10 Marks of the New Birth

Introduction

This morning I want to take the time we have together and wrestle through a question many if not all of us have asked at one point or perhaps are even wondering now. How do I know that I have really been born again? What are the proofs that I can look for? God in His sovereignty knew that we would wrestle with this so He put in a whole book/letter about it. Much like those old mysteries where someone when they are captured ties a string every so often or leaves an item so that the person looking for them will have some clues to help find them. We are going to be following the breadcrumb trail that John leaves in his letter to believers.

As we examine this letter I will be focusing in on 3 groups of people: 1. The Believer who is unsure- I want to show you there are marks/evidence to be seen in the life of a born again believer. 2.The self Righteous/blinded believer- The one who isn’t wrestling with their faith and probably thinks they are good. Yet fails to realize there are marks that are to identify a believer that are severely lacking in their life. 3. The unbeliever- The one’s who don’t believe in Christ but have heard much and are curious. To all of us a fresh reminder of what the life of a believer looks like.

Introduce Text: 1 John 5:13-20

Context:

Many of you have or do regularly watch the game show “Family Feud”. In this game there will be a statement and you have to guess all the best answers based upon surveys done. If you do it before the competing team then you get the points for that round. For example “Apps you have on a phone”…calculator, calendar, email, Facebook, and chick fil a app.

Much like that game uses items to match the description we see a similar action in 1 John. However instead of taking a survey from well known preachers or theologians I believe it best to look at what God’s Word says in regard to identifiers. What we are looking at today are the (10 marks of the new birth).

In order to find these 10 marks we have to mine the entire epistle of 1 John. Because our main text is found after the proofs/descriptions that John gives. A good place for us to start before we go on our treasure hunt is to realize who John is:

· Pillar of the Jerusalem church.

· In Ephesus after the destruction of the temple.

· He was an Apostle- Walked, talked, and saw Jesus firsthand.

Cause for Writing

The prevailing false teachings at the time Docetism and Gnosticism (special knowledge) in Ephesus and much of the Greek and Roman world. This teaching stated that Jesus Christ in flesh did not have a human body but was rather a celestial substance meaning that His sufferings were not real but apparent. This teaching ultimately led to a divorcing of the actions of the body and the lack of responsibility on the spirit for what the body does. This teaching shook the church at the time and these false teachers ultimately left the church and started up a cult. John’s response was to write a letter that drew as simple and accurate a portrait of the difference between the child of God and the world.

o John wrote the gospel of John to provoke unto faith

o John wrote 3 John to encourage love amongst brothers.

o John wrote 2 John to address the importance of love and truth for the elect.

o John wrote 1 John to clear up personal assurance of genuine new birth.

Transition: Now that we established the reasoning and credibility of the author let’s look at the 10 marks that John gives of what the life of one who has truly been born again looks like.

10 Marks of the New Birth

1. <1 John 1:6>- A Singularly Focused Life.

Observations:

a. Jesus being referred to as “light” is a common theme in Scripture. It is interesting you cannot hide much in the light. A movement in the light casts a shadow. We as sinful man trying to walk in the light cast many shadows but James 1:16 would remind us that God who lives in the light doesn’t even cast a shadow.

b. Darkness on the other hand is the absence of light. You can’t dark something. The way to make something dark is to take away the source of light.

Illustration: Every summer during college my friend and I would make a concerted effort to get in shape for the next basketball season. We had a great team and were pushing each year for a championship. When my friend came home he typically didn’t have a job so he gave himself fully to our diet plan and exercise regime. As for me I was interning 40-50 hrs. a week and catering on weekends. Needless to say I didn’t keep too strictly to our diet plan. Although at our accountability sessions I typically omitted or made my diet sound much better than it was. So though my words matched my walk or lack thereof didn’t.

Application: So the application here is that if you say that you are with the “Father of Light” yet walk in the darkness you are lying. In order to walk in the dark there is an absence of the Giver of light. This is not to say that as a true believer you will encounter sinless perfection but you will not be given entirely to a life of habitual sin. If you find yourself as a believer who is living too often in carnality take this time before you leave to repent and ask the Lord to bring you out of the darkness and seek Godly counsel to get practical steps on how you can have victory!

2. <1 John 1:8>- Recognition We Are Sinners Deserving of God’s Wrath.

Observations:

a. This is a non-negotiable for a true believer. In order to be a believer you have to at some point have come to terms with the fact that you needed a Savior to save you from a debt you accrued, but could not pay. That debt was God’s wrath and eternity in Hell.

b. If you think yourself worthy of salvation you have missed the true depth of your sin and the true greatness of the Savior.

Illustration: Think how ridiculous it would be for you to get a terminal cancer diagnosis and then act as if that wasn’t real. We have been made aware in Scripture of our terminal disease. That disease is sin and we have to recognize regularly that we do not get what we deserve. That realization drives thankfulness and joy in the life of a believer.

Application: Part of the very Gospel that believers profess includes needing a perfect sacrifice because we ourselves are incapable of paying our sin debt. If this realization is lacking or if somehow you think you deserve your salvation than I am confident Scripture gives me solid ground to tell you that you have missed the Gospel entirely. Man is not born a child of God but rather an enemy raising his hand in defiance. This truth that we must recognize we are sinners deserving of God’s wrath is one of these points that are not up for debate. So do you recognize your need for a Savior?

3. <1 John 2:3-5>-Keep His Commandments.

Observations:

a. This one has been particularly hard for us as believers in light of the current trials that our world has been under. This has revealed in people’s hearts what is the priority. Do we prefer what God’s Word says or our own desires and our own interpretation?

b. Obedience does not make us a believer. By Grace through Faith is the means by which man becomes justified. Obedience flows out of a relationship of love. If we love Him we will strive to do that which pleases Him.

Illustration: My wife loves musical’s and I love my wife. An outflow of my love is attending highly predictable and often non-sensical performances. On the flip side I love basketball and my wife as a result gets to enjoy the masterpiece’s of March Madness and Game Sevens of the NBA Playoff’s. In actuality my wife does far better at pretending to love the things I love than I do. But the illustration is meant to show that because of our love we love what the other loves and hates what the other hates. Though I still haven’t gotten her to dislike the Packers or Lebron James…we are still working though.

Application: You see to say you love the Lord yet still listen to false teachers, condoning racism, not being for the sanctity of life, affirming sin, etc… actually works against what Scripture says is a pattern for the life of a believer. I heard it said best this way- “A Christian loves what God loves and hates what God hates.” Do you keep His commands and love what He loves?

4. <1 John 2:9-11>- Loves His Brother (Fellow Believers).

Observations:

a. God instituted the church because He knew the need that mankind has for fellowship. Part of being a Christian is loving fellow Christians. God loved man enough that He sent His Son to die for man.

b. Now take that a step further God loves His elect (Those that are in Christ.) So if he loves believers we are to love believers.

Illustration: George Bernard Shaw once wrote a note to Winston Churchill inviting him to one of his plays. The note from Shaw said “come on opening night and bring a friend if you have one” to which Churchill’s note responded that “he could not come on opening night but would come on the second night, if there was a second night.” Though we may not say these words to fellow believers often we demonstrate this kind of distaste in subtle ways.

Application: Do you desire to help your brothers and sisters? Do you really want to know how they are doing? Do you forgive easily “forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that crushes it- Mark Twain? Better yet maybe a little closer to home…Are you the first one gone after a service or perhaps skip out on fellowships, or avoid getting to know, pray, and bear one another’s burdens? If so you need to repent. Why? Because one of the marks of a believer is that they love other believers. When issues are brought to our eyes and we choose not to deal with them we fall further into sin and add onto our indictment a lack of the first mark we talked about being double minded. This is transparently something I have always struggled with. I tend to be a loner and introvert but I constantly have to die to self and ask the Lord to grow me in this area. If this describes you please don’t continue in sin. Repent of where you fall short and ask for Grace and Mercy.

5. <1 John 2:15-17>- Doesn’t Love The World.

Observations:

a. Now some have used this to teach that we should get rid of TV’s, Sports, secular music, etc. However, there is a much deeper meaning than just to avoid the world. We live in the world so to some degree we are going to experience the world.

b. The not loving the world here is aimed at not letting worldly things become idols. Not letting something take the place that rightfully belongs to God. Which unfortunately happens all too often.

Illustration: Luke 18:18-23 The Rich Young Ruler

Application: We spend time/resources on the people we love and the things we love. The people of this world and the things of this world should not occupy your time and resources more than what you put into your relationship with the Lord. Learn to hold your possessions with open palms not closed fists. Can you honestly say that Christ is preeminent in your life?

6. <1 John 2:19-20>- Perservered. (Non Negotiable)

Observations:

a. Those that are true believers do not leave the faith.

b. Some may become apostate but it is because they were never truly believers.

c. “He that hath begun a good work will complete it”-Philippians 1:6 “No man is able to pluck them out of my hand”- John 10:28-29

d. There were false teachers that were shaking the church in those days and we see this even now. The Joel Osteens, Steven Furticks, Joyce Meyer’s, Benny Hinn’s of the world perpetuate false teaching beware of false teachers those teaching what is contrary to Scripture but sounds good. The false teachers in John’s day were breaking off from the church and starting cults and claiming some upper level of enlightenment.

Illustration: The reason you have never seen a counterfeit $3 bill is because there are no real $3 dollar bills. Satan loves to try to counterfeit the truth.

Application: Those that are true believers will persevere. The Lord says that no man can be plucked out of His hand. This mark is a non-negotiable.

7. <1 John 2:22-24>- Believes That Jesus Is The Christ (Messiah). (Non Negotiable)

Observation:

a. Jesus in the Gospels tells us He is the Way the truth and the life. There is no spiritual life apart from trusting in Jesus Christ’s finished work on the cross.

b. The very premise of Christianity rests on the fact that Jesus took on flesh, lived a perfect sinless life, and conquered sin and death through His crucifixtion and resurrection.

Illustration: Without Christ you have no Christians.

Application: Any religion that is devoid of Christ being fully God and fully man is false teaching. Any religion that teaches there is another way other than through Christ alone is false teaching. This mark is another of the non-negotiable. Do you believe that Christ saved you not your good deeds, not anything you did?

8. <1 John 3:6-10>- Sinneth Not (Doesn’t live a life of habitual sin).

Observations:

a. The false teachers of the day were indifferent to sin. They believed that what was done in their body was divorced from their spirit. Meaning they could do whatever they wanted.

b. How John references sin all throughout this epistle it is clear that he speaks in present tense meaning someone that continues in habitual sin without any problem. God has given us His Holy Spirit as well as a conscience to help instruct and guard us from being given over to sin completely.

Illustration: Suppose there were a dark room and you had a lit candle. You decide to pass through that room temporarily lighting the dark room but then exiting. That room returns to darkness it doesn’t stay lit because the candle passed through. Sin is the dark and Christ is the candle. We don’t just say we are Christians and continue about our normal sinful old life. Instead the candle light of Christ when indwelt in us helps us ward off darkness.

Application: A Christian does not live a life of sin. A true believer is quick to repent of sin and reconcile. A life defined by drunkenness, homosexuality, habitual pornography is not indicative of what a believer looks like. If you struggle with temptation and feel like you have been gripped by sin repent, ask for God’s help, and seek Godly counsel. Don’t slide back into the darkness you have to bring your sin into the light to kill it. Do you hate your sin enough that you are willing to bring it into the light?

9. <1 John 4:13-14>- You Have The Spirit. (Non Negotiable)

Observations:

a. Jesus before He was leaving the earth promised His disciples that He was going to send them a comforter of another kind. This comforter was His Holy Spirit and would dwell in them

Application: A vital mark that you are a believer is the fact that you have the Holy Spirit. How do we know that the Spirit indwells in us? By the fruit that comes out of our lives. This fruit as defined in Galatians 5:22-23 is fruit only the Spirit can provide. If you want to know if your life bears fruit ask those believers close to you as it can be hard to discern your own fruit. Never the less a Christian has the Holy Spirit. This is another mark that is non negotiable.

10. <1 John 5:2>- You Love The Father. *sometimes combined with #7. (Non Negotiable)

Observations:

a. I think John saved this for last because He really wanted to again punch the importance of Love this time loving the one who helps us accomplish all the other areas we need to accomplish.

b. Without Love for the Father you would have no desire to obey Him, no desire to love His people, no desire to love Christ, no desire to hate sin, and no Holy Spirit.

Application: Throughout Scripture we see that fear/love for the Father is necessary in the life of a believer. Moses reminded Israel to Love God with everything, Solomon at the end of his life concluded fearing God and keeping His commandments is what matters most, and Jesus even taught whoever does the will of my Father will be His brother. This as well is a mark that is non negotiable.

Three Provisions we can count on as a result of the New Birth.

He hears our prayers. <1 John 5:14-17>

He protects us from the wages of sin and the evil one. <1 John 5:18-19>

I cant be dogmatic on either of these options because we are missing a key to the meaning of this part of the verse. However, it is not the main point of the verse the main point is that our sin necessitates death but Christ frees us from that spiritual death.

Position 1- A believer is in an apparent/open sin and it would be better to take him from the world than to let him further give christianity a bad name. (Ex.)(Annanias/Saphira)-Lied about their offering in front of the church and to the Lord.

Position 2- A person who you thought was a believer apostacizes and is trying to draw others to err. Stop praying for them.

He gives eternal Life! <1 John 5:20>

Conclusion:

Let me say this: If you find yourself questioning or perhaps see areas of sin that God has revealed do not run away and hide. “Do not be like the deer who when wounded runs into the thicket”- Charles Spurgeon.

Instead seek out a Pastor or other Godly counsel. Repent where you see you have fallen short. Rejoice where God’s kindness in Grace and Mercy have been revealed in your life. But one way or another you should leave here today either reassured that you are indeed born again or that you have had a faulty understanding of what it means to be a believer and perhaps have some business to take care of with the Lord. Let’s ask Him to help us.