John 1:32-34 “I saw the Holy Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on Jesus. I would not have known him, except that the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Holy Spirit come down and remain is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God!”
John 3:3-8 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He 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.”
In reply, Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth; no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
“How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Holy Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The 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 Holy Spirit.”
THREE OBJECTIVES OF NEW BIRTH
1. POWER – clothed with power from on high Luke 24:49
2. KNOWLEDGE – The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth… The Holy Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. John 16:13, 15
3. CLEANSING – The Holy Spirit will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness. John 16:8
“As a child, I talked, thought, and reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.”