solemn and weighty declaration. See Matthew 5:18. It occurs twenty-four times in John.

Except. man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

The term translated "again" is rendered "anew" in the Revision, which is better. It is the great doctrine, so fundamental in the Gospel, of Regeneration,. new Birth, being made. new creature, the same doctrine spoken of in chapter 1:12, 13. Nicodemus, like all Jews, supposed that all who were born as children of Abraham would, as Abraham's seed, be citizens of the kingdom. John had rejected this idea and denounced the claim of special privileges because they had Abraham for their father, but Nicodemus seems to have had his breath fairly taken away by the declaration that no man could see (enjoy) the Kingdom unless he was born anew; that the Jew, ruler, Pharisee, priest and Levite were not exceptions, and stood on the same footing as the despised Gentile.

Life begins visibly with birth; the new life must begin with. new birth; no one can be. new creature in Christ Jesus unless he is born anew. We are born naturally into the kingdom of nature, to live the natural life; if we enter the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of grace, it must be by. new birth. The doctrine that. man can bury his old sinful life, and begin. new one with the freshness of youthful hope, is foreshadowed in the Old Testament (Isaiah 1:18; Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26), and taught in the New Testament (Romans 6:8; Romans 8:3; Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15-16).