There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: the same, came to Jesus by night, and said unto Him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come, from God.' for no man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus, answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he, cannot see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto Him, How can a man be born when he, is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?, Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of, the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh;, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born, again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell, whence it cometh, and wither it goeth; so is everyone that is born of the Spirit Nicodemus, answered and said unto Him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto you, We, speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen.' and ye receive not our witness. If I, have to Id you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly, things? (John, 3:1-12).,

The idea that John had been Elias and that the prophets could relive again on Earth is to, be found in many passages of the New Testament, but is most notedly quoted in the above extract., (See verses 1, 2, & 3.) If this was an erroneous belief, Jesus would have combated it as He did, many others. But from this He gave it complete sanction and authority by making it a basic, principle and necessary condition by saying: 'No one may reach the Kingdom of God if he is not, born again,' and further insisted when He added: 'Do not be surprised when I say it is necessary to, be born again.', 7. The words: If man is not born again of water and of Spirit, have been interpreted in the, sense of regeneration by means of the water of Baptism. But in the original text it was said simply:, not born of water and of Spirit, whereas in some translations the words of spirit have been, substituted by Holy Spirit, which does not correspond to the original meaning. This capital point stands out from the first, comments which the Gospels raised and will one day be confirmed beyond all possible doubt. (1),

To enable the real meaning of these words to be reached it is also necessary to pay, attention to the significance of the word water which is not used here in its usual sense., The knowledge of physics was very imperfect in ancient times when it was believed that the, Earth had risen out of the water. Therefore water was considered to be the exclusive primitive, generating substance. This is why we read in the book of Genesis: '...the Spirit of God moved upon, the face of the waters; it floated above the waters; .. . Let there be firmament in the midst of the, waters; ... Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land, appear; ... Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that, may fly above the Earth in the open firmament of heaven.', According then to this belief, water represented the nature of matter, just as the Spirit, represented the nature of intelligence. The words: 'If man is not reborn of the waters and of the, Spirit, or in water and in Spirit', thus signify -'if man is not born with his body and his soul'. This is, the manner in which these words were originally understood., This interpretation is wholly justified by these other words: What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of Spirit is Spirit. Here Jesus established a clear distinction between body and, Spirit. What is born of the flesh clearly indicates that only the body generates from the body and, that the Spirit is independent.,

The words: 'The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound but know' not from, whence it comes nor whence it goes' are referring to the Spirit of God, who gives life to whom He, wishes, or rather to the soul of man. The words you know not where it comes from nor where it, goes', signifies that we do not know who the Spirit had been previously or who it will be in the, future. If the Spirit or soul was created at the same time as the body we would know where it came, from because we would know its beginning. Whichever way you look at this passage, it confirms, the principle of the pre-existence of the soul and subsequently the plurality of existences., 10. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth, violence and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until, John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear (Matthew, 11: 12-15)