New Living Translation
John 3:6
6Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.
John 3:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
- New International Version (NIV)Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
- English Standard Version (ESV)That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
- New King James Version (NKJV)That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Context of John 3:6
4“What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” 5Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ 8The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
Read all of John 3John 3:6 word by word
Τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς σάρξ ἐστιν, καὶ τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος πνεῦμά ἐστιν.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for John 3:6
- Genesis 5:3When Adam was 130 years old, he became the father of a son who was just like him—in his very image. He named his son Seth.
- Genesis 6:5The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.
- Job 14:4Who can bring purity out of an impure person? No one!
- Job 15:14Can any mortal be pure? Can anyone born of a woman be just?
- Job 25:4How can a mortal be innocent before God? Can anyone born of a woman be pure?
- Psalms 51:10Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.
- Romans 7:5When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death.
- Romans 8:1So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.
- 1 Corinthians 15:47Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven.
- 2 Corinthians 5:17This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
- Galatians 5:16So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
- Ephesians 2:3All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
- Colossians 2:11When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.
- Ezekiel 11:19And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart,
- Ezekiel 36:26And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.
- Romans 8:5Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.
Commentaries on John 3:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh - This is the answer to the objection made by Nicodemus in John 3:4. Can a man enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Our Lord here intimates that, were even this possible, it would not answer the end; for the plant will ever be of the nature of the seed that produces it - like will beget its like. The kingdom of God is spiritual and holy; and that which is born of the Spirit resembles the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6That which is born of the flesh - To show the necessity of this change, the Saviour directs the attention of Nicodemus to the natural condition of man. By “that which is born of the flesh” he evidently intends man as he is by nature, in the circumstances of his natural birth. Perhaps, also, he alludes to the question asked by Nicodemus, whether a man could be born when he was old? Jesus tells him that if this could be, it would not answer any valuable…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 6-86-8. That which is born, &c.--A great universal proposition; "That which is begotten carries within itself the nature of that which begat it" [Olshausen]. flesh--Not the mere material body, but all that comes into the world by birth, the entire man; yet not humanity simply, but in its corrupted, depraved condition, in complete subjection to the law of the fall (Ro 8:1-9). So that though a man "could enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born,"…Read the comment
Topics related to John 3:6
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on John 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Catena Aurea
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- John Lightfoot Commentary
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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