John 3:8
The churches of Christ Greet You (Romans
16:16)
The eighth verse of
the third
chapter of John has been the source of much strife and confusion. There
is,
perhaps, no passage in the scriptures more misunderstood or more
improperly used,
regarding the new birth than this. Many have been kept out of the
kingdom by
the wild, unreasonable, sectarian interpretations of this passage. Let
us give
it a careful examination in the light of the New Testament and the
common sense
given us by God. Please give attention to the KJV reading: “The wind
bloweth
where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not
tell whence
it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the
Spirit.”
We cannot deny that
this
passage is difficult. For many years I did not know what to do with it.
That it
contained an important Divine truth I did not doubt, but what that
truth was I
did not know. The preachers and practices of the religious people
around us
increased the darkness. The passage is usually cited in an effort to
show that
as the wind’s operations are unknown so also is the Spirit’s mode of
operation
in the new birth. Their pretensions virtually said: “Away with faith
and
obedience. We get our religion directly from God!” Does this prove that
the
Savior intentionally hid His meaning in impenetrable mystery for all
time? We
presume not. It should be noted that the text does NOT involve a
comparison
between the wind and the new birth, but between
the wind and the one born again. “So is every
one that is born of the Spirit.”
What then must or
can be
done? Answer: Attempt to discover its meaning. In what way? By
appealing to the
creeds and commentaries? NO! But by revising the passage, thus giving
the
Lord’s precise meaning. Do you think Jesus meant to teach that the
greatest
question with which our minds can grapple is as unreliable, uncertain,
and
changeable as the wind? In the depth of our soul we feel we would be
guilty of
treason if we should make such an accusation against Him.
Jesus spoke in
Greek. In the
context of the passage was He discussing the peculiarities of the wind
or the
great spiritual birth? What did He say in Greek? What would He have
said if He
had spoken our language? Do our translators give the correct meaning in
our
tongue of what Jesus said in Greek? If they did not, we have a right to
appeal
from their translation TO THE ORIGINAL. If they do give the Savior’s
meaning,
the passage is a profound mystery into whose depths we dare not plunge.
There
is no doubt that our translators erred, and that their work needs a
very
careful and close revision. What we want, what we demand, what we must
have, is
the truth, neither more nor less. Let us have the facts! No honest
Christian
can refuse such a demand as this, nor refuse to conscientiously abide
by the
results.
The confusion
results from an
incorrect rendering of the word pneuma
of the Greek text by the word wind in
the English text. So glaring is the error that one without any
knowledge of
Greek, on being provided with the following facts, can at once perceive
it. The
word pneuma (Spirit) occurs several
hundred times in the Greek New Testament. In no other instance
do the
standard translations render it wind.
It occurs twice in this passage and is rendered “wind” in the first
clause and
“Spirit” in the last. It would be no more incorrect to render the final
clause,
“so is everyone that is born of the wind,”
as it is to translate the first clause, “The wind
bloweth . . . .” Note
the absurdity involved in such a rendering in other passages containing
the
word pneuma (Spirit): “But the wind
(pneuma) saith expressly, that in
later times some shall fall away from the faith . . . .” (1 Timothy
4:1). “How
much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal wind (pneuma) offered himself without
blemish unto God. . . .” (Hebrews 9:14). “He that hath an ear, let him
hear
what the wind (pneuma) saith to the
churches” (Revelation 2:11).
It should be at
once obvious
that if the word pneuma means Spirit
in more than 350 instances, it
does NOT mean wind in this one and
only instance! Moreover, when wind is
intended, the Greek word anemos usually
denotes it. The evidence is thus overwhelming that the word wind
is an incorrect rendering of the
word pneuma, and that the word should
have been rendered “Spirit” as it is in the final clause of the verse
and in
hundreds of other instances in the New Testament. Thus understood, the
following, we think, gives a very good idea of what Jesus said: “The
Spirit
breathes where he pleases, and you hear the sound of his voice, but you
cannot
tell from whence he comes or whether he goes; so through hearing his
voice is
every one born who is born of the Spirit.”
We observe that the
Spirit breathes (speaks or expresses
Himself) through the word of truth
(the gospel), in full harmony with His
will and you receive the expression of this will by means of this word;
and
while you cannot see the Spirit and are thus without visual evidence of
His
coming and going it is by means of hearing His voice (as expressed
through
the word) that you are born anew.
Nicodemus heard the sound of Him, but he
could not understand where it came from or where it went. Indeed the
whole
drift of the Savior's teaching was a mystery to him. Why did he not
understand?
Because he, in common with his countrymen and thousands of others
through all
the ages, was wedded to tradition, political pride, and religious
position.
The
conclusion of the passage, "So is every one that is born of the
Spirit," seems to be the most difficult. Truly it covers a multitude
of
mistakes. It is made responsible for the mysterious and uncertain
element in
modern religious society, and for the positive refusal of many to
submit to
the plain commands of Christ. Friends, a person is born
anew or born of water
and of the Spirit by receiving the Spirit’s message as expressed in
the
gospel, and by being baptized for (unto) the remission of sins (cf. 1
Corinthians 4:15; James 1:18; Acts 22:16; Romans 6:3-4). Peter’s words
in First
Peter chapter one verse twenty-three provide us with an inspired
commentary on
the meaning of the phrase, “so is every one that is born of the
Spirit.” He
wrote, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the
word of God which liveth and abideth forever.”