Born Again

Have you ever wanted to start life all over again?

If you could restart what would you do?

Would change careers?

Change Location?

Change Schooling?

Would you change anything?

Today our text we are going to study talks about a new beginning!

Context of John 3

Since John 1:

Testimony of John the Baptist, Jesus’s Baptism, Jesus calling his first disciples and Philip and Nathaniel.

Chapter 2 has Jesus doing his first miracle turning the water into wine (2:1-12)

Jesus cleanses the temple of the money changers (2:13-22)

A Night Time Visitor (v.1-2)

Who is Nicodemus? (v.1)

A pharisee

Who were the Pharisees?

A group of religious elites who began most likely out of a response to Hellenism (The invasion of Greek culture basically)

People began speaking Greek and doing Greek practices like idol worship

The pharisees made the mistake of externalizing religion—Jesus had harsh words for them.

John 3:1–21

Outward conformity to the law was far too often considered by them to be the goal of one’s existence

John 3:1–21

The Lord denounced them again and again for their exhibitionism and holier-than-thou attitude (Matt. 5:20; 16:6, 11, 12; 23:1–39: Luke 18:9–14).

Matthew 23:13–15 ESV

13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

Matthew 23:25–28 ESV

25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

The Pharisees were incredibly legalistic when it came to certain laws and made it difficult for people to follow

John 3:1–21

Their scrupulosity knew no bounds, especially with respect to the observance of man-made Sabbath laws. Thus, some of them held that a woman should not look into a mirror on the sabbath because she might see a gray hair and be tempted to pull it out, which would be working! One was allowed to swallow vinegar on the sabbath, as a remedy for a sore throat, but not use it as a gargle. The climax, perhaps, was the rule that an egg laid on the sabbath could be eaten, provided one intended to kill the hen.

The Pharisees were a salvation by works party

He was rich (gives Jesus money and perfume later on in John).

His name means (victor over the people) this was a Greek name—probably given to him.

He would have been a professional teacher basically

All these people would do would be to study the scriptures and teach.

He came to Jesus by Night (v.2)

Most likely came to Jesus at night because he was embarrassed to be seen by the other leaders and teachers

Have you ever had a time in your life when you were too embarrassed to talk to someone? I have a friend who was too embarrassed to have a spiritual conversation with me around his “other” friends, but he would talk about the Lord when we were one on one. Sometimes it is hard for people to shed the pressure of outside judgment and to come to Christ. We know that Jesus does not want us to be embarrassed of Him though.

I feel many Christians would have been doing exactly what Nicodemus was doing. We should not be afraid to confess or savior in front of others. We know that if we will not confess Christ in front of others and deny him, he will not confess us before the Father.

He believed that Jesus was a person who came from God

Because of the miracles and signs.

You must be Born Again (v.3-8)

Verse 3: You must be Born Again

John 3:1–21

Nicodemus has not asked any question. Nevertheless, Jesus answers him, for he read the question which was buried deeply in the heart of this Pharisee. On the basis of Christ’s answer we may safely assume that the question of Nicodemus was very similiar to the one found in Matt. 19:16. Like “the rich young ruler,” so also this Pharisee, who came to Jesus one night and who by some is considered to have been a “rich old ruler,” wanted to know what good thing he had to do in order to enter the kingdom of heaven (or: in order to have everlasting life, which is simply another way of saying the same thing). However, Nicodemus was never even given the chance to translate into actual words the question of his inner soul

Nicodemus was trying to figure out exactly who Jesus was but Jesus knew the inward desire of the man’s heart.

What does it mean to be “born again”?

The Gospel according to John 5. Jesus and Nicodemus (3:1–15)

To a Jew with the background and convictions of Nicodemus, ‘to see the kingdom of God’ was to participate in the kingdom at the end of the age, to experience eternal, resurrection life

John 3:1–21

When Jesus said, “Unless one is born ἄνωθεν,” what is the meaning of that last word? It can mean “from above” (from the top). In fact, everywhere else in John’s Gospel it has that meaning (3:31; 19:11; 19:23).

ἄνωθεν —> Can also mean “from above”, this spot translated it “again”.

John 3:31 translates the word as above. So we can infer in this that Salvation and regeneration is a free act of God with no binding on anything in us. It is a sovereign choice of God.

Either way we see that someone is to be born “from above” or “again” in order to see the kingdom of heaven. This is a spiritual event.

Implantation of the Spirit

The pharisees believed that someone would see the kingdom if they followed the law well enough.

Jesus taught and we know that the Spirit must implant in ones heart the life that has its origin not on earth but in heaven.

Ezekiel 36:25–27 ESV

25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Just as in our first births we did not choose to be conceived or born, so to is our second birth in Christ. This is what it truly means to be saved by Grace.

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Being “born again” is an act of God and God alone. Being fully depraved we cannot accept the things of God. This is why salvation is truly of the Lord. By Grace we have been saved!

To be born again means that one gets to “see the kingdom of God”

The Gospel according to John 5. Jesus and Nicodemus (3:1–15)

To a Jew with the background and convictions of Nicodemus, ‘to see the kingdom of God’ was to participate in the kingdom at the end of the age, to experience eternal, resurrection life

The objection (v.4)

Nicodemus was confused

The Gospel according to John 5. Jesus and Nicodemus (3:1–15)

he understood that Jesus was demanding some sort of transformation of an individual’s entire character, but he could not see how an old man, decisively shaped by his heritage and firmly set in his ways, could possibly turn the clock back and start all over again as a new person.

Born of Water and Spirit (v.5)

Couple different interpretations

The Gospel according to John 5. Jesus and Nicodemus (3:1–15)

(1) Noting that v. 6 describes two births, one from flesh to flesh and the other from Spirit to Spirit, some interpreters propose that ‘born of water and the Spirit’ similarly refers to two births, one natural and the other supernatural.

The second View: this is referring to Baptism

I and several commentaries would argue that it is not. If Christ was alluding to the sacrament of Baptism then why did he not mention it again later while discussing the spirit in verse 7-8.

Many people jump at this verse and make the assumption that Jesus is saying that one must be baptized to see the kingdom of heaven. However, this is a poor interpretation because a reference to a Christian, Trinitarian, baptism is never explained at all. Had Christ been talking about the ordinance or sacrament of Baptism he would have explained it further because Nicodemus would have had no concept of a Trinitarian or Christian Baptism. All he would have known in regards to “baptism” would have been either John’s Baptism or the temple spiritual washing.

My interpretation

The Gospel according to John 5. Jesus and Nicodemus (3:1–15)

When water is used figuratively in the Old Testament, it habitually refers to renewal or cleansing, especially when it is found in conjunction with ‘spirit’

The spirit is often referred to or compared with water in the Bible. It flows and moves like water.

I would also accept the first interpretation, but we must reject the second interpretation because then we would have to accept Baptismal regeneration.

People of the Spirit (v.6-8)

Verse 6-7: Born of the Spirit is spirit

John 6:63–65 ESV

63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

We are born of the Spirit with a capital S

Verse 8: The Wind

The wind obeys the Lord for Amos says:

Amos 4:13 ESV

13 For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!

Psalm 135:7 ESV

7 He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

As believers we should be flowing like the wind—going wherever God commands us. We should be flexible always ready to follow the Holy Spirit’s prompting and lead. You would never bury your feet in cement so that you would only stay in one place. In the same way always be ready to do what he calls, whether that be sell your house and move to a new spot, plant a church, or join a new ministry.

Heavenly things (v.9-15)

Nicodemus’s world has been flipped upside down (v.9)

He thought that one was saved because they were Jewish and they did good works

Jesus completely blows up this thought

Many people I have shared the Gospel with have all thought they would go to heaven because they were good people or they did good things. There thinking was completely blown up are thrown off whenever I explained that we are saved by Grace through Faith and not by works.

Just like Nicodemus all of our thought processes and thoughts on why we should or would go to heaven were blown up. In the moment we come to the Lord we come to him like small children. We simply trust in Him for our salvation rather than ourselves. It is almost natural for us to assume we must work for something but God wants us to rely on Him freely for Grace.

Even the teachers did not understand (v.10-13)

The great teacher of Israel did not understand these things. Jesus now turns the tide and begins to tell of Himself being the Messiah.

The Snake in the Wilderness (v.14-15)

Numbers 21:4–9 ESV

4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

The snake was a type of Christ in the Old Testament

Jesus was showing that all who look upon him will indeed be saved.

For God so loved the world… (v.16-21)

Sent to save the world (v.16-17)

1 John 4:9–10 ESV

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Christ did not come down from Heaven to rule as a monarch but he came as a sacrifice that would be the payment for our sins.

Whoever does not believe is condemned already (v.18)

If you do not believe you will be condemned.

What does it mean to “be condemned”

You will face the full wrath of God on your own.

The sins of each man will be suffered for, whether be Jesus suffering for them on the cross or the person suffering in Hell for them.

Darkness and Light (v.19-21)

The light has arrived (v.19)

John 12:46 ESV

46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

As believers we should walk in the Light, who is Christ. It is one to be active in sin when constantly participating in the things of God. When one is praying and diving into the Word they will grow to hate the sin in their life. Just like a cat hates a bath a true believer will not be comfortable in sin.

1 John 1:6 ESV

6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

Bring sin into the light of Christ (v.20)

Ephesians 5:11–14 ESV

11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

When we expose sin and bring it into the light it is killed. When we hide sin we enable it. Get help and accountability from your brothers and sisters in Christ.

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Works in the Light (v.21)

Let our works be so good that it leaves a great and wonderful reflection of our gracious savior.

People should be able to see the fruit of your life and they should be able to see Christ reflected in it.

John 15:4 ESV

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

Conclusion

Just as Christ came into the world we need to go out into the world and share his light. We need to be great carriers of the Word spreading the good news of the Gospel wherever we go.