"The Call to Be Born Again"
Notes
Transcript
Try to get this picture if your mind someone standing outside of a locked building -
They have got the following things going for them -
The right clothes -
The right friends -
The right vocabulary - (right words)
A membership card -
Plenty of confidence -
But the problem is they don't have the key -
The bottom line is it doesn't matter how religious someone looks if they do not have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ they can not go in.
Proposition - You cannot enter God's kingdom by being religious, by being moral, by being popular, or by being quote successful. You must be born again through faith in Jesus Christ.
Interrogative question - What practical steps can you take to ensure that you are experiencing spiritual life through Christ?
1. Religion leads to a dead end - vs. 1-3
1. Religion leads to a dead end - vs. 1-3
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
Nicodemus was the top dog - (He had it all)
A Pharisee -
A ruler of the Jews -
Educated in the Scriptures -
Respected by others -
A religious leader - (part of the Sanhedrin)
He knew the Old Testament -
He knew about God -
He had spent years studying Scripture -
Yet Jesus told him:
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
That should have shocked Nicodemus.
Jesus wasn't telling an obviously rebellious sinner that he needed to change.
He was telling a religious man that he needed a completely new spiritual life.
Making it Personal -
You can know about God without knowing God.
You can:
Attend church -
Sing the songs -
Know Bible stories -
Memorize verses -
Have Christian parents -
Go to youth group -
Participate in church activities -
And still need to be born again -
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
Jesus warned that there would be people who claimed to know Him but did not truly belong to Him.
The question isn't:
“Do I look like a Christian?”
The question is:
“Do I truly know Christ?”
2. New Birth is a Work of God - vs. 4-8
2. New Birth is a Work of God - vs. 4-8
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into 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 be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus didn't understand what Jesus meant.
He asked how a person could be born again.
Jesus explained that this wasn't a physical birth.
It was a spiritual birth.
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Jesus is explaining the necessity of spiritual regeneration.
The Holy Spirit gives spiritual life.
5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
Paul says salvation is according to God's mercy and involves:
Salvation isn't simply becoming a better person.
It is becoming a new creation.
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
Christianity is not simply:
“Try harder.”
It is:
“God gives new life.”
Illustration: A Dead Battery
Imagine a car with a dead battery.
You can polish the car.
Wash the car.
Put new tires on it.
Change the oil.
Make it look brand new.
But if the battery is dead, the car still won't start.
The problem isn't the appearance.
The problem is the life.
Likewise, changing your outward behavior without having spiritual life doesn't make you a Christian.
You don't need spiritual makeup. You need spiritual life.
3. New Birth is needed for everyone - vs. 7
3. New Birth is needed for everyone - vs. 7
7 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
“You must be born again.”
Notice the word:
Must.
Jesus didn't say:
“You should consider being born again.”
He didn't say:
“Being born again is helpful.”
He said:
“You must be born again.”
This applies to everybody.
It applies to the:
Religious person.
Moral person.
Rebellious person.
Popular person.
Unpopular person.
Church kid.
Person who knows almost nothing about Christianity.
Everyone has the same problem:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The problem is not merely that some people have done bad things.
The problem is that all people are sinners by nature and by choice.
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
Therefore, everybody needs spiritual life.
4. New Birth comes through Christ Alone - vs. 14-18
4. New Birth comes through Christ Alone - vs. 14-18
14 “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Jesus refers Nicodemus to an Old Testament event from Numbers 21.
Israel had sinned against God.
God sent judgment through poisonous snakes.
The people cried out for mercy.
God instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent and lift it up.
Those who looked at it in faith lived.
Jesus says this event pointed forward to Himself.
14 “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
The bronze serpent wasn't the source of salvation.
God was.
The people had to look in faith at what God had provided.
Jesus was teaching Nicodemus that salvation comes through faith in God's provision.
Illustration: The Antidote
Imagine that someone has been poisoned.
The doctor provides the antidote.
The antidote is sitting right beside them.
Knowing the antidote exists isn't enough.
Reading the label isn't enough.
Talking about it isn't enough.
They must actually receive it.
In the same way, knowing that Jesus died for sinners isn't the same as personally trusting Him.
God’s Love - vs. 16
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Notice what God's love did.
God gave.
Salvation begins with God's grace.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Jesus didn't die because we were good enough.
He died because we were sinners who needed a Savior.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Salvation is by grace through faith—not because of works.
That means nobody gets to heaven saying:
“I was good enough.”
The Christian says:
“Christ was good enough, and I trusted Him.”
Jesus came with a purpose - vs. 17
17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
Jesus came as the Savior.
But John immediately explains that people are still responsible for how they respond to Him.
18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Those who believe are not condemned, but those who reject Christ remain condemned because they have rejected God's Son.
There is no neutral position.
You cannot simply say:
“I'll decide later.”
Rejecting Christ is still a response to Christ.
Illustration: The Bridge
Imagine a deep canyon.
You cannot jump across it.
Someone builds a bridge.
The bridge is strong enough to carry you safely across.
But you still have to trust the bridge and walk across it.
Jesus Christ is God's provision for our sin.
We don't save ourselves.
Christ saves.
5. What are you reflecting? vs. 19-21
5. What are you reflecting? vs. 19-21
19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
This reveals something important about sin:
Sin doesn't merely break God's rules. Sin affects our desires.
We naturally want to hide from God's authority.
20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
David prayed:
“Search me, O God…”
A Christian doesn't need to pretend to be perfect.
Instead, we bring our sin into the light and confess it to God.
Don't build a secret life.
Don't become one person at church and another person when nobody is watching.
What you do privately matters because God sees everything.
John the Baptist -
22 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized— 24 for John had not yet been thrown into prison. 25 Therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” 27 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. 28 “You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ 29 “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. 30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.
John the Baptist's followers became concerned because more people were going to Jesus.
John's response is one of the great statements of humility in Scripture:
30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.
That is the opposite of the world's message.
The world says:
“Promote yourself.”
John says:
“Promote Christ.”
The world says:
“Make yourself famous.”
John says:
“Make Christ known.”
The world says:
“It's all about you.”
John says:
“He must increase.”
Illustration: The Spotlight
Imagine standing on a stage with a spotlight.
The purpose of the spotlight isn't to draw attention to itself.
Its purpose is to illuminate the person on the stage.
That's what our lives should do.
We aren't supposed to make people say:
“Look how amazing I am.”
We should live so that people see:
“Look how great Christ is.”
Jesus is Above All -
31 “He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 “What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. 33 “He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. 34 “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. 35 “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. 36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
SO WHAT?
Religion can’t save you -
Nicodemus was religious, but he needed to be born again.
You need a new life -
Salvation isn't merely outward behavior modification.
Jesus is the only Savior -
John 3 points us directly to Christ and His sacrifice.
Christ must increase -
The Christian life is about making much of Jesus—not ourselves.
