Suggestions for leading a study:

• Familiarize yourself with the passage in context, including the book itself.  Who wrote it to whom, and why?
• Read through the study guide a couple times to get the “big idea” as well as the flow of the argument
• Have the group read through the passage in it’s entirety before beginning the study.  One of the goals is to try to get your members to learn how to study Scripture methodically, and this is an important step.
• Be prayed up
• Have fun!
  

Being Born Again

Text: John 3:1-8

1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."  

3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

4"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

 5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

Discussion Questions:

·         What was Nicodemus willing to admit about Jesus and why?

·         What was Jesus’ reply to Nicodemus?  Did it affirm what Nicodemus had said about him, or was Jesus trying to draw him to a broader understanding of what he was about?

·         What was Nicodemus’ problem with Jesus’ reply? 

·         Jesus offers a further explanation in verse 4 as to what he means by being born again.  What two symbols does he use? 

·         Why do you think he used water as a metaphor for being saved?

·         In verses 6-8 Jesus introduces another metaphor to explain the “spiritual” aspect of being saved.  What is it? 

·         What is it about wind that is similar to salvation?
-Someone has said: “You can only tell that wind is present by It’s effects on things.”  Do you think that might be a part of why salvation is like the wind? 

·         This whole discussion was meant to explain why salvation is like being “born again”. 
-When babies are born, what part do they have to play in that process?  How is that like being saved?
-When babies are born, is that a beginning or an end?  What does that have to say about our salvation?

What can we do in our lives to ensure that we are born of “water and the Spirit”?

 Leaders Guide

The goal of this lesson is to help members see that salvation is about achieving a brand new life and that only God can accomplish that for us.

·        What was Nicodemus willing to admit about Jesus and why?
Nicodemus realized that Jesus was at least a great teacher sent by God, based on the miracles that Jesus had done.  If someone asks what doing miracles has to do with being affirmed as a teacher, the miracles were evidence of Jesus’ having “come from God.”  To the Jewish mind, this made him a prophet (as opposed to our modern idea of a prophet being someone who can tell you the future), and hence his teaching had authority.

·        What was Jesus’ reply to Nicodemus?  Did it affirm what Nicodemus had said about him, or was Jesus trying to draw him to a broader understanding of what he was about?
Jesus replies with what would be a cryptic comment about being born again.  Apparently Jesus was trying to get Nicodemus to understand that his arrival was about something beyond just good teaching.  It was the way to see the kingdom of God.

·        What was Nicodemus’ problem with Jesus’ reply? 
Obviously, Nicodemus didn’t understand what Jesus was getting at and thought that he was talking about a physical rather than a spiritual reality.

·        Jesus offers a further explanation in verse 4 as to what he means by being born again.  What two symbols does he use? 
The two symbols in verse 4 are water and Spirit. 

·        Why do you think he used water as a metaphor for being saved?
This is probably referring to the Jewish notion of being cleansed.  They were very big on not being able to enter a holy place or approach God in worship without first going through some ritual cleansing, usually the washing of hands.  Jesus is saying here that to be “born of water” is to have one initial cleansing that makes you pure from that point forward, rather than having to go through successive rituals to be right before God.  Some commentators would also see this as referring to baptism, which isn’t necessarily wrong since baptism symbolizes the same thing.  This can be an opportunity to ask your group if any of them still needs to be baptized.

·        In verses 6-8 Jesus introduces another metaphor to explain the “spiritual” aspect of being saved.  What is it? 
The next metaphor Jesus introduces is the wind.

·        What is it about wind that is similar to salvation?
The primary aspect Jesus is referring to is that you do not see the wind, hence full understanding of how it works or what it is escapes us.  In the same way, you don’t “see” spiritual transactions but they are just as real. —the question is meant to clarify another aspect that is important to underscore.
-Someone has said: “You can only tell that wind is present by It’s effects on things.”  Do you think that might be a part of why salvation is like the wind? 
The Bible always affirms that salvation is something that should have a profound and visible effect on who we are and how we behave.  We don’t have to see or fully understand the process of spiritual transformation itself, but it should certainly be obvious that it has happened.

·        This whole discussion was meant to explain why salvation is like being “born again”. 
-When babies are born, what part do they have to play in that process?  How is that like being saved?
Babies are basically passive participants in the birth process.  In the same way, our salvation is totally dependent on God rather than anything we could do to achieve it.
-When babies are born, is that a beginning or an end?  What does that have to say about our salvation?
The Bible always affirms salvation as the beginning of a journey of walking with God.  It is never an end, but a glorious beginning to a brand new life.  Caution your group against seeing salvation as “fire insurance” that saves us from Hell but doesn’t start us on a new way of living.  The Bible never affirms that as a valid way of looking at it, despite how many people treat it that way

What can we do in our lives to ensure that we are born of “water and the Spirit”?
Some in your group may need to accept Christ for the first time.  Some may need to be baptized.  Some may need to re-affirm that their salvation needs to be a forward journey in partnership with God and his Spirit.  Spend a lot of time praying over this study, that God would clarify in people’s hearts where they really stand with him.