Becoming a Christian
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John 3:1-16
Titus 3:3-8
The butterfly
How do people change to become Christian / follower of Jesus / a disciple / child of God?
Regeneration - God’s side of the story
Regeneration - God’s side of the story
Remember last week… internal / external call… God (spirit) / us.
Having internally called a person, God regenerates them… he gives the new life / born again.
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.”
The phrase born of water and the Spirit in 3:5 refers to spiritual birth, which cleanses from sin and brings spiritual transformation and renewal. Water here does not refer to the water of physical birth, nor is it likely that it refers to baptism. The background is probably Ezek. 36:25–27, where God promises, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean. . . . And I will give you a new heart. . . . And I will put my Spirit within you.”
Small ‘l’ life to big ‘l’ LIFE… life to the full, new life, spiritual life, eternal life… knowing God!
From enemies to children of God, born of God…
From Darkness to light
From Condemned to saved
All God’s doing!
Like Moses, Israel and the serpents… God saves, gives life.
4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” 6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.
Look to the Son raised up on the cross and live… believe in the Son died for you and be saved!
3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 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, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,
At one time…
Washing of rebirth… inward cleansing not baptism. (Water B may symbolise it, but water B is not the effectual thing.)
How does God bring this change? With words.
God creates with words… “let there be light.”
Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead… “Lazarus come out.”
God saves us, raises us from spiritual death with words… the words of the gospel.
So this is what God is doing. What are we doing in this change?
Conversion - the persons side of the story
Conversion - the persons side of the story
Two words… repentance and faith.
Repentance
Repentance
To change… a change of heart… involves remorse, but also a positive outward looking forward… By being outward and forward looking, repentance produces fruit, good fruit, good change (Matt. 3:8), knowledge (2 Tim. 2:25), life (Acts 11:18), and salvation (2 Cor. 7:10).
To turn…
9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
Who is responsible for repentance?
God grants repentance… 2 Timothy 2:25 “25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,”
People decide to repent… Jeremiah 25:5 “5 They said, “Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the Lord gave to you and your ancestors for ever and ever.”
The evangelist urges people to repent… 2 Corinthians 5:20 “20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”
Faith
Faith
Knowing… facts about something
Assent… acknowledge of truth
Trust… making our lives consistent with what we know and acknowledge
We must have trust!
19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
So…
15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Saving faith!
But faith is never alone:
Titus 3:5–8 “5 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, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.”
Ephesians 2:8–10 “8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
James 2:17 “17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
Examples in Luke…
Friends lower a paralyzed man through the roof in front of Jesus (5:20).
A centurion asks Jesus to heal his servant with a word (7:9).
A sinful woman washes Jesus’ feet with her tears and hair (7:50).
A bleeding woman fights through a crowd to touch Jesus’ cloak (8:48).
The man healed from leprosy comes back to thank Jesus (17:19).
The blind beggar calls to Jesus to have mercy on him (18:42).
WHAT IS FAITH?
Faith asks us to believe in God. But we can know God only by believing in his Word, in what he has revealed to us. So the character of our faith depends on the nature of God’s revelation. In the history of theology, the debate has swung between understanding God’s revelation as propositional—we have an I-it encounter with God—and as existential—we have an I-Thou encounter with God. In the end, the Bible indicates that it is both. To know God, we have to know the propositions about him. But God is more than a set of propositions; he is also personal. So to know God also means to encounter God existentially and personally.
It is no different when we exercise saving faith. Biblical faith is not less than understanding (notitia) and assenting (assensus) to propositional truths about Jesus. But it is more than that. It requires trust (fiducia) in Jesus as a person. And often trust in Jesus requires us to make a daring existential leap—to get out of our comfort zones and risk our possessions and our reputations.
Evangelism in a skeptical world, Sam Chan.
Who is responsible for faith?
God grants it (Ephesians 2:8, Philippians 1:29 “29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him,” )
The person is responsible to believe (John 3:16, Romans 3:28 “28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.” )
The evangelist who urges people to have faith (John 20:31 “31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” ). Because faith comes from hearing the word (Romans 10:17 “17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” )
God’s Actions - The Person’s Actions
1. Internal call of the gospel 1. Hears the external call of the gospel
2. Regeneration 2. Conversion (faith and repentance)
3. Progressive sanctification 3. Discipleship (faith and obedience)
4. Preservation 4. Perseverance
5. Glorification
Models of conversion
Models of conversion
The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–32)
Rebel… crisis… comes to senses… repentance and faith (forgiveness)
John Newton (Amazing Grace)
Saul (Acts 9:1–30; 22:1–21; 26:1–23; Gal. 1:11–24)
Saul is a religious zealot (Acts 22:3; Phil. 3:4–6). He fulfills all of his religious duties, even to the point of persecuting enemies of his religion. But he realizes that none of his efforts can make him acceptable to God. He needs a righteousness not of his own but one that comes from Christ (Phil. 3:7–9).
Martin Luther … monk
Timothy (2 Tim. 1:5; 3:15)
Faith from infancy… unable to tell a time when he didn’t believe.
The rebel needs to hear that they have transgressed God’s laws.
The zealot needs to hear that they fall short of God’s holiness.
The believer since infancy needs to hear that they remain in Christ.
All of this suggests that the experience of conversion is not one size fits all.
Where do you fit? What do you or did you need to hear?
Possible models of evangelism - every person is different
Cognitive thinkers are persuaded by a reasoned discussion. They need to think about the gospel. We reach them with a logical presentation of ideas.
Intuitive thinkers are persuaded by emotions. They need to sense the awe of the gospel. We reach them with events and transcendental experiences.
Concrete-relational thinkers are persuaded by stories. They need to see how the gospel works. We reach them with the example of our lives.
3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 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, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.