Are You Born Again?

Are You Born Again?

John 3:1-8

John 3:1-8

1 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 have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

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?”

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.’

8 “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Introduction

When you hear the words “born again christian” what do you think of?

Some hear this term and think of a “Bible-thumping fundamentalist “ for others it may mean that they were converted at a Billy Graham crusade. For some it invokes an image of a zealous charismatic. Research groups don’t make a distinction between broad evangelical and born again. Some use it as a class of christian, those who are really committed rather than the regular run of the mill christian.

For this reason there are many who claim the title of born again, yet they look no different from the world. Instead of it being something which is clearly a distinguishing mark on the christian it is applied to any who claim the name of Christ.

Born again has become an abused term. Filled a number of stereotypes which at the end of the day make the term mean nothing at all. Those who use it in all likelihood don’t know what it means. In reality it is a very rich term which has been defamed and corrupted.

Due to this there is much confusion on what it means to be born again. Unbelievers will use the term as a term of derision, and not for the reasons that we would want it to be used.

This morning we shall look at Jesus’ words in this critical important teaching. We shall look at;

Firstly, Why do we need to be born again?

Then, What is being born again?

And finally, How is someone born again?

1. The Necessity of Being Born Again

Let’s begin by considering the necessity of being born again.

However before we dig into this let us set the stage. This section of chapter three really needs to be prefaced by the end of chapter to.

So reading from 2:23 25

John 2:23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.

John 2:25 Jesus had come to Jerusalem for the Passover. He had cleansed the temple of the money changers. He had drawn attention to Himself. If had boldly and decidedly started His public ministry with signs and miracles.

Then we move into chapter 3:1-2

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

Here we are introduced to a man named Nicodemus, who we see a few times in the gospel of John. Nicodemus was a highly respected man. He was a Pharisee. A teacher of Israel (as described by Christ in verse 10). Nicodemus had likely seen Jesus, had seen those signs that He had been performing, seeing that there were those who were believing in His name which occurred during Passover.

We are told that Nicodemus came by night. Some have proposed that this is symbolic of the nefarious intent that Nicodemus had for this meeting, others say that he was likely very busy and want undisturbed time with Jesus to have his questions answers however the most likely reason Nicodemus came at night was that this highly esteemed teacher was responding to feeling the fear of man, he was ashamed to visit Him by day not wanting to be seen associating with Jesus, yet compelled to see Him. We see this attitude change in Nicodemus later within the Gospel of John. (7:51-52 where he defends Jesus, and then in 19:59 where he is involved with preparing Jesus’ body for burial. An act of devotion.)

But on this night Nicodemus comes to Him respectfully, calling Him “rabbi” a name of dignity and honor. Consider the difference compared to much of the open hostility that Jesus was to receive from the other Pharisees. There was no sign of mocking or hostility, but of respect. Even now Christ is drawing this man to Himself. And it is to our great benefit that this event occurred. Nicodemus even acknowledges that Jesus has come from God as a teacher, and He attributes this to the signs that Jesus has made.

Now that we have set the stage let us consider why it is necessary to be born again.

Seemingly abruptly Jesus seems to answer a question which is not asked, and tells Nicodemus in verse 3 “Truely, truely, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Jesus, knowing what was in a man, proceeded to answer the question of Nicodemus’ greatest need. Nicodemus perhaps has considered if Jesus was in fact the messiah. He had seen the miracles and signs. Jesus cut straight to the point, if you want to be in the messiah’s kingdom you must be born again.

Why is it so necessary to be born again? If you want to enter the kingdom of God, you must be born again. There is no other way. Everyone who enters Christ’s kingdom, everyone who will go to heaven, everyone who will spend eternity with the Lord, everyone who is a christian is born again. There is no class system, there are not christians and born again christians. There are just christians. And all christians are born again!

The kingdom would have been understood by Nicodemus as the millennial kingdom which is to come at the end of the age. As there was great expectation for this especially as the Jewish people were under the oppression of the Roman government. It is implied that to be a part of the kingdom of God is to children of God. What is the shocking aspect to what Jesus is saying is that Nicodemus must be born again.

Nicodemus, a man of great esteem. A man of the Pharisees. Remember when we think of the pharisees we often get the wrong idea. Because of the way that the gospel narratives portray the pharisees as some of the Lord’s main antagonists we can misunderstand how they were perceived in the culture. When we think Pharisee we think enemy, legalist, hypocrite. While this is true we need to remember that the Pharisees were highly respected, they were considered very devout. They were thought of as morally virtuous. We know of the abuses of the Pharisees but there is this image that we do need to remember. Nicodemus is also described as a ruler of the Jews. A member of the Sanhdren. A Jew, from the lineage of Abraham. And Jesus has the audacity to say that he, Nicodemus needed to be born again! This is an incredulous remark. If anyone was getting into the kingdom of God it was going to be Nicodemus. If we consider what Paul says about himself as a Pharisee in Philippians 3:4-6 in which he could claim boldness in the flesh, likely so could someone like Nicodemus.

To say that Nicodemus wasn’t ready for the kingdom was almost unimaginable.

But nonetheless Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again.

Our Lord takes it even further later in verse 7 in which He says “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’”. This is an imperative. It is not a suggestion. It is not Jesus asking. He is telling each and every person that they must be born again. This is the only way.

There is a story about George Whitefield who was famous for preaching on the new birth in which he said.

“I am now fifty-five years of age,” he said in one of his final addresses, “and I am more than ever convinced that the truth of the new birth is a revelation from God Himself, and that without it you can never be saved.”

“Why, Mr. Whitefield,” inquired a friend one day, “why do you so often preach on ‘Ye must be born again?'”

“Because,” replied Mr. Whitefield, looking solemnly into the face of his questioner, “Ye must be born again!”

So to be explicitly clear. Why must one be born again? Because it is the only way one can enter the kingdom of God. Why does one need to be born again to enter the kingdom of God? To understand this we need to understand what the effect of being born again was for. So let's first understand our condition. We need to be born again because of our standing before God. Because of what God will allow before His Holy presence.

We need to be born again because of sin. We will see how this connects into this passage soon but we need to take a quick detour to understand the predicament we are in. The solution does not make sense until we know that the problem is.

As Charles Leiter has written

“We have seen that sin is the ultimate and only problem of humanity, and that man’s problem with sin has two aspects, one internal and the other external: Not only does every fallen son of Adam have a bad heart; he also has a bad record in the eyes of God’s law. Sin both defiles him and condemns him; its power rules within him, and its penalty rests upon him. Man is both helpless and hopeless— his plight is truly impossible.”

When we are to understand who and what God would allow into His presence then we can truly understand the predicament that we are in and therefore the necessity of being born again.

All mankind is born into a corrupt condition. “That which is born of flesh is flesh”. Since the fall our nature is thoroughly fallen.

Let’s take a quick survey of the condition of man in his natural estate. This is not an exhaustive list but it will be a very conclusive list of our condition.

We are spiritually dead and children of wrath as we see in Ephesians 2:1-3

2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

We are spiritually ignorant see 1 Corinthians 2:14

14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

We are spiritually blind and unable to accept the gospel - 2 Corinthians 4:4,

“in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

(Romans 1:21, Ephesians 4:17-18)

We are spiritually deaf - Jeremiah 6:10

To whom shall I speak and give warning

That they may hear?

Behold, their ears are closed

And they cannot listen.

Behold, the word of the LORD has become a reproach to them;

They have no delight in it.

(Isaiah 6:9-10, Matthew 13:15, John 8:43)

We are unable to come to Christ - John 6:44,

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.

We have a disordered will and affections - Jeremiah 17:9

“The heart is more deceitful than all else

And is desperately sick;

Who can understand it?

We have a heart of stone - Ezekiel 11:19

… And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh… , (36:26)

Our mind at enmity against God and unable to please God - Romans 8:7-8

“because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

We are all unrighteous - Romans 3:10-11

“There is none righteous, not even one;

There is none who understands,

There is none who seeks for God;

We love darkness and hate the light - John 3:19-20

19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

We are slaves to sin - Romans 6:17

But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin,

We need to be born again because the totality of our being is wicked and sinful. Everything from our minds, to our will, and our emotions are wicked.

We need to be born again because we are defiled and we need to be clean so that we can enter the kingdom of God.

2. What is Being Born Again?

It has become somewhat common to hear some say “I am a born again christian.” or “are you born again?” it has almost come to the place where it is overused to the sense that we don’t even know what “born again means”. So let's spend some time understanding our Lord’s words here.

Let’s look at the negative. What born again is not.

Being born again is not something that happens to us physically. We see this when Nicodemus asks Jesus the question “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?” Nicodemus is incredulous at this claim and his mind goes immediately to the physicality of being born. Its as if saying “surely you don’t mean that you have to be physically born again do you?”

Then let's look at Jesus’ answer in verse 5 and 6.

Jesus answered, “Truely, truely, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Jesus here points to the spiritual reality of being born again. It is not physical. Being born again is not of flesh.

So therefore if being born again is not a physical reality it means that it is not;

Becoming religious

Having a “new lease of life”

It is not “doing better”

A resolve to live a more moral way

It is not reading the bible

It is not going to church

It is not doing.

So then what does it mean to be born again?

The word literally means born from above. This is a spiritual rebirth. Jesus clarifies what He means when He tells Nicodemus in verse 5 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

Firstly it is worth pointing out as it has been interpreted erroneously many times before that when Jesus uses the word water here he is referring to water baptism. That He is effectively saying that one must be born again through water baptism and of spiritual rebirth. This interpretation is rife with problematic conclusions. Let’s dispel this myth now.

Now this may be a little lost on us, but to one who was to be deeply familiar with the Old Testament this ought to have cleared up the illustration Christ was using to Nicodemus.

Let’s turn to

Now in this passage Yahweh is the One who is talking here. He is talking in the first person.

Ezekiel 36:25-27

25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.

26 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

27 “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

Look at all the I will, I will, I will. This is an act of God’s work on His people. Look at what God will do.

He will sprinkle clean water. Why? So that His people would be clean.

He will clean His people of their idolatry.

He will give a new heart.

He will give a new spirit.

He will take the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh.

He will put His Spirit with His people.

He would cause them to be born of water and of Spirit.

Jesus is pointing to the need that we have to be clean.

To quote J.C Ryle

“By this expression He meant Nicodemus to understand that “no one could become His disciple, unless his inward man was as thoroughly cleansed and renewed by the Spirit, as the outward man is cleansed by water.” To possess the privileges of Judaism a man only needed to be born of the seed of Abraham after the flesh. To possess the privileges of Christ’s kingdom, a man must be born again of the Holy Ghost.”

To better understand what it means to be born again, let’s look at some of the synonyms that the scriptures use to describe this event. Each gives a different aspect in what the new birth looks like. We get to see the jewel from a number of different facets.

Firstly we have our term used here in John 3 “Born Again”

The giving of a New Heart as seen in Ezekiel 36

Regeneration. Paul uses this term in Titus

Titus 3:3-7

3 For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.

4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,

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,

6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

We see here that again regeneration is used in relation to being washed. To be cleansed. To being made purified. To being made fit for the kingdom of God.

New Creation. Paul describes this in

2 Corinthians 5:17

17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Here we get the idea that there is a fundamental change in a person when God causes one to be born again.

He is a new creature. He is new.

Made Alive. Paul uses this in Ephesians 2:5.

Laying aside the old self and putting on the new. Paul illustrates in Colossians 3:9-10

As we reflect back on how man in his natural disposition is and what regeneration does to us, we are fundamentally different to how we were in the natural man.

Now granted where does this all take place?

We are made spiritually alive. Our spiritual eyes and ears are opened. We have a new heart. Not the literal beating piece of flesh in our chest, but the inner man. The spiritual aspect of man.

However we still possess the outerman. The flesh. In which resides sin.

Just because this is not a physical event does not mean it is not a radical change. It is not reformation, or amendment or moral change or outward alteration of life however it is a radical, thorough change in heart, will and character.

This sovereign act of God, in this creation of a new man it will create a new nature for man, it gives him new desires, new attitudes, new thoughts and opinions, new hopes and new fears. This is what Jesus is describing when He says “You must be born again.”

In this action of being made new, and having new desires is why we have an expectation that a person will change if they truly are born again, if a person is truly made alive that they will act differently. The new nature will desire God. Instead of hating God, they will love God, instead of being blind to the glory and beauty of Christ, he can not see anything more attractive. Instead of worshipping idols they worship the One true God. Instead of living in a state that is not pleasing to God he lives in a manner pleasing to God.

This is why John will later write that there are signs of what a person who is born again looks like:

That everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him, (1 John 2:29)

They will not make a practice of sin (1 John 3:9),

That they will love the brethren (1 John 4:7),

That they will believe Jesus is the Christ, (1 John 5:1),

That they will overcome the world (1 John 5:4).

Let’s return to Jesus’ words once again in which He tells Nicodemus of this sharp contrast between two different types of people.

Reading verse 6

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

There are those who are of the flesh and there are those who are of the spirit.

There are those who are as the natural man, with the power of sin reigning over him, then there are those who are of the new man, born again, children of God with all the rights and privileges of a son.

That of the flesh, can only think of the flesh, can only face death, but that which is of the spirit is life and peace.

So, if we are to apply such a glorious truth to us, because we are made new, born from above we no longer are subjected to the power of sin in our lives. That cruel master is gone. It may beckon at us each day to return. As people who experience sin every day we may find this claim to be hard to believe.

Let’s consider it this way, if the natural man has a heart of stone. Is lifeless and dead. If this heart can be described as sick and deceitful what does the new heart look like? It is a heart of flesh. It is clean. It is alive and well. Sin does not reside in the new creature's heart. It is not right to say that the christians heart is sick and deceitful when we have received a new heart.

So why do we still experience sin? Well we have received the down payment of our salvation (Ephesians 1:14-15) but we are not fully redeemed as yet. Our physical bodies still experience the plague of sin. We are still waiting for the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:23).

This is why we must discipline our bodies. Because we are in a battle. The old man, the flesh and our new man, the inner man contend with one another.

3. How are we Born Again?

Now we shall turn our attention to our last point. How are we born again?

We read in verse 8

“The wind blows where it wishes and hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going ; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

We see Jesus using an interesting play on words. Both wind and spirit are the same word in the greek. The words are only differentiated by context. As Jesus so commonly does, He uses the physical world around Him to explain spiritual realities.

Just as the wind is mysterious, we do not know where it has been or where it goes the same is true of the new birth. We can not handle it. We can not see it. We can not see where that wind is first felt but we can not deny that the wind is blowing. Have you ever seen the wind? No. You can’t. That is the point. However you can see the effects of the wind. But you can feel its effects.

The same is true of the work of the Spirit. Of the Holy Spirit of God. Regeneration, or being born again is the work of the Spirit. Salvation is a trinitarian work. Being born again is part of the application by the Holy Spirit of Jesus’ work planned by the Father.

Even in this, the Holy Spirit does not simply arbitrarily regenerate people. He uses means. We see this for instance in a passage such as

1 Peter 1:22-23

22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,

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.

The application of regeneration is always through the word of God. By this it does not necessarily mean that it is the bible quoted verbatim but rather it is the message of Word. It is not using the Word of God like some kind of formula. It is not a special incantation and then the person is born again. It is the means that God has decided to use. Not because He is incapable to do it without His Word but rather because that is how He has decreed it to be done so.

Through God is the one that causes the new birth, He does it through the message that we preach.

The spirit will use the means of the word of God to then change a person's heart. This is why in an evangelsic discuss some may come to faith and repentance and others will not. It is because the wind blows where it wishes.

We may not be able to see the new birth happening but we can not deny its existence. Just as the wind can not be seen, but can be felt so is the new birth. There can not be a christian who is born again and not give evidence of it happening. There will always be fruits of the Spirit for everyone who is born of the Spirit. Just as we have seen with a new nature comes new actions.

This means that we God has invited us to be co-labourers in the salvation of His people. Not in the sense of Him needing us, but that we are allowed to be a part of the mighty miracle.

This then has a wonderful application to us. To each one of us. When we are sharing the gospel we are not relying on our own cleverness, on our own ability to be winsome, but rather on our obedience in proclaiming the gospel of God. The Holy Spirit will do the work. We don’t need to twist someone's arm, or lower the message of the cross to “get someone saved” but the wind will blow where it wishes and we will hear the sound of it.

Conclusion

To conclude, John Piper wrote this concerning the new birth and it bears repeating “It [the new birth] is far more glorious than many think it is. It is alsm more glorious than I think it is. It is wonderful beyond human comprehension. But that mystery is not because there is little about it in the Bible. There is much about it in the Bible. It’s because when all is understood as well as we can understand it in this age when we see”in a mirror dimly”, there is still more.”

If we think back to the quote from Charles Lieter earlier, in which man has two principle problems with sin, man has a bad heart - that is to say that he is under the power of sin and that he has a bad record - that is to say that he is under the condemnation of sin. The problem of the heart is removed through being born again. As christians we no longer have a bad heart. We have been cleaned. We have been born from water and from the Spirit. We now have a good heart. One that is fit for the kingdom of God. No longer under the power of sin.

While not the subject of today's message, as christian we do not have the condemnation that sin affords to us. Because we are born again, we are indwelled by the Spirit of God and experience union with Christ. Union with His death and his resurrection. So that because He has paid the penalty for our sin, we are no longer under the condemnation of the law.

If you are born again let this truth help you to grow in the knowledge of God’s gracious act in us.

When you even scratch the surface on what it means to be born again you will love our Lord more. When we consider the depths of Jesus’ sacrifice to purchase us and the Spirit applying this to us through the new birth we can not help but to love God more. To see His beauty more. Savour His mercy greater.

Again for those who are born again, we can trust in this great truth when we proclaim the gospel knowing with certainty that it does not rely on our methods but God’s action. We must only proclaim. God will do the work. He will cause a person to be born again.

If you are listening to this and you are not born again. You must be born again. To quote JC Ryle “A day will come when those who are not born again will wish that they had never been born at all.” You are not fit to enter into God presence and if you remain in this state you can only experience the wrath of God for eternity. So while you have the opportunity, turn to Christ and live.

We must ask ourselves, have we been born again?