What is the "will of man" in John 1:13?

There are four statements in this verse (John 1:13), one is positive and three are negative. The one positive statement is "Which were born … of God." The three negative are, "not of blood"; "nor of the will of the flesh"; "nor of the will of man." These three things are the component parts of our human birth into this world. "Blood" would refer to the nature of that birth; "flesh" to the agent, and "man" as the source. This is what our Lord refers to in chapter 3, "that which is born of the flesh is flesh." We learn that new birth is not the product of nature, nor brought about by the flesh, nor does it spring from man, but is altogether of God, "Which were born … of God." More details are given in John 3, as to the agents God does use to bring this about. In chapter 1, stress is laid upon what the new birth is not, while in chapter 3, stress is laid upon what it is and how it is brought about by God.

John 1:12-13. God, in His sovereign grace, does not leave man entirely to himself. He works in grace in man, with the result that some receive Christ — they believe on His Name — and to such are given the right to become the children of God. They form a new race, not by natural generation — of blood; nor by their own efforts — the will of the flesh; nor by the will of others — the will of man; but as deriving a new life from God.

That is the emphasis here, as verse 13 shows. The 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. The will of the flesh never would have produced it, for the flesh is altogether opposed to God. The will of man, not even of the best of men, could have produced it: it is wholly beyond man's powers. Their birth was of God, as a Divine act; and the One whom they received in faith gave them the right formally to take the place that was thus vitally theirs.

Second, “nor by the will of the flesh.” No rite of circumcision, nor baptism, nor penance, nor good works, nor product of the flesh is of any use at all. Thirdly—“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 is God’s exclusive prerogative.

We know how ritualists affirm that water here is the water of baptism, and that thereby infants are made children of God, inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven, but this cannot be the meaning of the passage, for God’s Word says, “Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26). Not by baptism but by faith; not infants unconscious of the meaning of the rite, but sinners led to put their trust in Christ. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them which believe on His name: which were born, not of blood [not by heredity], nor of the will of the flesh [not by self-determination], nor of the will of man [not by a priest putting a few drops of water on the face of an unconscious infant] but of God [God’s own sovereign act]” (John 1:12-13).

This idea is elaborated in John 1:12-13, which tells that those who received Christ were those “which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” It is one thing to experience the New Birth, it is another to receive Christ, and John 1:12-13 makes this very clear. If I as an unregenerate man were able to exercise faith to bring about the New Birth, then it would be of “the will of the flesh,” and “the will of man,” which we are distinctly told it is not. It is “of God,” “of His own will,” “by the word of God,” and there we must leave it.

"Nor of the will of the flesh." The flesh is the moral principle of fallen humanity; it loves to reason, but hates to obey; cannot be subject to the law of God; they that are in it cannot please God; its mind, that it glories in, is enmity against God. It is the seed-bed of human theories and speculations, does not even pretend to give divine authority for them; it speaks from itself, the opposite of the way of the Holy Ghost. "He shall not speak from Himself," but only what He hears shall He speak. He speaks but to glorify Jesus, taking of the things that are His. The Eternal Word speaks of God, the Son about the Father, to glorify Him. This was the mind of Christ: "If any one desire to practise His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is of God, or that I speak from myself. He that speaks from himself seeks his own glory." "The words which thou hast given me I have given them." "I have given them thy word." "The word which ye hear is not mine, but that of the Father, who has sent me." "My doctrine is not mine, but that of Him that has sent me." Search the Scriptures," He said. That is, in the mind of Christ the Scriptures are of equal authority with the words which the Father had given; and the word of God, He tells us, cannot be broken. His mind is ever the condemnation of that of the flesh. The believer is not born of that, nor of the will of man; it is a ruined race. It is a solemn and important word, meeting us here at the threshold of this gospel. Put negatively, it is true; but of its scope and bearing there can be no question. But many, it is to be feared, are willingly ignorant of its import. The world cannot receive this truth; the springs of human energy (the will of the flesh) would be broken, so that it would cease to be "this present evil world."

But 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 element of being in the believer, though it may be impossible to define; and no wonder, for natural life is impossible to define. By it we are actually, not putatively, the children of God, — really born of Him: "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:13.)

So far, all seems and is clear. It is only when men begin to reason about God's truth that a haze falls over it. Does new birth precede faith, or does it follow it? Such questions seek to separate what God has indissolubly joined together. That there are mysteries here, none would question. Does not our Lord say: "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" (John 3:8)? Here is mystery, and there must be in divine things. God is sovereign, and His work must be to some extent inscrutable to finite minds. But we must not reduce to the compass of logic these mighty truths. Surely, it suffices to say new birth is a sovereign act of God, that He is first in it, and that it is by the Word through faith.