The New Birth in Christ
- Rev. Jerry Lepasana
- Jan 10, 2010
- Series: Back to Basics
NEW BIRTH IN CHRIST
John 3:1-8
- Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.
- He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
- In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
- "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
- Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
- Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
- You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'
- The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
In our desire for greater productivity, we have specifically identified discipleship as our main calling as a church. I have spent a great amount of time last Sunday establishing the Biblical basis of it. I hope out of that message, you heard me clearly say that we want to see members who know how to win other people to Christ, and then take those people from the time of their conversion and help them become solid, dedicated, committed, and fruitful disciplers who could in time repeat that process in the life of another. That's our vision!
This morning, I would like to begin a series entitled, "Back to Basics, Building New Believers into Productive Disciplers." My intention is to put into your hands some basic lessons that you can use in the discipleship process. I want all of us to really understand our basic doctrines, and then encourage all of us to share them to others. They may sound elementary for others, but the purpose is not so much for you, but for the person you want to help grow in the Lord. I know there are people who are really eager to share; however, they don't know where to begin. After today, you won't have any excuse. Just share to them what you would learn on Sundays.
Today, we begin with the most basic doctrine of the Bible - New Birth. If you examine the Bible, it is quite evident that both the Old and New Testaments focus on God's provision to man's greatest need, which is salvation. Let's begin with this and talk about new birth in Christ. Here are several truths about this:
I THE IMPORTANCE OF NEW BIRTH:
When Jesus stated the main purpose of His coming to earth in Luke 19:10, He declared, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." Why did He use the term lost? What does it mean to be lost? This is a familiar term in the Bible to describe man's position or standing before God prior to personal salvation. This is how God sees everyone who is born naturally into the world.
Reading our main text, we are introduced to a man named Nicodemus who sought Jesus one night. With the descriptions provided in verse 1, he was probably the least person anyone would consider as lost, but Jesus would not hesitate to help him see his real condition before God.
Jesus could not have chosen a much better encounter to talk about the need of new birth than this one with Nicodemus. Many people don't see their need for salvation because they are deceived in three areas:
A. Morality - They probably would not consider themselves as perfect but they are not as bad compared to others. Therefore, they see themselves as more acceptable to God.
B. Religion - They belong to an organized religion and they actively participate as much as they could.
C. Knowledge - They are knowledgeable about the Bible and about God. They think they know and believe the right things.
Why aren't these things enough? Well, these are exactly the things Nicodemus could have boasted of. Notice in verse 1, he is a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling body. As a Pharisee, he lived a very moral life. He was definitely committed with all the ritualistic purity of the Pharisees. And for him to be a leader among them, this validates the level of commitment he had in learning and obeying the Scriptures. He was probably one of the most religious men in his day.
But, if you listen to verses 3, and 5; Nicodemus needed to be born again. The Greek word again can also be translated above, suggesting a spiritual transformation that takes a person out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God. His life and religion are not enough.
At first, this idea of being born again was confusing to Nicodemus. He thought Jesus was referring to physical birth (v.4). But Jesus had to explain to him that this was about being born spiritually. Think about this. The only way a person gets into the physical world is to be born. Likewise, the only way a person can possess the life of God and enter God's kingdom is to be born. Jesus said, "You must be born again (v.3)."
To be born again is to receive the eternal life that comes from God. No one can ever have this eternal life by simply being good or by being devoted to a religion. The Bible clearly reminds all of us:
- For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--
- not by works, so that no one can boast.
- he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
If it is not through ourselves, then how can we receive this life? Clearly, it is by believing and receiving Jesus Christ? Jesus stated this clearly in John 5:24:
"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
Make sure you are trusting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
II THE INSTRUMENTS OF NEW BIRTH:
If the physical birth needed two parents in order to happen, the spiritual birth needs two instruments as well. Jesus said in verse 5, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit."
A. Water:
There are people who carelessly interpreted this to refer to water baptism teaching that cleansing from sin can come through it. Since this would basically be a work that must be fulfilled, it strongly contradicts Ephesians 2:8-9, and Titus 3:5.
A much better understanding is to refer this to the Word of God. Spiritually, cleansing can be done by the Word of God:
- to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
The Word of God contains the Gospel of Jesus that one should believe in order to be born again. The very reason why the Bible was written is so we can have in our hands a written testimony of Jesus Christ.
- But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
B. Spirit:
After a sinner believes in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit completes the birth by giving him or her eternal life from God. This is what Jesus meant when He said in verse 6, Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. Since the kingdom of God is spiritual and holy, we need the Holy Spirit to give us the life suitable for the Kingdom. Our earthly body with its sinfulness is not fit for heaven.
- I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
Have you been born again already? Through the Word, you understand the Gospel about Jesus Christ. Once you believe this Gospel and receive Jesus, you will be born from above because you will receive eternal life through the Holy Spirit. I hope and pray we settle this once and for all.
III THE IMPARTATION OF NEW BIRTH:
When we came into this world through our physical parents, we have inherited a nature that is corrupt because of sin. The apostle Paul explained this truth in Romans 5:12:
- Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-
When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, he acted as a representative for the entire human race. In other words, none of us could have done better, we would have done exactly as Adam did. Therefore, all of us inherited the sinful nature of Adam. That's why you don't have to teach children to lie or to be selfish because they inherited the sinful nature. Like any other man, they will sin because it is their nature to sin.
After a person is born again, the Holy Spirit deposits a new nature in him. The apostle Peter describes this new nature for us:
- His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
- Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
Now, Peter explains to us that once you become a Christian, you receive a brand new nature within you from God. And together with this new nature, you receive everything you need to live a life that pleases God. This is a reason why regeneration or simply new birth is a radical experience. It makes a person brand new having received a nature and capacity to know and serve God instead of serving self and sin. Imagine, prior to salvation, even the mere understanding of spiritual things is not possible:
- The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
With all the complications in life that sin brings, we can all appreciate the new nature that God imparted to us through Christ.
IV THE INFLUENCE OF NEW BIRTH:
In closing, we also have to emphasize the need to nurture the new nature. When a person becomes a Christian, indeed, there's a brand new nature inside, but where is it? Why is it that some Christians are still having difficulty in manifesting a new life? Of course, you probably want to quote 2 Corinthians 5:17:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Well, if you are a genuine Christian, the new nature is there. This new nature may be buried under the old ways of thinking and acting, but it is there and it needs to be nurtured. In order for the new nature to have a powerful influence in our day to day life, this nature needs to grow and become mature. This is why the Bible talks about Christians as infants, children, and mature adults. Our goal is to see the life that God has implanted within us grow and develop from infancy to full grown mature individuals for Christ. Time and again, there are direct exhortations for Christians to keep growing:
- Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
- But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Yes, we need to keep growing if we desire to experience the blessedness of our new life in Christ. The truth is: God has deposited so much in us in our salvation beyond what we are able to imagine. However, we won't fully appreciate them if we don't grow. So, let us cooperate with God, and do your best to grow.