John 3:6
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
KJV
τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς σάρξ ἐστιν, καὶ τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος πνεῦμά ἐστιν.
Greek NT
Quod natum est ex carne, caro est : et quod natum est ex spiritu, spiritus est.
Vulgate
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
ASV
That which is born of the flesh is flesh: and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Douay-Rheims
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In the original Greek
7 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.
γεννάω
gennao
verb · 97×
εἰμί
eimi
verb · 2461×
καί
kai
conjunction · 8973×
πνεῦμα
pneuma
noun · 379×
σάρξ
sarx
noun · 147×
ἐκ
ek
preposition · 915×
ὁ
o
article · 19778×
Themes
Historic Christian voices
10 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.
Catechism of the Catholic Church · 2 passages
§728Jesus does not reveal the Holy Spirit fully, until he himself has been glorified through his Death and Resurrection. Nevertheless, little by little he alludes to him even in his teaching of the multitudes, as when he reveals that his own flesh will be food for the life of the world.110 He also alludes to the Spirit in speaking to Nicodemus,111 to the Samaritan woman,112 and to …
§1287This fullness of the Spirit was not to remain uniquely the Messiah's, but was to be communicated to the whole messianic people.93 On several occasions Christ promised this outpouring of the Spirit,94 a promise which he fulfilled first on Easter Sunday and then more strikingly at Pentecost.95 Filled with the Holy Spirit the apostles began to proclaim "the mighty works of God," a…
1. Little children who go daily to their teachers receive their lessons, and repeat them, and never cease from this kind of acquisition, but sometimes employ nights as well as days, and this they are compelled to do for perishable and transient things. Now we do not ask of you who have come to age such toil as you require of your children; for not every day, but two days only i…
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Calvin shows that regeneration is absolutely necessary — not merely an improvement of nature but an entirely new birth. This new birth is from above, by the Spirit, and is as mysterious and sovereign as the wind. The lifting up of the serpent in the wilderness is a type of Christ's crucifixion: as Moses lifted up the…
Man, before he is renewed into the new creation of the Spirit's kingdom, does and endeavors nothing to prepare himself for this renewal and kingdom, and when he is renewed, he does and endeavors nothing toward his perseverance in that kingdom; but the Spirit alone works both blessings in us, regenerating us, and preserving us when regenerate, without ourselves.
Affections that are truly spiritual and gracious arise from those influences and operations on the heart which are spiritual, supernatural, and divine. The Spirit of God is given to the true saints to dwell in them as His proper lasting abode, and to influence their hearts as a new supernatural principle of life and action.
Original sin is such a deep corruption of nature that no reason can understand it; it must be believed on the authority of Scripture. All that is born of flesh is flesh and is by nature a child of wrath. Neither works, law, nor human merit can remedy this condition — only the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Cross-references
- 1Cor 6:17 — But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
- 1Cor 6:17 — But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
- 1Cor 15:47 — The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
- 1Cor 15:48 — As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
- 1John 3:9 — Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
- 2Cor 5:17 — Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
- Col 2:11 — In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
- Eph 2:3 — Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
- Ezek 11:19 — And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
- Ezek 36:26 — A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
- Gal 5:16 — This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
- Gal 5:17 — For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
- Gal 5:19 — Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
- Gal 5:24 — And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
- Gen 5:3 — And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
- Gen 6:3 — And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
- Gen 6:5 — And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
- Gen 6:12 — And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
- Gen 8:21 — And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will
- Heb 12:9 — Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
- Job 12:10 — In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.
- Job 14:4 — Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
- Job 14:4 — Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
- Job 15:14 — What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
- Job 15:14 — What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
- Job 25:4 — How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?
- John 1:13 — Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
- Ps 51:5 — Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
- Ps 51:10 — Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
- Rom 7:5 — For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
- Rom 7:18 — For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
- Rom 7:18 — For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
- Rom 8:4 — That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
- Rom 8:5 — For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
- Rom 8:9 — But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
- Rom 8:13 — For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.