John 1:13 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Which were born, not of blood; not of the blood of men and women; or, not of the blood of Abraham (which was the boast of the Jews, We have Abraham to our Father). Nor of the will of the flesh; nor from the lusts of the flesh. Nor of the will of man; nor from a power in man's will, or men's free act in adopting other men's children. To be born, signifieth to receive our principle of life: those who are the children of God hard not the principle of their life, as they are such, from the motions of nature, nor from the will of men. But of God: whatever be the sense of the former words, these words plainly affirm God to be the principal efficient, and procreant cause, of all those who are the sons of God; for faith, by which we are the children of God, Galatians 3:26, is the work of God, 1 Thessalonians 6:29, his gift, Philippians 1:29; and men are born again, not of corruptible seed, but of that which is incorruptible, 1 Peter 1:23: they are sanctified and cleansed with the washing of water by the word, Ephesians 5:26; the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, Titus 3:5.