Charles Spurgeon Commentary John 3:6

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." — John 3:6 (ASV)

That which is born of the flesh is flesh;

Nothing more. However godly your father, however gracious your mother, all that is born of the flesh is flesh.

And that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

There must be, then, a Spirit-birth, or else you have no spirit; you do not belong to the spiritual realm; and you cannot see and you cannot enter the spiritual kingdom.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh;

No matter who the father is, nor who the mother is, there is no such thing as inherited godliness. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and nothing more; all that is born of the flesh cannot rise beyond its original source. However much the man may improve himself, our Saviour's words will still remain true: That which is born of the flesh is flesh;.

And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Everything is according to its birth, and according to its nature.

The Spirit of God must, therefore, operate upon us, and we must have a new birth, if we are to see and to enter the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh;

Parents may be the most devout people who ever lived, but that which is born of them is only flesh.

And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

It is only then, as we are born of the Spirit of God that there is any spiritual life in us whatsoever.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh;

And flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

And only the new creature, which is thus born, can, by any possibility, understand or enter into the possession of the spiritual things which belong to the kingdom of God.

And that which is born of the Spirit

And that alone –

Is spirit.

Now, the flesh cannot enter into the spiritual kingdom, only the spirit can enter that realm; and hence the need of a new birth, that this spirit may be created in us.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh: and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

A man may have the best parents that ever lived, but all that is born of the flesh is flesh, at the very best.

Your father may be a saint, and your mother a saint, but you are born in sin, for that which is born of the flesh is flesh. Unless you are born of the Spirit, you cannot understand or see spiritual things, and you cannot enter into the spiritual kingdom, for you have no spiritual capacity.

The carnal mind discerneth not the things that are of God, for they are spiritual, and must be spiritually discerned.

Therefore we must be born again so as to receive that Spirit by which spiritual things are discerned and entered into.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

So that the best child who ever was born, even though he was, like Saul of Tarsus, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; yet even he, since he is born of the flesh, is flesh, and not spirit.

Everything which comes to us by our first birth can be nothing better than flesh, and what can you get out of flesh but flesh? The only "evolution" that can come of the flesh is corruption.

There must be another birth if you are to get anything but flesh: that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Fleshly things are understood by the flesh, and spiritual things must be spiritually discerned; hence the absolute necessity of a second birth, a Spirit birth, that we may first see and then enter the spiritual kingdom of God.