Remade, Renewed, Regenerated by the Holy Spirit

This morning we’re going to be looking at another of the foundational beliefs in Christianity. Before we start we’ll do a fast (and I mean fast) review:

Jesus is THE Way

Grace is the key that unlocked the door to our salvation

Jesus is the Son of God - why it matters

The incarnation

The resurrection and the ascension (two-fer) why they both matter

the Bible is the infallible, inerrant word of God

That brings us to our next bottom line belief, the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit in salvation is sometimes overlooked. It is the Holy Spirit quickening the Word of God in us that brings the realization of our need for a savior.

John 3:3–7 NKJV

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

Titus 3:4–7 NKJV

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 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, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

2 Corinthians 5:17–18 NKJV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,

Why It Matters

Eternal punishment was our destiny

We were dead in our sin

The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life

Life was not in us

Christianity is about transformation and change

It isn’t simply about knowledge

The message of the gospel is that by His grace we are forever transformed.

That hopelessness is changed into a hope that is certain

That condemnation is changed to forgiveness

That estrangement is changed into relationship

That transformation and change is the work of the Holy Spirit

A new creature, a new nature, a new me

It involves 2 things:

A moral transformation

Everyone is born with a sin-corrupted nature

It is this nature that guides our decisions and desires

You are indeed angry, for we have sinned— In these ways we continue; And we need to be saved. 6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;

Isaiah 64:5–6 NKJV

You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned— In these ways we continue; And we need to be saved. But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.

At the very best our efforts produce dirty rags.

The regeneration of the Holy Spirit restores us to what God intended us to be.

Without sin, able to be in His presence

It is a new beginning, a fresh start

A new life

Before the work of the Holy Spirit we are dominated by what the scripture calls the flesh or carnal man. Paul puts it this way “you were once slaves to sin”

Self-living , your life was oriented towards your own desires.

1 Corinthians 2:13–14 NKJV

These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Those “fleshly” or unspiritual inclinations are replaced by spiritual ones. These are outlined for us in a familiar passage of scripture.

Galatians 5:22–26 NKJV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Love,

joy,

peace,

longsuffering,

kindness,

goodness,

faithfulness,

gentleness,

self-control.

We love the things that God loves

We hate the things that God hates