John 3:7

Nicodemus needed spiritual life. He needed to experience the new birth. He had evidently viewed acceptance by God as so many of his Jewish contemporaries did. He thought that his heritage (ancestry, position, works, all that made him what he was) was adequate to get him into the kingdom and make him acceptable to God. He had to realize that he needed spiritual cleansing and renewal that only God could provide by His Spirit. Likewise today most people are relying on themselves, who they are and what they have done, for acceptance with God. They, too, need to know that they need spiritual cleansing and life that only God can provide. They must be born again or there is no hope of their entering God’s kingdom.

"There is no evolution from flesh to Spirit." [Note: E. C. Hoskyns, The Fourth Gospel, p. 204.]

The second "you" in John 3:7 is plural in the Greek text. It continues the general reference to "anyone" in John 3:3; John 3:5.

"The fact that Nicodemus used the plural pronoun ’we,’ [John 3:2] and Jesus responded with the plural ’ye’ . . . may indicate that Nicodemus was representing the religious leaders." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:295.]