Sermon Tone Analysis
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Are you born again?
¿Haz nacido de nuevo?
Introducción
1976, according to Newsweek magazine was the year of the evangelicals.
Both presidential candidates (Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter) claimed to be born again christians.
One-third of the population claimed to be born again christians.
Then in 1979 you see the birth of what was known s the religious right.
This voting block consisted of conservative republicans.
Moral, upstanding, church going people.
One of the major parties in this country saw this group of people as very dependable in terms of their vote.
In our most recent election, we saw much talk about evangelicals/christians/born again people having a duty to vote for a particular candidate.
In fact, many evangelicals made claims that this candidate was truly a born again christian.
It seems that to be a Christian in the United States boils down to carrying the American flag in one hand and possibly a bible in the other.
What does it truly mean to be born again?
What is a Christian?
Can an unrepentant serial adulterer be a Christian?
Can a person who supports abortion be considered to have experienced salvation?
Can a person who demeans people of other races, cultures, or economic status be truly considered a Christian?
Can a person who discriminates others on the basis of the color of their skin be considered a believer in the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
In our journey through the Gospel according to John we come upon one of the most important chapters in the Bible.
We consider:
The necessity of the new birth
La necesidad del nuevo nacimiento
The necessity of the death of Jesus
La necesidad de la muerte de Jesús
I.
The necessity of the new birth
I. La necesidad del nuevo nacimiento
A man comes to Jesus at night.
It is not just any man.
The bible describes him as:
“A member of the Jewish ruling council” (3:1)
A “teacher” in Israel (3:10)
In other words, this man was not an ordinary peasant living in Jerusalem.
He was a man who knew the scriptures.
He was most likely a Pharisee.
This means he was a member of the most strict sect in judaism.
Pharisees considered themselves to be the “pure ones”.
They strived to keep the laws of Moses.
He comes to Jesus at night.
We are not told why he comes to Jesus at night.
It is possible that he did not want to raise any suspicion amongst the rest of the ruling council.
It was particularly dangerous to be following the teacher from Galilee.
It is also possible that he wanted a time where Jesus was not being overpowered by the multitudes.
He may have wanted some personal, 1:1 time with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Other commentators take the fact that he came at “night” as a sign of Nicodemus’ spiritual darkness.
He was certainly in the dark for he did not have the good news of the gospel.
Nicodemus comes to Jesus because he has witnessed the signs he has performed.
John 3:
To Nicodemus, it was inconceivable to think that these miracles were being performed by a false teacher.
Surely, he was performing these signs because God was with him.
Let us not forget how in we were told of many who were following Jesus because of the signs he was performing.
However, Jesus did not entrust himself to them because he knew their faith was not genuine.
Jesus could see their hearts and discern their false faith.
Jesus it not flattered by Nicodemus’ words.
Jesus immediately goes to the most important issue facing Nicodemus:
Two things are stated.
The kingdom of God is real.
There is truly a kingdom where God rules.
There is a place called heaven.
Eternity is real.
In order to enter that kingdom there is a prerequisite.
You simply cannot enter the kingdom of God without being qualified to enter.
You must be “born again”.
Nicodemus does not understand what Jesus is speaking about.
It is clear that Nicodemus does not understand based on his response “how can someone be born again when they are old”.
Nicodemus is thinking of this new birth in terms of a second physical birth.
It is truly impossible to enter our mother’s womb to be born once again.
Jesus does not leave Nicodemus in the darkness regarding this most important message.
Jesus goes on to explain to Nicodemus what it means to be born again.
John 3:5
To be born again is to be born of water and the Spirit.
This does not mean to be baptized.
Many people wrongly believe that because they were baptized as infants, baptized as young children, or baptized as adults that they are saved.
Water baptism does not save a single soul.
In reality, to be born of water and the Spirit is speaking of the same thing.
To be born of water and the Spirit speaks about a spiritual cleansing that God performs one a person that has believed.
To be born of water and the Spirit is the moment when God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, cleanses us from our sin.
He wipes away all our sins.
It is as if God washes us thoroughly.
We are washed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We are made clean in the sight of God.
We are all born once.
We all have a fleshly birth.
This is our first birth.
However, if we are to enter the kingdom of God we must be born of the Spirit.
God must do this work in our lives.
To be washed, to be born again does not simply mean to change our behavior.
It does not mean to fulfill a religious duty of coming to church on Sundays.
There are many people who were faithful church goers, faithful religious people who will face an eternity in hell, separated from God.
The new birth is beautiflly illustrated in .
The new birth simply put is the new life we are given in Jesus Christ.
A life of service to God, a life of love and faithfulness to God.
A life of obedience to God as revealed in his Word.
A life devoted to the worship of God.
How is the new birth accomplished?
It’s simply a mystery!
We cannot produce the new birth in people.
We cannot make someone to be born again.
In fact, we cannot determine when someone will be born again.
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