Doctrine of Regeneration
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4th of July, Happy Independence Day!
“The Light and the Glory” - Peter Marshall, David Manuel
Being made new. Regeneration, being born again, spiritually made alive in Christ.
The moment one becomes alive to Christ and is free from the bonds of sin. Talk about liberation.
Where you were once headed for certain destruction and eternal punishment, you are instantly transformed, justified before God, able to by faith make good the confession of what God has done. Through regeneration one is able to understand the penalty of sin, the final judgment and call out to the Lord repenting of sin and confessing Jesus as your only hope and righteousness.
Without regeneration it is impossible to break free from the bonds of sin. Minus regeneration, one cannot, and will not, submit to Christ as Lord. It is impossible to come out from under the impending wrath of God toward the sinner, it is impossible to be anything but an enemy of God.
The fruit of regeneration
Chris West #84998
LCCF
6900 W. Millen Dr.
Hobbs, NM 88244
What is Regeneration
1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” 3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” 4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 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.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
Why should this be something we think deeply about?
Nicodemus was a
highly esteemed leader and teacher in Jerusalem.
He was an expert in the Scriptures.
He was extremely wealthy.
If you were righteous before God, He blessed you with riches.
He was extremely intelligent.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?
Nicodemus was right where he needed to be on the subject most important.
He was worried.
Worry
2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
Jesus strongly rebuked the religious leaders calling them sons of the devil, making people sons of hell… like them, whitewashed tombs full of dead men’s bones.
Yet Jesus proved he was from God by the miracles he performed. The proof for a religious pro like Nicodemus was in the combined teaching and miracles performed by Jesus. He was from God.
Nicodemus had lived his whole life working hard to learn the Scriptures, Lead and teach others about the Word. It all seemed to work, right? Wrong.
At that time earthly riches were seen as being right with God. If you
In other words, he has learned to work his way into being right with God. in the tithe, prayer, devotion, separation from idols, he had learned them all.
I may not be the best, but at least I am not the worst like that guy over there! So, Nicodemus should have been happy to be right with God. No, he was worried.
We are not better today.
Just because people go to church, give, participate, does not mean they have been regenerated, or spiritually born again.
Like Nicodemus, they should be worried.
WORD
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
Only God can cause a person to be born again.
Only God can cause a person to be born again.
Book Title - How to be born again
Do these steps, pray this prayer, recite this confession… We, humans, have nothing to do with regeneration, Only God can cause someone to be born again.
You and everyone alive on this planet didn’t have anything to do with being physically born into this world.
You and every other Christian didn’t have anything to do with being spiritually born again.
That is why Jesus used the illustration of birth to describe someone being spiritually dead one moment to being spiritually alive in the next by Holy Spirit power.
Only God can cause one to be spiritually born again.
Rabinic style, stories, Hyperbole, riddles, all a thing Nicodemus would have been perfectly familiar with.
He was responding intelligently to Jesus in rabbinic fashion.
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
Wonderful response
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.
Born of water means to be physically born. Not baptism.
a. Nicodemus knew nothing about Christian baptism. (Acts)
b. Jesus was saying, “for anyone to be born again spiritually, they must be created - and human.”
Jesus went super basic here, which leaves no room for us to mess it up.
26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.
Notice it is God doing the regenerating. He is actively involved in each and every spiritual birth.
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
If we have something to do with regeneration, it wouldn’t be a gift from God. We would actually have a little to boast about.
9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
There is no formula to make regeneration happen
There is no formula to make regeneration happen
6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
A husband and a wife can plan to have a baby, set up the room, get all the supplies ready - all in preparation for a physical birth.
As Christians, we can preach the Word, explain the gospel, share testimony of what God has done, but ultimately, we have no control over the miracle of regeneration.
People cannot cause another person to be spiritually born again. Only God can do this. Only by the power of God’s Spirit can a person be born again.
7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’
You and I should not be surprised that we cannot make God birth a person in the spirit because we had them chant a prayer, read a book, or do some special thing to “Get born again.”
8 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.”
We have no control over the wind. We have no control over God’s Spirit. God is Sovereign. He does what he wants, when he wants, to who he wants and nothing can stay his hand. Period.
Regeneration in the OT
7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
Notice God is saying “I” a lot. HE alone is going to do this work. HE alone still does this work of raising spiritually dead people to spiritual life.
Jesus is still raising people to spiritual life and salvation.
Work
Who? We don’t always know - so we preach to everyone.
How? We don’t know but we certainly know He does.
The Lord is very involved with every individual born into the kingdom.
How you view regeneration will determine your view of God at work in the world.
4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
Did Jesus suffer and die on the cross to make a general offering of redemption to mankind? “I did the work, it is now available to everyone and anyone who decides to accept it, now good luck.”
Did Jesus suffer and die on the cross to redeem for himself a particular people chosen by God before the foundation of the world?
Did Jesus’ great sacrifice open the door for all humanity to choose or reject him as Lord and savior? If so,
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Wouldn’t this make the number one thing Jesus came to do not very good? He was perfect at living a sinless life, but not very good at saving mankind from destruction.
4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—
37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
I believe Jesus gets 100% of what he asks for. His intercession is perfectly in line with the Godhead.
When Jesus stands in the gap for his children, nothing will stop His perfect will for that person from happening.
It appears to be very likely Nicodemus was definitely chosen by God.
john 7: 50-52 we find him pushing the religious leadership to obey the law concerning their dealing with Jesus. They wanted to murder him and Nicodemus reminded them that that is not how the law works. They ridiculed him for the statement.
John 19:39-40 We see the last reference to Nicodemus in Scripture. He supplied around 75 pounds of aloes and myrrh to wrap around the body of Jesus.
Costly, fit for a king
Nicodemus has a great deal of respect for Jesus.
I have a feeling he experienced everything Jesus spoke about on the night the met.
History tells us that he was banished from his position in the Sanhedrin
His wealth was confiscated
some say he was kicked out of the city of Jerusalem
He lost everything in this world to gain everything in the world to come.
That is a mark of regeneration.
Whoever comes to Jesus will NEVER be driven away empty.
Jesus loves mankind and will never fail to save a soul that comes to Him.
Praise God for the gift of regeneration. A wonderful gift from God that makes salvation in Christ possible.
All glory to God for what He has done!