Believe and Live
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
You Must Be Born Again
You Must Be Born Again
John 1:1 3 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 are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 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?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter 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 marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
New birth is a work from above. vs. 3
“You must be born from above (Greek anothen).” This word can be translated either “again” or “from above.” The context seems to indicate “from above.” There is a logical symmetry in being born from above so as to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Being born from above logically includes the idea of being born again, as the natural birth is presupposed. Some of the rich implication Christ intends is lost by the translation “again.” In order to enter the heavenly kingdom one must be born into it by a heavenly (from above) birth.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
New birth is a complete spiritual transformation. vs. 5
He is explaining what it means to be “born (again) from above.” It means to be born of the Holy Spirit, to be inwardly, drastically, and supernaturally changed, to be miraculously infused by the Holy Spirit with a new quality of life, a new nature. Jesus is not presenting an entirely new teaching. He is building upon the O.T. teaching that the Spirit of God would be poured out in a special way during the “last days”
For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
The Bible was not given for our information but for our transformation. Dwight Moody
New birth is not an intellectual or moral awakening. vs. 8
Men know the wind to be very real as they hear it blowing, even though they do not understand either its source or its destination. In just the same way, the presence and work of the Spirit in men’s hearts are very real even though men do not fully understand them. The supernatural act of salvation is real even though it is not outwardly observable to men. Jesus is exhorting Nicodemus to put aside his intellectual misgivings and believe.
For God So Loved the World
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
The explanation in these verses point to the main thesis. The Gospel is love. In the following section John the Baptist points people to the one Christ. The one true love.