63. Nicodemus enquires about regeneration,
and the Lord replies: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
except a man be born again by water and the Spirit, he cannot enter
into the kingdom of God.” S. John iii. 5. And
that He might show that there is one birth according to the flesh, and
another according to the Spirit, He added: “That which is
born of the flesh is flesh, because it is born of the flesh; and that
which is born of the Spirit is Spirit, because the Spirit is
God.” S. John iii. 6. This is the full reading of the
passage according to St. Ambrose, referred to above in § 59. Follow out
the whole course of the passage, and you will find that God has shut
out your impiety by the fulness of His statement: “Marvel
not,” says He, “that I said, Ye must be born again.
The Spirit breatheth where He listeth, and thou hearest His voice, but
knowest not whence He cometh or whither He goeth, so is every one who
is born of the Spirit.” S. John iii. 7, 8.