but as many as received him, to them gave he [the] right to be children of God, to those that believe on his name;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
who have been born, not of blood, nor of flesh's will, nor of man's will, but of God.
John has just said that some people received Christ, and that He gave them the right to become God's children. This verse answers the next question — how does anyone enter that family? — and it starts by ruling out every route people would try on their own.
The verse makes one positive claim and guards it with three denials. Each denial matches a part of ordinary human birth.
George DavisonThis verse makes four statements. One is positive and three are negative. The positive one is "who were born … of God." The three negative ones are "not of blood," "nor of the will of the flesh," and "nor of the will of man." These three are the parts that make up our human birth into this world. "Blood" refers to the nature of that birth, "flesh" to the agent, and "man" to the source... Chapter 1 stresses what the new birth is not. Chapter 3 stresses what it is and how God brings it about.
The first denial rules out ancestry — the family line you are born into, religious or social.
F. B. HoleThe Jew boasted of having Abraham's blood in his veins, just as today a man may boast of being born of aristocratic or even royal blood. Those humble souls, who as exceptions to the rule received Christ when He came, were born of God... Their birth was of God, a divine act. And the One whom they received in faith gave them the right to take openly the place that was already theirs by that birth.
"Flesh" here means fallen human nature. That nature cannot give this birth, because it is set against God.
The Christian's FriendThe flesh is the moral principle of fallen humanity. It loves to reason, but hates to obey. It cannot be subject to the law of God. Those who are in it cannot please God. Its mind, which it glories in, is enmity against God. It is the seed-bed of human theories and speculations... The believer is not born of that, nor of the will of man; it is a ruined race. This is a solemn and important word, and it meets us right at the start of this Gospel.
The third denial closes the last door: what one person may decide, arrange or perform for another.
J. Wilson SmithThird — "nor of the will of man." This settles the matter definitely — "man" has nothing to do with it. He may reform you, educate, civilise, make you religious, but he cannot touch this question. This belongs to God alone.
Commentators press this against the idea that a ceremony can make a child of God:
A. J. PollockNot by baptism but by faith. Not infants who do not understand what the ceremony means, but sinners led to put their trust in Christ. This birth does not come by a priest putting a few drops of water on the face of an unconscious infant. It is "of God," by God's own sovereign act.
The positive half of the verse describes something given, not something improved.
Frederick W. GrantBut this new life given of God is not merely a moral change — a ceasing to do evil and learning to do well. It is a real new kind of life in the believer, though it may be impossible to define. That is no wonder, for natural life is impossible to define too. Through it we are the children of God in reality, not just in name — really born of Him.
Everyone born this way shares one source, and that makes them one people:
Hamilton SmithThey form a new race. This does not come by natural birth — of blood. It does not come by their own efforts — the will of the flesh. It does not come by the will of others — the will of man. It comes from a new life they receive from God.
Verse 12 speaks of believing; this verse speaks of birth. Commentators differ on how the two fit together. Some argue the birth must come first:
A. J. PollockSuppose I, while still unconverted, could produce the new birth by my own faith. Then it would be of "the will of the flesh" and "the will of man" — and we are plainly told that it is not. It is "of God," "of His own will," "by the word of God," and there we must leave it.
Others hold that the question itself pulls apart what Scripture keeps together.
Samuel RidoutDoes new birth come before faith, or after it? Such questions try to separate what God has joined together and will not have divided... It is enough to say that new birth is a sovereign act of God, that He is first in it, and that it comes by the Word through faith.
- Blood — ancestry is ruled out. No family line, national or religious, passes this birth down.
- Flesh — self-effort is ruled out. The nature doing the willing is the very nature that is at enmity with God.
- Man — outsiders are ruled out. Another person can educate you or perform a rite on you, but cannot touch this.
- God — the one remaining source. Not the old life repaired, but a real new life, making us His children in fact and not just in name.
- Result — a new race, gathered by God's act rather than by descent, decision or ceremony. Commentators differ on how faith and this birth fit together. All agree that God is first in it.