Bible Strands
John 3:6
Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus, a Pharisee, in the middle of the "born again" exchange (John 3:5–7).
The words — γεγεννημένον (gegennēmenon), a perfect passive participle of "born," marks the result as a settled state rather than a momentary event. σαρκός (sarkos) carries the sense of the human, natural order as opposed to the spiritual.
The thread — The flesh-versus-Spirit contrast recurs in Romans 8:4, Galatians 5:16, and Ezekiel 36:26, where the old nature is set against the new.
Why it lands — It forces the reader to see that natural birth cannot produce spiritual life; the two orders are distinct and one does not generate the other.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Cross-references
- Galatians 5:16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
- Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
- Romans 8:4 so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!
- 1 Corinthians 15:47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.
- Romans 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
- 1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit.
- 1 John 3:9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
- Genesis 6:12 And God looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt; for all living creatures on the earth had corrupted their ways.
- Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.