Jesus teaches that no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born again. This spiritual rebirth, consisting of God's calling followed by baptism and receipt of the Holy Spirit, enables a person to understand and experience the Kingdom. The process is invisible to human eyes because it occurs in the heart and mind, granting spiritual discernment and the mind of Christ. Jesus further states that one must be born of water and the Spirit to enter the Kingdom, distinguishing what is born of the flesh from what is born of the Spirit. This requirement for seeing the Kingdom arises in Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus and is confirmed by Old Testament foreshadowing, such as Moses lifting up the serpent. The Jewish leaders failed to perceive this truth because their focus remained earthly and limited to physical Israel. Jesus reveals that the Kingdom begins as a spiritual reality before its future manifestation on earth at His return. The same chapter links seeing the Kingdom to believing in the Son, practicing the truth, and progressing through justification, sanctification, and glorification. Belief that leads to obedience separates those who receive eternal life from those who remain condemned. Thus seeing the Kingdom stands at the start of a divine process that culminates in everlasting life only for those who turn to and follow the Son.

Jesus tells Nicodemus that unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God. This seeing refers not to physical sight but to insight, understanding, and comprehension of a spiritual reality. Nicodemus and the Jewish leaders expected a visible national kingdom that would overthrow Roman rule through observable signs and wonders, yet Jesus explains that the Kingdom of God does not come by observation and cannot be perceived by those still operating with a physical mindset. The required change occurs inwardly through regeneration, a spiritual rebirth effected by the Holy Spirit, which moves a person from the fleshly realm into the spiritual one. This process begins with baptism in water and the laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit, enabling the convert to grasp heavenly truths that remain invisible to the natural eye. The effects of this transformation become evident over time in changed conduct and the fruits of the Spirit, much as the results of wind are seen while the wind itself remains unseen. Only those whom the Father calls and regenerates in the present age gain this understanding, forming a little flock that constitutes the spiritual Kingdom of God until Christ returns. Without this birth from above, even those who witness physical miracles remain unable to perceive what God is accomplishing through His Son.