A Spiritual Truth

John 3:1–3 (KJV 1900) — 1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
A good illustration from James M. Boice commentary on the Gospel of John: 

Quite a few years ago Governor Neff, of the state of Texas, received an invitation to speak at one of the penitentiaries in that state. He spoke to the assembled prisoners, and afterward said that he would be around for a while to listen to anything any of the convicts might wish to tell him. He would take as much time as they wanted, and anything they would tell him would be kept in confidence. The convicts began to come, one at a time. One after another told him a story of how they had been unjustly sentenced, were innocent, and wished to get out. Finally one man came through who said to him, “Governor Neff, I don’t want to take much of your time. I only want to say that I really did what they convicted me for. But I have been here a number of years. I believe I have paid my debt to society and that, if I were to be released, I would be able to live an upright life and show myself worthy of your mercy.” This was the man whom Governor Neff pardoned.
I know, of course, that there are imperfections in that illustration. For one thing, some of the men who claimed to be innocent might actually have been innocent. For another, the man who was pardoned might have been deceiving the governor and might have led a much more disreputable life after his release. Still, the point of the story stands: the first step in the rehabilitation of any man lies in his admission of guilt. To benefit from a doctor, the patient must admit that he is sick.
Just as this is true in medicine, business, and criminal rehabilitation, so is it true spiritually. Therefore, much of the Word of God is given over to revealing man’s need so that a person might acknowledge his need and turn to God for pardon.


 Boice, J. M. (2005). The Gospel of John: an expositional commentary (pp. 185–186). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.