YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN – PART TWO
Friends, it is good to be with you again today. And I want to finish what we started last time: You Must be Born Again. We took that from,
John 3:3
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
And Jesus made it clear that this was the activity of the Holy Spirit when He said in verse 5-7,
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
PRAYER:
Father, we commit this time to You, and ask that You minister to those You love who are in radioland…in Jesus Name. Amen!
You must be born again. And last time we saw that that expression, born again, seems to be an unfortunate translation; because the same gospel of John, in three different places, used the same word, and in those places is translated from above. Jesus was saying to Nicodemus except you be born from above you cannot see the kingdom of God neither can you enter into the kingdom of God. The new birth!
We rarely hear that preached these days. And yet it is very very important. We have to believe what Jesus said; that without it entrance into heaven is impossible. And we also observed last time that the new birth is not by human activity. It is union with God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is not brought about by human effort; not by keeping the Ten Commandments; not through water baptism. Some people think that water baptism is what causes you to be born anew. It is the work of God, the triune God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the heart of man; because God the Father planned salvation, but the Son paid the price for salvation. God the Holy Spirit executes that which Jesus paid for; because without the activity of the Holy Spirit in the life of a man…it is the Spirit of God that comes in and causes your spirit that is dead as a result of sin and trespasses to come alive. It is the Holy Spirit that gives life to your dead spirit. It is the gracious act of God.
Titus 3:5-7
5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
The new birth. It is by God’s gracious act. Friend, are you born from above? Are you born again?
Why is it necessary? Why must you be born again?
- You need the new birth to save you from God’s anger or God’s wrath, because of sin.
Psalm 7:11
God is a just judge,
And God is angry with the wicked every day
Every sinner is a wicked man or woman. And God is angry because of your sin.
John 3:36
36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Ephesians 2:3-5
3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
So number one, you need to be born again. You need to be born again to escape the wrath of God.
- You need the new birth to transform or change your life deep inside to enable you to see life from God’s view point.
Without the new birth you cannot see the kingdom of God, you cannot appreciate the kingdom of God. And without the new birth you cannot experience the kingdom of God. You need the new birth to fulfill God’s purposes and plans for your life, because without it you cannot. It is not enough to be saved from sin. You need to be saved into the life of God. The new birth is not just to escape hell into heaven: it is to live a richer and fuller life here on earth and now. Eternal life is the life of God – a life that experiences God here and hereafter.
To those whose emphasis in evangelism is what happens to people after they die: One Ben Pearce said this, or has this to say, “If evangelism focuses on what happens after we die it leaves people wondering what Christians should do until or before they die”.
If our concern is, ‘be born again so you will escape hell and go into heaven’, is that all? Even in the Old Testament God did not only save Israel only from Egyptian bondage; He saved them into the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy 6:23
23 Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers.
He brought us out to bring us in. The born again person lives a transformed and transforming life.
Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
The born again person lives now to please God and not himself. He lives now to please God and not Satan. That is why in 1 John 3:9-10 the scripture says,
1 John 3:9-10
9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
This victory over sin is possible because of the indwelling presence of Jesus Christ in the person of the Holy Spirit. ‘The person who is born from above, born again, who does not live in sin’, that’s what that passage means. It does not mean that that person may not sin once, but does not practise sin, does not live habitually in sin. If you live habitually in sin and claim to be born again you are a liar because of the seed of God. The Greek word for seed there is sperma. Because of that sperma of God: the nature of God in you – you cannot be habitually living in sin.
One man of God said that Jesus gave Himself for us to give Himself to us. He died for us; and then He lives in us, the life of God.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh or live physically I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
Beloveth, are you born again? Are you born from above?
PRAYER:
Thank you again, Father. Thank You for this truth – most essential truth. May as many as have heard today respond favorably to You for You have said what You meant and You mean what You said, that except we are born from above, born from heaven, born again – we cannot see You. As many as are yielding to You now, I commit them into Your hands that you will keep them and reveal yourself more and more to them…in Jesus Name we pray. Amen!