Nicodemus and New Birth - Pt. II
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Born and born again (new birth)
Born and born again (new birth)
A biblical imperative given by Jesus of the necessity of being born again.
3 Jesus answered and said to 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? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”
The necessity is clearly stated in (Jn3:3)
Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God! (expand)
The Kingdom of God (Jn3:3, 5, 7; 18:36 Mt13:41-43)
Jesus tells us about the necessity and the definition of the kingdom of God. our passage Jn3:3, 5, 7 and we will get to those but look at these
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”
The kingdom is a spiritual kingdom
41 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 “Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
the Kingdom is and is to come.
So, if you want to enter the kingdom, you must be born again.
You are placed into the kingdom at salvation (Col1:13)
13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
Expand: Do not be fooled that Christ’s kingdom has not come, it has, and we are to receive the kingdom of heaven one day! But we are kingdom dwellers because of our rebirth, regeneration, being born again now!
You are placed in the kingdom when you are born again (Tit3:5) by the Holy Spirit
5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
The nature of being born again (vv.4-5)
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, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
It is important that we note, that we understand that this is not two births, but one that involved both water and Spirit (again you can look at TIt3:5 too and see that too)
The baptism of the Holy Spirit happens at being born again and is not a separate event.
In the Greek New Testament commentary Alford states this
“There can be no doubt on any honest interpretation of the words, that gennethenai ek hudatos (born of water) refers to the token or outward sign of baptism, gennethenai ek pneumatos (born of Spirit) to the thing signified, or inward grace of the Holy Spirit. All attempts to get rid of these two plain facts have sprung from doctrinal prejudices, by which the view of the expositors have been warped.”
Now, please don’t miss it, that the word is involved for.
Faith comes from the word (Rom10:17)
Let me quickly go over a few scriptures that are in your outline.
Rom10:17 “17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
You are born again by the word that is incorruptible (1Pt1:23-25)
1pt1:23-25 “23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off, 25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you.”
The word us an instrument for the Spirit to convict the sinner of sin (Jn16:7; Eph6:17)
Jn16:7 “7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”
And
Eph6:17 “17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
The word gives the commands to obey (Act22:16; Act2:38)
Act22:16 “16 ‘Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’”
It is the word that sanctifies the church (Eph5:26)
Eph5:26 “26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,”
(Transition) the new birth, rebirth, regeneration, being born again does involve the word, the Spirit, the Father, the Son, belief all working together with repentance and obedience that lead to baptism, being born of water and Spirit. All of that to get to our passage this morning.
Gleaning from the scripture
Gleaning from the scripture
Simply Christians learn from the scripture so they can gain knowledge, wisdom, understanding and application. This passage when linked with our previous passage are vital to becoming a Christian and the assurance, proof (evidence) of our Christianity.
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into 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 be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
What do you see, notice in this passage?
What is the imperative given (v.5)?
Must be born again, of water and the Spirit
What is the implication found in (v.6)?
Must be born of the Spirit
What is the command given in (v.7)?
You must be born again, don’t be amazed by this.
We got into (v.5) some last week, so I want to focus on the evidence (assurance) of new birth into the kingdom of God today.
Evidence of New Birth
Evidence of New Birth
When a baby is born is there evidence of the birth? When a person is reborn there is evidence too.
First, is the Spirit that makes us partakers of the divine nature of God (Jn3:6; 2Pt1:4)
6 When you look at a baby, it’s just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can’t see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.
as for the divine nature
4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
Evidence is not only having the Spirit but walking in the Spirit (Gal5:16) as evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit (Gal5:22-23)
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
Because of the Spirit’s fruit
Gal5:22-23 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
Where there is no fruit, where it is not evident there was never any rebirth, regeneration or one is walking after the flesh and not the Spirit
17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.
I love some of what Wiersbe says about this rebirth, it is present and future for we
We are born again to a living hope (1Pt1:3)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
How were we born again? through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We too must die as Paul illustrates in Rom6:3-6.
3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
When we are born again, we are heirs (Rom8:17), children of God (Jn1:12; 1Jn3:1)
I cannot pass by these scriptures. We have to look at them.
17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Oh wait, need to back up to keep in context
16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Evidence again is the Spirit, the Spirit that testifies with our spirit that we are heirs, fellow heirs (or co-heirs) with Christ.
Remember back weeks ago back in Chapter one the words found
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
I want you to think about and look up on your own and ask, who is the “Him” (Jn1:12) how do you know?
Then read on
1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
Pay attention to this passage, with the new birth, rebirth, regeneration, being born again we are not just called “children of God” but we are children of God! Presently! why? Because we were born again of water and Spirit.
Now, think back to Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night and is hearing all these things. He must have been confused, not fully understanding. His face must have shown it. That could answer why Jesus said don’t be surprise
7 Do not be surprised because I tell you that you must all be born again.
Notice the “all” here. Nicodemus is a leader, a teacher of the Jews, and he is being told he and all must be born again. Surely Jesus could not be saying that about God’s chosen people the Jews could He? YES, all means ALL!
So, maybe there are people who live decent lives. Their life shows good works (like the Jews) but that does not save them, they must be born again. They must believe, receive and walk in the truth and commands of God and be born again.
Nicodemus later will contend for Jesus body for burial, so maybe by then he got it. So, don’t give up on others who may not get it right away! They may get it and come to be born again too one day.
(Prayer)