CH 7 Jesus & The New Birth
Artwork © Greg Olsen
“Are you born again?” This is one of those catchphrases that the people of the world toss around, sort of mockingly, when they think of Fundamentalist Christians. Unknowingly to them, this phrase is the heart of Jesus’ message. When the respected and learned Pharisee, Nicodemus visited Jesus at night, this is what he heard…words that are applicable to all.
Truly, truly I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3
Understand, a “born again Christian” isn’t a type of Christian, like a Methodist or a Presbyterian, it is the way one becomes a Christian! Thus, the god of this World, the Devil, (2 Corinthians 4:4) wants to do all he can to discredit this message as he knows that in it, is the power of life & death.
Let’s look into what Jesus is saying about this most famous Christian sound bite, “born again.”
Nicodemus said unto him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? John 3:4
“You must be born again Nicodemus. It’s all about regeneration, getting a new heart and a new spirit, not just cleaning up. What you are doing sir is not going to work!”
The religious leader’s reply is telling… ”How can a man be born when he is old?” But Jesus immediately understood what Nicodemus was saying; “How can I start over? I’ve been doing this Pharisee thing for a very long time. It’s part of me now.”
Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh: and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you, you must be born again. John 3:5-7
“You must have a physical and a spiritual birth Nicodemus. You see, flesh begets flesh & spirit begets spirit. When your mother birthed you, that was flesh begetting flesh, and fleshy works only produce more of the flesh. But when you are born of God’s spirit, that’s the spiritual birth, that’s the new birth I am speaking of.”
You see, a born-again Christian has been crucified with Christ, (Galatians 2:20). He has died to the Law (Romans 7:4) and he is born into the faith of Jesus Christ. It is finished. That new believer goes from the Old Covenant, the pact of the Law to the New Covenant, a contract of grace involving spiritual indwelling. The one who is born again has two birthdays, his physical one and his spiritual one.
This response of Jesus also speaks of the Word of God. In Bible typology, water is a type of the Word, (John 15:3 & Ephesians 5:26, among others). A person must be born again by hearing the Word (Romans 10:17) and by a move of the Spirit in his life.
The wind blows where it blows, and you hear the sound thereof, but cannot tell where it comes from, and where it is going: So is every one that is born of the Spirit. John 3:8
It’s not fabricated when the Spirit moves. It is spontaneous, it is quick and it can be subtle! There is no formula, or even a prayer that if recited brings the spirit, it is a work of God in a person’s heart, plain & simple!
Nicodemus answered and said unto him, how can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, are you a master of Israel, and know not these things? John 3:9-10
Bam! “Incredible Nicodemus, you’re the great teacher in Israel and you don’t understand what I am saying!” Jesus was quoting well known scripture from Ezekiel as well as Jeremiah concerning the Spirit, i.e. the dry bones prophecy found in Ezekiel 37 and the New Covenant prophecy found in Jeremiah 31. He expected Nicodemus to also recall the following from the priest & prophet Ezekiel;
Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby you have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: For why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies, says the Lord God: Wherefore turn yourselves, and live. Ezekiel 18:31-32
Jesus expected Nicodemus to recall God’s message found later in Ezekiel’s prophecy;
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: From all of your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh…And I will put my spirit within you. Ezekiel 36:25-27
God will sprinkle clean water by his spirit. And it will move like the wind, wherever it will. In other words, it is all by his spirit, even the grace to believe. And it’s absolutely not by works. This discourse shows the utter need for a Savior. Works won’t save!
Truly, truly, I say unto you, we speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and you (the Jewish leaders) receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and you believe not, how shall you believe, if I tell you heavenly things? And no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. John 3: 11-13 (italics added)
“Being born again is basic Nicodemus! I’m the one from heaven telling you this. The World will make no sense unless you are born again. To the unsaved, life is a long series of distractions and then you die. But the one who has the spirit, he is the one who realizes the big picture.” You see, being born again, doesn’t have to make complete sense, it just has to work! As Paul stated, the gospel is foolishness to the Gentiles and a stumbling block to the Jews, but to the those who believe, it is the power of God unto salvation, (1 Corinthians 1:23-24).
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:14-15
“It’s so simple Nicodemus, just look to me, look to the Son and be saved! And it’s all there in Old Testament. Like in Numbers 21 when the people sinned and were plagued by biting serpents. Remember how my Father told Moses to make a fiery serpent and lift it up on a brass pole and have the people look at it? Those who looked were delivered while those who did not suffered and died. This is the same Nicodemus. I, the Son of man, will be lifted up on a Roman cross so that all who look to me in faith will be saved.”
In another encounter with the Pharisees, Jesus told them to “search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: And they are they which testify of me,” (John 5:39). Of course, the only scriptures at that time were what we call the Old Testament, as the New had not yet been written. Jesus said, your very scriptures, that ones you hold in such high esteem, speak of me. Not only was he speaking of the Brazen Serpent, but that statement included the Tree of Life, the Passover sacrifice, the story of Jonah & the whale, the sacrifice of the Red Heifer & many many others.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believes on him is not condemned: John 3:16-18a
Again, we see God’s heart, plan & will in this most famous of all Bible verses! God loved the souls of the world, he gave his Son for them, i.e. himself, so they in believing would live.
But he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that does evil hates the light, neither comes into the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. John 3:18b-20
The crux of the matter is that some men won’t believe so that they can continue to practice their evil lifestyle. As we have discussed previously, for the unsaved it is “my, not thy will be done.” Men want to stay in the dark, rejecting the Lord’s offer of salvation because they inherently understand that involved in that choice is giving over the control of one’s life and forsaking sin as much as is possible. Men want to continue in their idolatry, fornication, lasciviousness, drunkenness, etc. Choosing Jesus sort of throws water on that fire!
The Lord correctly points out that the light reproves the darkness. They are unwise not to see this. As Solomon penned: Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate you: Rebuke a wise man & he will love you,” (Proverbs 9:8). Those destined to be condemned love the darkness and thus will not receive correction, they choose death over life. They fail to understand that God is Light (John 1:9) & Life (John 11:25) and by rejecting the Lord they are choosing to be away from him, away from light & life. Thus, they will inhabit light & life’s antonym, that is, darkness & death!
The irony in all of this is that everyone believes deep down in their heart that there is a God, (Romans 1:20). They believe in eternity, (Ecclesiastes 3:11) & they realize they are sinners destined for judgment, (Psalm 14:3). All unsaved souls fear death, (Hebrews 2:15) and they are subject to emptiness, (Romans 8:20). Lastly, they have all been shined on by the Light, (John 1:9) and as a believer in Christ, they expect something from you. So, don’t hold back, afraid of what that unbeliever will think of you. Actually, he will think less of you, knowing you believe in Jesus, if you don’t speak of him!
But he that does truth comes into the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. John 3:21
But the wise man, the one who can say “thy will be done” loves the light, loves the truth and wants his deeds to line up with his Lord’s agenda. Thus, he is willing and desirous to have his deeds be reproved if necessary, in order to stay in the Light. In order to do the works of God.
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The gospels have at least three parables that speak of the need for regeneration over reformation. That speak to the need to being made new over just cleaning up.
And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house (the tax collector & future apostle, Matthew’s house), many publicans & sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: For there were many, and they followed him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, how is that he eats and drinks with publicans & sinners? When Jesus heard it, he said unto them, they that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Mark 2:15-17 (italics added)
We opened this book with this verse, Jesus’ Mission Statement, if you will. The Great Physician came to seek and save the lost, he came to call sinners to repentance! Earlier in this chapter Jesus demonstrated his power to forgive sins by healing the paralytic man, (Mark 2:3-12). In this, the context of his mission statement, we see that all men need their sins forgiven. All need a Savior! The way to that Deliverer is spoken of next;
No man also sews a piece of new cloth on an old garment: Else the new piece that filled it up takes (tears) away from the old, and the rent is made worse. Mark 2:21 (italics added)
“I’m doing a new thing here. It is a new covenant, as spoken by Jeremiah, (31:31-34). Belief in me, the new, will not fit on the old, the Law. It will soon be finished. The old system cannot be patched up. It will be discarded for a new garment, a new covenant, one where sinners can repent and be forgiven.”
And no man puts new wine into old bottles: Else the new wine does burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: But new wine must be put in new bottles. Mark 2:22
Men need to be regenerated, made new, not just cleaned up is the analogy here. Again, a second understanding in these words is the New Covenant replacing the Law. Jesus fulfilled the Law and thus paved the way for the new wine skins.
Another parable Jesus put forth demonstrating the futility of cleaning up a person, forsaking evil, without receiving God’s Spirit, being made new.
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he comes, he finds it swept and garnished. Then goes he, and takes to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: And the last state of that man is worse than the first. Luke 11:24-26
Reformation without regeneration is doomed to fail. Parabolically, the Teacher is saying we must catch the fish before we can clean it! A person needs to toss out the bad AND receive the good! That’s why Christians don’t want to put all of their efforts into cleaning up problems of the World at the expense of neglecting the Good News of Jesus Christ. I can spend all of my time promoting the environment, politics or even standing against the murder of the innocents, but if Christ is not the center of the conversation, Worldlings will not “get it.” Paul understood this, after powerfully preaching around Jesus in Athens and seeing no fruit to his labor, he changed is tactics when he next travelled south to Corinth. There his words were received as he preached the following message;
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:1
That’s what I want to do also! It’s not about how eloquent I speak or how powerfully I command God’s Word. It’s all about what the Savior did. He died for me. That’s what I want to talk about. And I’m not saying social causes are bad, no, not at all! But I want to have the proper perspective. I want to live with eternity’s view in mind. In one hundred years every social problem we have now will be different than today. But the truth about Jesus and our need for his saving grace will remain. Once again, I want to keep the main thing, the main thing. And that is Jesus Christ and him crucified!
Lastly, I would like to speak of the so-called “Romans Road.” Three verses which the Spirit of God will use as water of the Word to move in a person’s heart. Three short truths to memorize and share which can usher an unbeliever right into the Kingdom.
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23
That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. Romans 10:9
All have missed the mark, the sentence of sin is death but the penalty has been commuted by Jesus Christ. To receive the pardon, one verbally acknowledges Jesus as Lord and believes that he rose from the grave. This is the Gospel, the death, burial & resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-3), cleansing us of sin and giving us resurrected life in him!
Summary:
A Born-Again Christian isn’t a type of Christian, but the way one becomes a Christian.
Being born again is a spiritual birth that occurs when the Spirit moves in a person’s life and made possible by hearing & understanding the water of the God’s Word concerning salvation.
Being born again is looking up to (believing, trusting, following) the Son of Man who was lifted up on the Cross.
Men & women reject the Gospel so they can continue to live in darkness.
Jesus Christ & him crucified is the main thing.
The “Romans Road” can be a good witnessing tool to help a person come into the Light.
For Further Study:
Does a person who is born again choose God or does God choose him?
When Jesus marveled that Nicodemus, a master in Israel, did not understand the concept of the new birth, with what scriptures was he alluding to that Nicodemus should have made the connection?
Why is the Gospel foolishness to the Gentiles and a stumbling block to the Jews?
According to Romans 1:20, is it possible for as person to really be an atheist?
Why should you not be surprised that people of the World do not understand you?
In our day today, does it take much faith to believe that Jesus actually rose from the dead?