The Bible
Nicodemus (John 3)
The best example of regeneration in the Bible is that of Nicodemus. The following is taken from the book What is Regeneration? by Witness Lee:
An Example of Regeneration—Nicodemus
John 3 speaks of the new birth. It also contains a wonderful example of one who needed a new birth—Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a person of excellent virtue. He was a teacher with a high attainment in education. As a teacher of the Jews, he taught the Old Testament, the sacred Word. Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews. He had a position of honor and authority. As an old man, he was full of experiences, and morally, he was an honest and good man. Nicodemus was also a man who was truly seeking after God. Although he was somewhat fearful of the Pharisees, he still came to the Lord Jesus by night. This indicated that he was seeking God. Nicodemus was an old man of perhaps sixty or seventy years of age, yet he came to see the Lord Jesus, who was only a little over thirty years of age. This indicated his humility. Although he was a teacher, he addressed the Lord Jesus as Rabbi. Among the Jews, to call a person Rabbi implies that you are humbling yourself. Could you find a better person than Nicodemus? Surely he was a man of superior standard, great attainment, and high morality.
The Basic Need of Man
When Nicodemus came to the Lord Jesus, the Lord took the opportunity to reveal the basic need of man. In His conversation with Nicodemus, the Lord revealed that regardless of how good we are, we still need regeneration. Regeneration is the primary need of man. Moral people, as well as immoral people, need to be regenerated. Some Christians hold the mistaken concept that people need regeneration simply because they are sinful and fallen. However, if man had never fallen into sin, he still would have needed regeneration because he was lacking the life of God. That is why God put him before the tree of life (Gen. 2:9). The tree of life represents the very life of God. If Adam had partaken of the tree of life, he would have received the life of God and been regenerated.
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The Lord Jesus was very wise in using Nicodemus as the example of regeneration. If He had used the sinful woman in John 4 as the example, we might conclude that only sinful people need to be born again.
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Another Kind of Birth
When Nicodemus heard that he had to be born again, he thought it meant that he had to return to his mother’s womb and come out again. Then the Lord Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh” (John 3:6). He was saying to Nicodemus that even if he could go back into his mother’s womb and be born a second time, he would still be the same. He did not need another birth in time, but another birth in nature.
The Best Example
The Lord Jesus was very wise in using Nicodemus as the example of regeneration. If He had used the sinful woman in John 4 as the example, we might conclude that only sinful people need to be born again. Outwardly, Nicodemus had no moral or sinful problems. But he lacked the life of God. Because the Lord used a good man, Nicodemus, for His example, we can see that whether we are good or bad, we all need regeneration we all need to receive the life of God. (8-12)
