Marvel not that I said unto thee
, For Nicodemus was quite astonished, at this doctrine of the new
birth; it was altogether new to him, and unheard of by him; nor
could he understand, nor conceive in what manner it could be:
ye must be born again;
in "four" of Beza's copies, it is read "we"; but as Christ was
not begotten in a carnal way, or descended not from Adam in the
ordinary way of generation, he was not carnal and corrupt, nor in
the least tainted with sin; and so stood in no need of
regeneration; wherefore such a reading must be rejected. There is
a necessity of the regeneration of those, who are the chosen of
God, and the redeemed of the Lamb; and of them only can the words
be understood; for as for others, they neither can, nor will, nor
must be born again: but the people of God "must"; partly because
it is the will of God; it is his purpose and resolution, that
they shall be regenerated; he has chosen them, through
sanctification of the Spirit, unto salvation by Christ: this is
the way and method of saving sinners he has fixed upon, namely,
not to save them by works of righteousness, but by grace, and
according to abundant mercy, through the washing of regeneration,
and the renewing of the Holy Ghost: and partly, because of the
case and condition of men, which requires it; for whereas the
chosen people of God, are predestinated to the adoption of
children, and are taken into the family of God, and are heirs to
an inheritance, it is necessary they should have a nature,
temper, and disposition of mind, suitable to the inheritance they
are to enjoy; which they have not in their natural estate, and
which is conveyed to them in regeneration: besides, their carnal
minds are enmity to God, and it is necessary that they should be
friendly to him, which cannot be without regeneration; nor can
they, till they are born again, please God, or do those things
which are pleasing to him: to which may be added, which Christ
has before suggested, and which shows the necessity of it, that
without it, no man can either see, or enter into the kingdom of
God. To take off the surprise of Nicodemus, our Lord instances in
a common natural case, and to which this affair of regeneration
may be compared, and by it illustrated.