‘But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name; which were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God’ (John 1:12-13). By this exhaustive division he rejects from the kingdom of Christ ‘blood’, ‘the will of the flesh’, and ‘the will of man’. ‘Blood’ means, I think, the Jews; that is, those who expected to be the children of the kingdom because they were the children of Abraham and the fathers, and so gloried in their ‘blood’. ‘The will of the flesh’ I understand as the efforts which the people exerted in the works of the law for ‘flesh’ here means carnal men without the Spirit, who were certainly possessed of will and endeavour, but who, because the Spirit was not in them, possessed them in a carnal manner only. ‘The will of man’ I understand in a general sense, of all the efforts of all men, that is, the nations, or any man whatsoever, whether in the law or without the law. So the sense is; the sons of God become such, not by carnal birth, nor by zeal for the law, nor by any other human effort, but only by being born of God. Now, if they are not born of the flesh, nor trained by the law, nor prepared by any human discipline, but are born again of God, it is apparent that ‘free-will’ avails nothing here. (Luther, The Bondage of the Will)
The teaching of John regarding the new birth is a direct attack on any aspect of human ability, power, and works having anything to do with the new birth. This passage strips all real argument away from anything that the human soul can offer in terms of helping to any degree in the new birth. It is also at the point of the new birth that the human will must be free for there to be any reason to argue for a ‘free-will’ at the point of conversion. It is at the point of the new birth that human inability is seen in its contrast with the glorious ability of God and of free grace. It is always one or the other and not both. It is always the ability of God and not the ability of man. It is always either the ‘free-will’ of man or the free grace of God. The two cannot be mixed for the mixing of the two will leave either a will that is not free or a grace that is no longer grace (Rom 11:6).
No soul is going to be born again because of the blood or because of what one is by birth. This may be clear to many in our day, but then again it may not be. While most would agree that one is not a Christian because of one’s nationality, it is not as clear that one is not a Christian because one’s parents are Christian. The teaching of Scripture at this point is absolutely devastating to those who look to their nationality or parents for any reason that they are or will be born again. One is only born as a child of God by the will of God rather than according to anything that went before them in terms of nationality or parentage. Scripture specifically and clearly points to the will of God as the only cause in the matter of the new birth. There is little difference between the Jews who thought they were born into the kingdom because of their relation to Abraham and being a Jew and those who think they are born again because they are children of believers. The only because in the new birth is the will of God, though the grace of God could be included as well but that is not adding anything to the will of God.
No soul is going to be born again because of the will of any flesh. This has been taken to mean differing things, but regardless of how one interprets this passage it excludes all works of any will of any flesh. John 3:6, in the context of the new birth again, says this: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 6:63 sets out the flesh as opposed to the Spirit: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” But both are speaking of the actions of the physical or natural nature as opposed to the work of the Holy Spirit. No act of the will which is from the flesh or according to the flesh is free to be a causation of any kind in the new birth. It is by the will of God alone.
No act of any will of any man can aid or be a cause in the new birth. Once again, this is interpreted in various ways, but regardless of how it is interpreted it is quite clear in taking out any part of the human will in the new birth. A soul is born as a child of God because of the will of God Himself and not because of the will of any human soul whether it is the will of the soul needing the new birth or the will of the father or the will of a priest or minister. This text of Scripture not only ascribes the birth of a child of God as being totally because of the will of God, but it also shreds any hope in the human will and leaves no room for a ‘free-will’ at all. The Gospel of grace alone stands alone as the hope of the human soul and leaves no hope for a will that is free of grace in salvation and as such leaves no room for ‘free-will’ at all. If there is no room for the ‘free-will,’ then that leaves us with an enslaved will with no hope but grace alone. The Gospel is of grace alone to those who are enslaved in sin.
God Loves... Himself 
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