When Was Nicodemus Born Again?
By Bill Perkins
The famous John 3:3 passage teaches an overlooked dispensational truth
“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’”
Here, in no uncertain terms, Jesus tells Nicodemus, or Nicodemus, that he must be “born again” to go to heaven. This is a most amazing statement as it was made to a Jew living under the Law, who could not be “born again” at that time. Jews couldn’t be born again at that time because Jesus’ statement was made pre-cross, and therefore pre-Acts 2, when there was no Holy Spirit on the earth to permanently indwell believers to make them “born again.”
Why then was Jesus telling Nicodemus something he couldn’t do? Nicodemus could NOT be born again before the Holy Spirit came to earth in Acts 2. No one could be born again until Acts 2. And Jesus was talking to Nicodemus three years earlier! Why would Jesus tell Nicodemus he had to be born again to see heaven if he had no chance of being born again until years later? And Jesus’ statement was universal, meaning that needing to be born again to see heaven would apply not just to Nicodemus but to everyone who ever lived.
Since it was impossible to be “born again” without the Holy Spirit being on the earth, was Jesus saying that everyone who had lived and died in the past were incapable of qualifying for heaven? The answer to this theological dilemma lies only when one applies biblical dispensational theology to the question. When we accurately handle the Word, we see that although God never changes, He deals differently with people on the earth, depending on the time in which they lived.
God simply worked one way with those living pre-cross and worked another way with those post-cross/post arrival of God’s Holy Spirit. Dividing the Bible that way is classic dispensationalism. What Jesus said to Nicodemus, and what was true for every other Old Testament believer who was saved by faith, is that they could not go to heaven unless they were born again—they needed their spiritual cleansing.
All Jews knew they were sinful and needed a savior. All Jews knew the sacrificial system that was in place was temporary. All Jews were looking for their Messiah to permanently atone for their sin. Therefore Jews under the Law knew they couldn’t be “born again” because of their sin and were waiting for the day that God would provide His Messiah to pave the way. Their Messiah, Jesus, had to first die and rise again to pay for the sin of those who believed God. Only then could anyone see heaven. Therefore, everyone in the Old Testament who was saved by faith had to wait to see heaven when they died. So God provided a place called Abraham’s bosom or Paradise ,for them to reside while they waited.
No one could go to heaven until the Messiah made it possible to be born again. Therefore Paradise was in essence, a sort of holding tank (it was not purgatory!) in the center of the earth for Old Testament believers. Here they stayed in this “bottomless pit” and waited for the Messiah to arrive, die, rise again and therefore atone for their sins so they could go to heaven.
Paradise is described in the chilling account (not a parable) of two Old Testament men who died, one going to the Hades side and one going to the Paradise side of the bottomless pit (Luke 16:19-31). This amazing account gives us a glimpse of what it was like after death for a person living prior to the cross. There were two sides of hell in those days before the cross, one side for those saved by faith in a future Messiah and one side for those who were not saved at all.
Those not saved went to the Hades side, were conscious, and burned constantly in an unquenchable fire. They had memory of their time on earth and longed to be on the Paradise side. But there was nothing they could do after death to change the fact they did not believe the Bible. But those who were saved in the Old Testament, those trusting God for a future Redeemer, went to the Paradise side when they died. Here they waited for God’s provision.
Abel was most likely the one who had been there the longest, almost 4000 years! Paradise wasn’t heaven, but it was certainly way better than those across a great chasm who had died without faith and now were burning in the unquenchable fires of Hades. “… between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us” (Luke 16:26).
Imagine all of those saved by faith throughout time, until Jesus died on the cross, living and waiting on the Messiah. Adam and Eve, Abraham, David, Moses…and millions more, all waiting for the Messiah to come. Fascinating! And the moment Jesus died on the cross, the gates of hell were instantly opened for all the Old Testament Saints. They left Paradise, broke through the earth’s crust on their way to heaven. It was not until then that they could be born again.
The born again boom was so great that day that it shook the earth mightily:
“And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many”(Matthew 27:51-53).
At the moment Jesus died on the cross, the entire group of Old Testament saints were cleansed/born again, and released from the Paradise side of the bottomless pit to go to heaven. So in John 3, Jesus was telling Nicodemus a great spiritual truth about the necessity of the payment of His blood before any pre-cross saints could go to heaven. Nicodemus must have realized that he could not be born again until the provision was made. He had to wait to be born again until the Spirit of God arrived at Pentecost.
http://www.raptureready.com/2017/06/01/when-was-nicodemus-born-again/
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THE THIEF, BAPTISM, GRACE & THE NAME OF THE LORD….
Holy spirit baptism/ fire/ water baptism (Deut 4:24God is a consuming fire; Jn 6:63the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit; ) is all part and parcel of THE ONE BAPTISM (Eph 4:5)
1Pet 3:21” even baptism doth also now save us “…”whosoever shall call on THE NAME OF THE LORD shall be saved”.…….So WHAT “NAME” did you “CALL UPON”?………..1Jn 3:23. And THIS IS HIS COMMANDMENT, That we should BELIEVE ON THE NAME of his Son AND THAT NAME IS NOT THE LETTERS “J-E-S-U-S”!?!…BUT THAT NAME IS……
Ps 138:2. …. and praise THY NAME ……. for thou hast magnified THY WORD ABOVE ALL THY NAME
Rev 19:13. .. and HIS NAME IS called THE WORD OF GOD……………………………
SO:
- If God placed His “THE WORD” ABOVE all of God’s various NAMEs
- and Jesus NAME (who is God in the flesh) IS called “THE WORD”
Then it must follow that the MOST important name we should KNOW and CALL UPON is “THE WORD”; . Not the letters that spell the word but the sayings/ doctrine/commands…..…… It does NOT say “thy word” (which we understand is what “Jesus” refers to) is given a name above other names because here THY WORD is identified as the name that is placed above all other names. You cannot pronounce “the word” letter by letter that is why they called him “Jesus” but JESUS has a name which is the highest name that God has and it cannot be pronounced letter by letter !?! …. AT the name OF JESUS…..Jesus has a name that belongs to Jesus…just like the name OF GOD means a name that belongs to GOD but it is ridiculous to suggest that the letters G-O-D is that name…likewise it is just as ridiculous to suggest that the name OF JESUS is the letters J-E-S-U-S. You cannot pronounce nor could your write out in the scriptures “the word” (all of God’s spoken creation/instructions/ law et al) letter by letter which is why the scriptures refer to “the name of Jesus” which is the same as saying “the name of God”…..but only a fool should think that God is that name!?!
https://www.academia.edu/23846490/Thief_and_Cross_3D
https://www.scribd.com/document/326686356/Thief-Cross-3D
Prov 30:4. Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? …… what is his name, and WHAT IS HIS SON’S NAME, if thou canst tell?
Isaiah 52:1. .. 6. Therefore MY PEOPLE SHALL KNOW MY NAME: ………..
………..What NAME do you “KNOW”.?…..
1Jn 2:3. And HEREBY WE DO KNOW that we KNOW HIM, if we KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS./ Titus 1: 16. They profess that THEY KNOW God; but IN WORKS THEY DENY him…….
.
Rev 3:8….. kept MY WORD, and hast not DENIED MY NAME;
Jn 17:6. I have MANIFESTED THY NAME …. and they have KEPT THY WORD.
………………………………….4. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5. Butwhoso keepeth HIS WORD, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
1Pet 3:21” even baptism doth also now save us “…if you do not believe it, then you have NO FAITH IN THE OPERATION OF GOD…Col 2:12 …. and thus you are still lost because your faith is misplaced!!……….. ….Acts 22: 16. And now whytarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord…(notice the grammar “calling” is defined here by obedience to baptism and washing away that is what calling on his name is it is not a “afterthought” as in be baptized and then call on)……baptism IS “washing”…IS “calling on” ……….Obedience to the command/word is the act of calling on HIS NAME because HIS NAME is the WORD/ Command
1John 5:13. These things have I written unto you that BELIEVE ON THE NAME of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may BELIEVE ON THE NAME of the Son of God.
Jn 20:31. But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life THROUGH HIS NAME.
John 1:1. In the beginning was the Word, and THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD
Ex 23:21….”for My name is in him”……what is in him is THE WORD/ HIS LAW et al written on his heart/”being” and in his “mind” not a set of letters such as the tetragramaton !?!
Phil 2:9. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given HIM A NAME WHICH IS ABOVE EVERY NAME
Acts 4:12. (Acts 3:16). … for there is NONE OTHER NAME under heaven given among men, WHEREBY WE MUST BE SAVED
John 1:1. In the beginning was the Word, and THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD
THE WORD written on your hearts expressed not verbally but in action (this is what Rev 7:3 is about) and thought is the NAME that is the MOST important NAME and the Name that you had better have had CALLED UPON and continue to CONFESS or THE NAME you are denying that name
AT the name OF JESUS…..Jesus has a name that belongs to Jesus…just like the name OF GOD means a name that belongs to GOD but it is ridiculous to suggest that the letters G-O-D is that name…likewise it is just as ridiculous to suggest that the name OF JESUS is the letters J-E-S-U-S
THE WORD Is HIS NAME, THE ONLY NAME THAT CAN SAVE YOU!!.(not the letters that spell “the word” but the COMMANDS[s] TEACHINGS, DOCTRINE, SAYINGS).. THE NAME OF THE LORD IS THE COMMAND (for baptisms et al) and the works they DENY him with (Titus 1:16) !?!…. other considerations: PS 83:16&19 the name is Jehovah but Jehovah is not the name!?! Jehovah means self existent eternal one it is as much an adjective that describes what God’s as it is used as a proper noun “My name is wonderful”, what fool would think that my proper name is “wonderful” ….Jesus is what the man (who was the word in the flesh) that was called “Jesus” because only a fool would think that you could pronounce THE HIGHEST NAME OF GOD and or “the word” (all of God’s spoken creation/instructions/ law et al) letter by letter…. (ie Judges 13:18; 2Cor 12:4 but God’s name is not as great and or “unspeakable???)
….. Also explains:
Jn 14:13. And WHATSOEVER……. ye shall ask ……..IN MY NAME,……. 14. If ye shall ask any thing ……..IN MY NAME,…………. I will do it. 15. If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Acts 2: 21. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall CALL ON…….. THE NAME OF the Lord ……………………..shall be saved……38…baptized every one of you …………IN THE NAME OF Jesus Christ
One of the biggest problems here is that folks actually think that the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is “J-E-S-U-S C-H-R-I-S-T”!?!?
All those people running around Praising or calling on the name “Jesus” are wasting their breath!!!…..THE NAME of the son is “THE WORD OF GOD” . That is Gods true highest name above any and ALL names!…THE WORD is the ONLY NAME that saves us…THE WORD is the NAME that whosoever calls upon it will be saved!! Acts 2:12 means EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS the problem is people do not understand what THE NAME of the Lord is
You do not “Pray in the name of Jesus” by saying the the letters “I-N T-H-E N-A-M-E O-F J-E-S-U-S” because that is NOT his name….His name the name that we are to pray in the name of is the ONE name of the ONE God and ONE spirit of the ONE person of God which is:
If you do not understand that the name of the lord is THE WORD of God (not the letters that spell “the word” or “The bible” but in the message. Doctrine, sayings(Jn 8:51; 14:24;15:20; Rev 19:9 et al), commands of that Word made flesh(Jn 1:14) ………Then you probably have no clue what God much less what Gospel you are preaching!!!
……….Soooooooooo WHAT “NAME” did you “CALL UPON” and Confess and or are now denying ?!?
………………………………Ps 53:4
https://www.academia.edu/23846490/Thief_and_Cross_3D
https://www.scribd.com/document/326686356/Thief-Cross-3D
goastdale
so some fellow named allen davis is the one you follow, goat you should be following Jesus Christ as HE follows the Father. You are following a flesh and blood man — Following a man is not wise.
Whenever he was Baptised. That is what being born again means. John 3:5 “Jesus answered: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
trent
Ghost is a totally catholic invented word and if you will read other translations you will see the satanic word “ghost” does not appear.
And according to Strong’s it is not it the original
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
trent is a ghost the father of your catholic jesus? The catholic dogma is so illogical don’t you think trent?
Bill lets read the whole statement and use a tiny bit of logic.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
Nicodemus understood the word Christ used meant a birth from the belly of a women
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
A fetus grows in its mothers womb in water and when the water breaks it precedes the child. a flesh and blood human baby is born from its mothers womb filled with water and a baby is about 70% water at birth.
Nicodemus understood this
Thus a human born of water as Flesh and flesh can NOT enter the kingdom of God i.e. The family of God as a son. The kingdom of God is a Spirit kingdom, our GOD is a Spirit and no flesh can enter into that Spirit existance
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
That which is born of flesh “IS” flesh and blood and that which is born of the Spirit IS Spirit and not flesh and blood
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 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.
Jesus Christ makes it clear — when you are born again as spirit you will be invisible like the wind and a flesh and blood human will not be able to tell when that person born of Spirit comes or goes.
Why must folks twist the words of Jesus Christ?
And when is this second birth into a spirit body to take place – at the second coming of Christ.
When Christ returns before He lands on the mount of Olives the first resurrection takes place and all of God’ Saints will be born for the second time but this time into incorruptible spirit. This corruptible flesh must “Put on incorruptible Spirit.
There are no born again folks on earth and there will not be until the second resurrection
Bill says that God doesn’t change but deals with folk differently depending on the times and this is why we need dispensation dogma.
change versus difference
Where’s the BEEF
Mayhem
Does that mean Bill believes God gives this man a break and that one – no break —
Does Bill think God puts folks to death for not resting on the Sabbath during one dispensation and not the next?
Does Bill think God is a respecter of person’s ?
Does that mean God judges one person one way and another a totally different way according to Bill?
Does that mean God is not the same today and forever?
Mayhem why do these preachers teach and preach so many different doctrines and gods? It is all so confusing
I couldn’t say, Truthseeker, because i’m still stuck at the stupid notion that differences are somehow not a result of change.
“God never changes, He deals differently with people on the earth, depending on the time in which they lived.”
I reread this comment and found a mistake sorry, here is how the last sentence should have read:There are no born again folks i.e saints born the 2nd time to spirit on earth now and there will not be until the first resurrection
And I will add a scripture
Philippians 3
21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto — his glorious body,– according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Those born again in that first resurrection will be in the same spirit form as Jesus Christ, same spirit body i.e fashioned like unto HIS glorious body
john rolls
you persist in posting messages from ministers that are illogical, confusing and contrary to the WORD— it appears you never back up their doctrine, when confronted with questions and scripture which discredit what they teach – it that OK with you??
This “Bill”, is so far from sound doctrine and yet you post his confusion???
well john rolls it appears you will not even comment on comments questioning why you post the false doctrines of ministers preaching confusion.
It leads others to ask the question are you not also very very confused ?
What a crock…blind leading the blind.