WEBVTT 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:17.519 Well, this morning I want to focus from John chapter three on a common phrase we as Christians often use in describing ourselves, which is we are born again. 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:21.359 It's a popular terminology within evangelicalism. 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:33.600 And we should focus whenever the Savior uses a phrase, we should try to strive to understand what Jesus means when he says, you must be born again. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:36.479 I don't necessarily have a main point this morning. 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:45.759 I just want to look at our Savior's words in John chapter 3, 1 through 21, and focus on that statement he makes to Nicodemus. 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:49.439 You must be born again. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:53.359 I want to help us understand what Jesus meant by that. 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:56.159 What is what does regeneration mean? 00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:57.600 What does it mean to be born again? 00:00:57.759 --> 00:00:59.520 What are the implications of it? 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:02.320 And for those who have been born again, what does it look like? 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:07.920 What is the evidence of such a rebirth in the life of a disciple of Christ? 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:20.879 Now, many of you, if you've been a Christian for a while, you're familiar with this passage, it's one of the most popular interactions of Jesus in the Gospels, where he has this encounter at night with the man Nicodemus. 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:26.159 Now, if you're not too familiar with Nicodemus as a character, Nicodemus was no lightweight. 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:29.920 He was a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews. 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:39.760 He was a member of what was called the Sanhedrin, Sanhedrin, however you want to pronounce that, which is to use modern vernacular, think of the Supreme Court of America. 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:43.680 That's kind of what the Sanhedrin was to the nation of Israel. 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:53.040 So Nicodemus was a man who had rank, he was a man who had respect, reputation, he was a religious leader, he was the trainer of other Pharisees. 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:59.840 Yet he came to Jesus under the cover of night because something was troubling him. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:05.680 There was something lacking in his knowledge of God and salvation and how the kingdom of God worked. 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:11.199 And he wanted to go to this Jesus to ask his questions. 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:17.840 And though he had all this prestige and reputation, Jesus doesn't flatter him with any of that. 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:28.479 Jesus floors him by saying, Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:36.240 At this time of this interaction, Nicodemus had a whole lot of religion, but without regeneration. 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:41.199 He had a whole lot of law without a new spiritual life. 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:45.599 We see that today in our church circles, don't we? 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:50.560 We see the person who's moral externally, but they're not saved. 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:58.080 Or the lifelong churchgoer who's never truly been sanctified, but they have faithfully never missed a Sunday. 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:05.360 Or the person who knows a whole lot of head knowledge about Jesus, but doesn't know Jesus personally as their Lord and Savior. 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:14.800 Jesus in John 3 makes it plain: your religious resume, your moral lifestyle won't get you into the kingdom. 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:18.719 You must be born again. 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:35.039 So I'm going to walk through these passages and just look at Jesus' words and just highlight what is our Savior saying when he tells Nicodemus, this teacher of the Jews, this expert in the Old Testament, that brother, you must be born again. 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:42.400 Starting out here in verses one through three, it says, There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:53.759 This man came to him at night and said, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God was with him. 00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:56.560 Now, there's some debate. 00:03:56.960 --> 00:04:08.560 Often some scholars and commentators they they look at this text and they say they believe Jesus is, uh I'm sorry, not Jesus, but uh Nicodemus is being a little disrespectful to Jesus. 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:13.439 He's sarcastic later on when he says, like, how can a man enter his mother's womb again? 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:17.519 You know, I I don't, I'm not, I don't adopt that view. 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:28.319 I think contextually here, Nicodemus, who knew his Old Testament really well, he hasn't trusted in Christ for salvation yet, but he seems to be like a genuine skeptic. 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:32.000 Because if you pay attention to his words, he comes at night. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:32.800 We don't know why. 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:42.160 Maybe that's because you know he's a very prestigious Jewish leader and he doesn't want, you know, his peers to know that he's actually interested in this Jesus who's claiming to be the Messiah. 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:42.720 Maybe. 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:43.279 We don't know. 00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:44.480 The text doesn't tell us. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:47.199 But I see in verse two signs of respect. 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:49.519 He refers to him as a rabbi. 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:53.040 He's saying, No, you are a reputable teacher of Israel. 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:58.720 I recognize that rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:05.120 For no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him. 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:09.839 So he's acknowledging you have been sent from God to teach the people of Israel. 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:14.800 And the miracles you perform are clearly demonstrating that God is with you. 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:22.959 Because remember, the Jews, uh, the other Pharisees who opposed Jesus accused him of performing his miracles by the power of Satan. 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:34.000 Here, Nicodemus is saying, No, there's there's a group of us who truly are convinced you have been sent of God, and the things you do testify that God has sent you. 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:38.399 And Jesus tells him, You must be born again. 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:40.240 He gets right to the point, doesn't he? 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:41.199 In verse 3. 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:46.319 Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:47.839 I just love how Jesus teaches. 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:54.480 Like Nicodemus comes, he's like, Teacher, I rabbi, I know you've been sent by God, and you know the things you do are evidence that God is with you. 00:05:54.560 --> 00:06:00.959 And Jesus is like, Truly, truly, I tell you, lest someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:02.720 Jesus knows this man's heart. 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:10.319 He already knows the issues pressing on his mind and the theology he's wrestling with, and he gets right to the point. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:13.040 Notice Jesus' words here. 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:15.839 You must be born again. 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:18.399 Must is an absolute, isn't it? 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:20.480 You must be born again. 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:26.720 You can't see or enter the kingdom without a new birth. 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:28.959 There's no back door into heaven. 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:32.639 Jesus is explicitly clear, you must be born again. 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:38.560 You can't even see or enter the kingdom of God without a new birth. 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:43.680 Nicodemus had a lot of theology, but he didn't have transformation. 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:51.759 He had head knowledge about the Messiah, about God and Israel and the kingdom of God, but he didn't have a new heart. 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:55.839 It's almost like walking around with a dead phone. 00:06:56.079 --> 00:06:57.759 And you have the charger in your back pocket. 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:02.959 All you got to do is plug your phone up to the charger, the source of power, and it'll charge up, and you can actually use your phone. 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:05.360 That's Nicodemus with the Old Testament. 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:07.839 He has the content, it's all in his head. 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:14.319 He he believes it, at least he thinks so, but he hasn't seen the Savior in God's word. 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:17.759 The connection makes all the difference. 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:26.959 Because what Jesus is trying to highlight in his earthly ministry is that we are not just sick people who need a little bit of help, who need a little bit of spiritual fine-tuning. 00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:28.959 He's no, we are spiritually sick. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:38.879 We are dead in our sins and trespasses and can only be saved by a sovereign work of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:43.680 The new birth Jesus is referring to is not moral improvement. 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:49.199 It's not a go grab a Jordan Peterson book off of Amazon and get your life right. 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:52.800 It is spiritual resurrection. 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:59.439 It is dying to yourself and being raised to new life with Jesus Christ. 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:06.079 So when he says, you must be born again, he's saying, Nicodemus, that means you too. 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:17.839 The leader of the Jews who stands up in the synagogue and instructs others in the way of following God, who instructs the other shepherds of Israel, you must be born again. 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:19.439 Now, what does that term mean? 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:20.800 We use it a lot as Christians. 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:21.839 You must be born again. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:23.120 I'm a disciple. 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:26.720 Let me give a few definitions or some helpful thoughts, rather. 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:32.240 To be born again means to be made spiritually alive by God. 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:36.559 It means to be made spiritually alive by God. 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:51.600 It's the moment when the Holy Spirit, when you heard the gospel, opens blind eyes and gives you a new heart and causes you to repent and put your trust in Jesus Christ and his death on the cross on your behalf. 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:57.679 It's not turning over a new leaf in your life, it's receiving a new life. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:05.519 This is why Jesus says in verse 3, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:14.320 Another phrase we often use is to be regenerate, or the doctrine of regeneration, which is uh similar to being born again. 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:17.519 Regeneration is the theological term for the same reality. 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:25.279 It is the sovereign work of God by which he imparts new spiritual life to a sinner. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:34.320 God changes the heart, awakens faith, and brings a person from spiritual death to new life in Jesus Christ. 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:47.600 Titus 3.5 captures this well when it says, He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit, which is another thing you often see in the Bible. 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:50.000 We don't save ourselves. 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:51.759 Think about this, friends. 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:55.679 Salvation is a sovereign work of a holy and gracious and merciful God. 00:09:55.759 --> 00:10:03.679 And yet Jesus stands before Nicodemus and says, Brother, you must be born again, or you will never see the kingdom of God. 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:06.799 But you can't make yourself be born again. 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:08.559 How does that work? 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:19.840 In short, to be born again or regenerated means God gives you new spiritual life so that you now see, love, and trust Jesus. 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:29.440 It's the miracle of going from dead to sin to alive as an adopted daughter or son of the king. 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:32.399 We shouldn't take these terminologies for granted. 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:35.440 They are rich in gospel theology, aren't they? 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:47.600 To all the kids in the room, I would encourage you later today, so all the kids, if you're listening, after the service, sit down with your mom and dad and ask, what does it mean to be born again or to be regenerate? 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:49.519 And how can that happen? 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:58.320 And ask your parents to get you ice cream, and you asked your question over a bowl of ice cream, and you say, Pastor Cameron said it's okay. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:05.600 Now, real quick, we got to address a topic that unfortunately has led many people astray or has caused spiritual harm. 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:16.960 And that is the question: well, as we celebrate baptism this morning and and the fact that you know we're highlighting people have been born again, does the act of baptism actually save people? 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:22.320 Well, Ephesians 2.8, verse 2.8 through 9 is very clear. 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:38.799 The apostle Paul describing salvation says this for you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is God's gift, not from works, so that no one can boast. 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:45.120 The act of baptism, the baptismal waters does not save anybody. 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:52.080 If baptism did save, it would be a work, it would be a work you would have to do in order to earn salvation. 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:59.120 But Paul makes it very clear you are saved by grace through faith, and that is not even from yourselves. 00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:04.559 That is a gift from God, not from work, so that no one could boast. 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:07.919 So if baptism did save, it would be a work. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:09.679 And then you could boast in your salvation. 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:14.159 You could say, of course, God saved me, because I chose to get dunked in some water. 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:17.360 But that's not how it works because grace excludes that. 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:23.440 So baptism doesn't cause new birth, but rather it celebrates new birth. 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:25.440 Just to make that clear. 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:28.559 But we got to address something as American Christians. 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:34.559 Theology among professing Christians in America is falling on hard times. 00:12:34.799 --> 00:12:40.240 There's these surveys that as a pastor I get emails for almost regularly. 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:45.200 And sometimes I like to skim through them because it's interesting to see what people profess. 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:56.159 So here's just a few statistics I'll share with you about this is a survey that's done every couple of years with professing born-again Christians in America. 00:12:56.320 --> 00:13:00.639 So these are people who profess, I am born again and follow Jesus. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:12.879 Out of this survey that was conducted, 67% agreed that God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:25.279 66% agree that the biblical accounts of the physical bodily resurrection of Jesus are completely accurate, accurate in that this event actually occurred. 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:33.679 So out of a survey of professing born-again Christians, only 66% believe that Jesus really died and rose on the third day. 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:38.399 53% agree that Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God. 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:46.240 71% of born-again Christians agree everyone is born innocent in the eyes of God. 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:54.559 60% agree only those who trust in Jesus alone as their savior receive God's free gift of eternal salvation. 00:13:55.039 --> 00:14:02.399 51% of Americans agree that the Bible is 100% accurate in all that it teaches. 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:12.399 And then there's that other saying that often gets quoted in pastor sermons, which I think is inaccurate, that 50% of born-again Christians divorce looking just like the world. 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:20.879 In other words, much of the American church isn't all that different from the world, if we go by these statistics. 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:27.600 They go to church, they sing songs, but they wear a thin coat of religion. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:32.639 But it's more of an accessory rather than a transforming power in their life. 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:38.559 And to make it worse, this study used the term born-again in a way Jesus would not even recognize. 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:41.360 So here's how the research defines it. 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:55.039 A born-again Christian is someone who says they've made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that's still important to them today, and who believes they'll go to heaven because they confessed their sins and accepted Jesus as their savior. 00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:56.320 That's it. 00:14:56.960 --> 00:15:06.960 No mention of repentance, no mention of a new birth, a new heart, just a decision for Christ and a ticket to heaven. 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:10.080 But Jesus says the new birth is far more than that. 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:18.159 It is a miracle of God's grace that makes dead people alive, and it is evidenced by the fruit of those people's lies. 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:28.080 All that to say, that's why I say, as Christians, take those surveys and statistics with a grain of salt, because the people they're describing in those surveys, Jesus would not recognize as his children. 00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:32.720 You can't say you're a born-again Christian and yet deny that Jesus is the only way to salvation. 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:36.080 That's fundamentally what you must believe to be born again. 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:37.919 That's another sermon. 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:46.480 But he goes on with his interaction with Nicodemus, picking up in verse 4 of chapter 3, we get Nicodemus's response. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:55.519 Nicodemus asked him, Can he enter his mother's womb a second time and be born? 00:15:55.840 --> 00:16:01.759 Jesus answered, Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water in the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:06.799 Whatever is born of flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the spirit is spirit. 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:10.080 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:16.639 The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don't know where it comes from or where it is going. 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:21.279 So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:29.440 So G uh Nicodemus, who's not familiar with the gospel, he didn't see the true Messiah and the message of salvation in the Old Testament. 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:31.759 I think he asked a honest question. 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:34.240 I hear you saying I must be born again. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:36.480 I want to understand what that means. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:40.159 His only understanding of rebirth is literal physical birth. 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:45.039 So the logical question is, how on earth can I do what you just said? 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:51.360 And Jesus makes the connection, no, brother, I'm talking about a spiritual birth. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:55.120 A spiritual birth, not a physical birth. 00:16:55.600 --> 00:16:58.799 The new birth cleanses and transforms. 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:02.879 Now, Nicodemus should have known what Jesus was talking about. 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:08.319 Jesus is likely referring back to Ezekiel chapter 36. 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:13.119 You don't have to turn here, but Ezekiel 36, verses 25 through 27. 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:18.799 It's good for us to know the message of salvation didn't just show up in the New Testament. 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:27.440 It was the mystery was clarified in the New Covenant, but the the trail, the breadcrumbs were all over the place throughout the Old Testament. 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:36.960 In Ezekiel 36, 25 through 27, it says, I, this is God, I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:40.799 I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:45.279 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:48.960 I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:51.440 I will place my spirit in your Bibles. 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:53.200 I'm sure that's a capital S. 00:17:53.440 --> 00:18:00.640 I will place my spirit within you and cause you to follow my statues and carefully observe my ordinances. 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:05.359 God washes the heart clean and gives his spirit. 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:08.960 You can even see some undertones of the Great Commission in there. 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:11.759 That was in Ezekiel. 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:15.279 Jesus is saying, you should know these things. 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:24.480 The new birth is, if we if we want to use a fancy theological term, it's monogernistic, meaning it's it's it's operated by God alone. 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:29.839 He's the one who grants new life, new spiritual resurrection. 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:33.839 This is what Jesus is referring to when he's using this illustration of the wind. 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:38.720 He says, look, the wind blows where it pleases, so it is with everyone born of the spirit. 00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:40.880 None of us in this room can control the wind. 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:44.079 We just see the evidence of what it's doing. 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:46.960 Jesus is saying that's how it is with the new birth. 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:48.160 You must be born again. 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:51.359 You must trust in Jesus for the salvation of your sins. 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:54.400 And yet you can't make yourself a Christian. 00:18:54.720 --> 00:19:02.240 The Spirit sovereignly moves how he chooses to glorify the Lord in bringing us to saving faith in the Son. 00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:06.960 But it is always God alone who gives life. 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:10.319 We don't cooperate, so to speak, in being born again. 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:18.960 And what I mean by that is it's not like God's like, I'm gonna do 50%, but then you got to do the rest, and then we'll finalize your salvation. 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:29.039 I I know many of your testimonies in this room, some of y'all, y'all were not even remotely looking for Jesus, and he broke into your life and redeemed you from your sins. 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:39.680 And that gives God the most glory when you can testify and say, I was, I didn't even know which direction Jesus was in, but I knew where my sin was, and that's what I was indulging in. 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:52.000 And then one day, someone who I love share the gospel with me, my mom or my dad, disciple me at a young age, whatever your testimony is, and you don't have to know your spiritual birthday, the exact moment in time God saved you. 00:19:52.079 --> 00:20:08.720 But what you do know is there was a season in my life where I used to live one way, and something radically happened, and I no longer, not only do I not live that way anymore, but my whole affections and my mindset are completely different because you have been born again. 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:11.119 And it was nothing you did. 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:15.119 God wasn't in heaven getting a survey of names and saying, you know what? 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:17.920 I think this year I'm feeling this person and this person. 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:23.680 He sovereignly chose to bestow his love on his bride, the church. 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:29.440 And it was nothing we did, it is always God's work alone. 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:33.039 So we don't cooperate, so to speak, with God in being born again. 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:36.799 Rather, we are acted upon in our salvation. 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:44.799 In John 1, verse 13, uh, it says, We are born not of the will of man, but of God. 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:45.839 Think about that. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:48.880 If you're a Christian this morning, it's because it was God's will. 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:52.319 Because God willed for you to be his child. 00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:59.359 Not a single one of us on the new heaven and the new earth bump into each other and say, Well, you know why I was saved, right? 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:02.160 Because God knew what I was gonna do for him. 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:03.440 No, no, no, no, no. 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:07.359 Not of the will of man, but of God. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:15.759 Titus 3.5 says he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:20.960 Aren't you glad that when God saves you, he doesn't do like a light renovation? 00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:28.480 You know, like you trust in Christ and you're like, Lord, I think I'm good for the most part, because you just work over here in this area. 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:38.480 God's like, no, no, no, you need a complete, we we tearing everything down and we're gonna build you up from the ground up, a complete renewal by the Holy Spirit. 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:41.839 But look at God's intentionality in working in you, friends. 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:56.640 When he saved you, the very Spirit of God that was hovering over the watery deeps and created everything out of nothing, the same power that resurrected Jesus from the dead, that same power is what recreated you and gave you new life. 00:21:56.880 --> 00:21:59.359 That's what it means to be made spiritually. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:02.960 Alive when we didn't even know we were dead. 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:07.279 We can't tell the wind where to blow, but we can see its effects. 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:13.680 We see the leaves move, the trees sway, and the spirit of God works in the same way. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:18.799 We can't control him, but when he moves, oh man, there is evidence. 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:26.000 There is repentance, there is joy, there is faith and obedience that glorifies the Lord. 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:27.599 Just quick caveat. 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:33.599 How many of you who have loved ones who are not trusting in Jesus for salvation, how many of you are praying for them? 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:39.599 Praying that the Holy Spirit, like the wind, would sovereignly move in their hearts and give them new life. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:42.640 We can't control the Spirit, but we certainly can talk to them. 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:45.200 Say, Spirit, we know what you can do. 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:46.559 We know how you operate. 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:47.759 We know you work through means. 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:56.559 Use the means of my prayers and the communication of the gospel to grant new spiritual birth to those I love. 00:22:57.359 --> 00:23:03.599 But picking up in verse nine, we look at the means of the new birth. 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:07.200 Nicodemus again, asking genuine questions. 00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:09.920 How can these things be? 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:13.759 asked Nicodemus in a typical Jesus fashion. 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:17.119 Are you a teacher of Israel and don't know these things? 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:21.039 Jesus replied, implying you should know these things. 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:29.039 Verse 11 Truly I tell you, we speak what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony. 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:35.440 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:40.880 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from above, the Son of Man. 00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:42.720 Quick, quick pause. 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:50.319 When Jesus uses that phrase son of man, which is often used in the Gospel of Mark, that is him essentially saying, I am the Messiah. 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:51.680 That was a very popular term. 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:55.599 If you were a Jew, you knew exactly what that phrase, son of man, meant. 00:23:55.759 --> 00:24:01.519 So for all those who argue Jesus never claimed to be, you know, the Messiah, the Son of God, they just don't understand the Bible. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:02.400 It's right there. 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:08.640 When he says, the Son of Man, the, the Son of Man, the one you're familiar with in Israel's history, that's me. 00:24:08.880 --> 00:24:10.079 Verse 14. 00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:21.519 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 00:24:21.759 --> 00:24:33.680 For God loved the world in this way, he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. 00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:45.759 We have to have faith in the correct object of our faith. 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:54.319 When Jesus is using this picture of Moses lifting up the snake in the wilderness, he's quoting, he's doing some good biblical theology here. 00:24:54.480 --> 00:24:56.079 He's quoting Numbers 21. 00:24:56.160 --> 00:24:58.319 You know the book y'all skip all the time? 00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:00.400 Numbers 21. 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:02.559 What's going on in Numbers 21? 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:06.640 The nation of Israel, as usual, uh, provokes the wrath of God. 00:25:06.880 --> 00:25:12.720 God judges them by sending in a venomous uh serpent that would bite people. 00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:18.079 And he told Moses to put up a bronze serpent on a rod in the middle of the camp. 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:27.759 And if anyone was bit by the venomous uh snake, all they had to do was look up to that bronze serpent, and they would be saved from death. 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:29.119 Don't get it twisted. 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:30.160 That was God's judgment. 00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:37.440 God's wrath was sent within the camp of Israel, and judgment came through the venomous snake. 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:56.799 And Jesus is saying, just as that bronze serpent had to be lifted up, and whoever looked upon that serpent would be saved, that was just a small picture of a real reality where I must be lifted up, and whoever looks to me for their salvation will be saved. 00:25:58.079 --> 00:25:59.039 It's important. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:05.599 When the nation of Israel got bit by a venomous serpent, they weren't saved simply by looking at the bronze serpent. 00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:12.880 They were putting their faith in God who promised to save them if they obeyed what he told them to do. 00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:22.319 Similar to Jesus being hung on a cross, we don't get saved just because we say we believe Jesus hung on a cross over 2,000 years ago. 00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:39.200 We're saved when we look to Jesus as the object of our faith by trusting in God's word that tells us if we confess our sins and trust that he hung on that cross to pay the penalty for our sin, we too can be forgiven and blessed with a new birth. 00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:42.559 The object of our faith is vitally important. 00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:49.839 It was never about how strong Israel's faith was, but where their faith was placed. 00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:54.319 Your faith doesn't save you because your faith is strong. 00:26:54.480 --> 00:26:57.039 I guarantee you your faith is very weak. 00:26:57.279 --> 00:26:59.519 Your faith doesn't save you because it's strong. 00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:03.039 Faith saves because its object is strong. 00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:06.799 This is why the gospel is different than any world religion. 00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:10.240 Every other world religion, I could wrap up in about two minutes. 00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:18.319 You are wicked, and you have ticked off whatever deity you worship, and you must appease that deity's wrath through your good works. 00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:22.640 You'll never have assurance you've actually done it, because there is no such thing as assurance. 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:32.880 You just work really hard to appease your deity, and when you die and stand before him, her, they, whatever, hopefully you've done enough good works to appease their wrath. 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:40.319 Christianity is the only message that says you are far more wicked and sinful than you can ever hope to imagine. 00:27:40.640 --> 00:28:00.559 You have no hope of salvation within yourself, but God knew this and put on flesh to live the life you can never live, to give that righteous life to you as a gift, if only you would the only work you have to do, so to speak, is to repent and to trust in Jesus as the object of your salvation. 00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:01.200 That's it. 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:02.799 That's it. 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:07.920 You don't earn it, you don't deserve it, and that's what makes it all the more glorious. 00:28:08.319 --> 00:28:14.799 If it was based on works, we would all get to heaven and say, Oh yeah, I worked hard, I grinded to get here. 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:16.160 Of course I belong. 00:28:16.319 --> 00:28:17.759 I know God knows my resume. 00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:19.440 That's why I know you better open them gates. 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:20.559 I'm coming in. 00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:22.960 But that's not how it works. 00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:30.319 As a matter of fact, if you ever were convinced you could work enough to get into heaven, that actually is the very message that would disqualify you from getting in. 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:35.599 Because you're saved by grace through faith, not the will of man or good works. 00:28:35.839 --> 00:28:42.079 So your faith doesn't save you because it's strong, faith saves because its object is strong. 00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:46.319 You can have massive faith in the wrong thing and perish. 00:28:46.799 --> 00:28:52.640 You can have strong, big faith in the wrong belief and perish for eternity. 00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:58.720 This is why the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ is the heart of the gospel. 00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:00.400 Listen to the words of Jesus. 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:04.559 The Son must be lifted up. 00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:11.200 Not as an example to leave for his people on how to live a moral, virtuous life. 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:19.599 No, the son must be lifted up in order for our sins to be atoned for so that God could judicially declare us justified. 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:21.839 That was the big dilemma in the Bible. 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:26.400 How can a holy and righteous God be friends with sinners? 00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:29.359 How does he reconcile that dilemma? 00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:31.920 Then enters in Jesus. 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:42.400 At the cross, Jesus bore the wrath of God you deserved, so that you could receive the gift of salvation you did not deserve. 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:56.000 This is what Paul means when he says he made the one Jesus who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 00:29:56.640 --> 00:29:58.160 That is your testimony. 00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:00.319 Think about this. 00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:07.920 Before the foundations of the earth, before any of you took a single breath on this planet, God the Father knew you personally. 00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:11.440 He desired to be with you for eternity. 00:30:11.839 --> 00:30:20.880 And he had a moment where he said, I love them so much that I am willing to deal with the issue of their sin, which will keep them from fellowship with me. 00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:25.519 And he looked to Jesus and said, You, son, you must go. 00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:31.680 Because the only way I can have fellowship with them is if your righteous blood is spilled on their behalf. 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:33.119 Because God is holy. 00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:44.880 If He if He gave us a back door into heaven, or if He just said, You know what, I'll grade on the curve, He would not be just, He would not be holy, therefore He would not be God. 00:30:46.319 --> 00:30:52.480 His wrath and judgment had to be reconciled. 00:30:53.200 --> 00:30:55.599 So, how does this connect with baptism? 00:30:56.240 --> 00:30:59.599 Baptism tells the story I'm describing. 00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:08.160 In baptism, we publicly are demonstrating that we were buried with Christ in his death and raised with him in new life. 00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:11.279 That's why Romans 6 is on the baptismal there. 00:31:11.359 --> 00:31:14.160 Romans 6, 3 through 4 is a great text to look at. 00:31:14.319 --> 00:31:15.759 We are united with Christ. 00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:25.119 Spiritually, when we put our faith in Christ, we are we died with Christ, we were buried with Christ, and we were raised with Christ, and we will be seated with Christ. 00:31:25.279 --> 00:31:26.960 Our lives are interwoven with his. 00:31:27.119 --> 00:31:33.279 That's why one of my favorite passages in the New Testament is Galatians 2.20, where Paul's essentially saying, I no longer live. 00:31:33.359 --> 00:31:38.880 My entire life, my whole identity is found in one man, and that's my Savior, Jesus Christ. 00:31:39.119 --> 00:31:40.480 When he died, I die. 00:31:40.640 --> 00:31:42.480 When he was raised, I was raised. 00:31:42.640 --> 00:31:46.960 When he lives, I live because he lives in me. 00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:52.160 And it's not I did it, but he did it, and I belong to him. 00:31:53.519 --> 00:32:02.960 So, friends, your confidence isn't when your confidence, your assurance in your salvation is never based on the quality of your faith, but the sufficiency of your Savior. 00:32:03.200 --> 00:32:05.119 Some of you need to receive that this morning. 00:32:05.359 --> 00:32:14.240 The confidence you should have as a born-again Christian should not be focused primarily looking inwardly on how well am I performing for Jesus. 00:32:14.480 --> 00:32:20.079 The sufficiency of your salvation is based on the fact that no, Jesus secured my salvation. 00:32:20.319 --> 00:32:22.000 He purchased me on the cross. 00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:25.519 Now, don't get me wrong, there's a place for sanctification, repentance. 00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:30.400 So there are those who profess faith in Christ and yet their lives look like Satan for 10, 20 plus years. 00:32:30.559 --> 00:32:33.200 Okay, well, that's evidence of maybe you have not been regenerated. 00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:41.519 But I'm talking about those of you who have trusted in Christ for salvation and you're trying to be faithful and following your Lord and Savior on a weekly basis, and you stumble and fall. 00:32:41.599 --> 00:32:42.720 Well, join the club. 00:32:42.880 --> 00:32:48.400 The goal is for us with the Spirit's help to be faithful, but we don't find confidence in ourselves. 00:32:48.559 --> 00:32:57.839 We look outside of ourselves and say, no, I trust in the object of my salvation, Jesus, who hung on the cross for over six hours to purchase me with his own blood. 00:32:58.160 --> 00:33:05.119 But Jesus goes on to describe the source of the new birth, picking up in verse 16. 00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:07.119 We all know this verse, don't we? 00:33:07.359 --> 00:33:09.039 John 3, you don't even have to be a Christian. 00:33:09.119 --> 00:33:11.119 You see this at football games on signs. 00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:20.480 For God so loved the world in this way, he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:24.799 If you're not a Christian this morning, that's that's the summary of what we believe as Christians. 00:33:25.119 --> 00:33:40.880 If only you will repent and believe that verse that God loved the world by sending his one and only son to make a way of escape from sin and wrath, you too can trust in Christ and be born again, as Jesus described this morning. 00:33:41.119 --> 00:33:42.400 Now, here's what a lot of us do. 00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:45.119 We stop at John 3:16 because it sounds warm and fuzzy. 00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:48.319 God loves the world in this way, he sent Jesus to die. 00:33:48.640 --> 00:33:51.119 But friends, we we always read in context. 00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:55.279 So yeah, we celebrate verse 16, but let's not forget 17 and 18. 00:33:55.680 --> 00:34:00.720 For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 00:34:00.880 --> 00:34:01.839 Praise God. 00:34:02.079 --> 00:34:07.200 Verse 18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned. 00:34:07.599 --> 00:34:17.519 But anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. 00:34:19.119 --> 00:34:21.360 Unbelief is rejection. 00:34:21.840 --> 00:34:24.719 There is no neutral ground with Jesus. 00:34:24.960 --> 00:34:28.239 You're either a child of God or you're an enemy of God. 00:34:28.480 --> 00:34:30.880 That's the most loving thing we could say this morning. 00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:41.679 Well, no, the most loving thing I could say is there a way to transfer from one side to the other, to be born again, as Nicodemus is exploring. 00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:46.239 So the substitutionary death of Jesus is vitally important. 00:34:46.480 --> 00:34:53.119 But now he gets to the source of the new birth, new birth, and the new birth starts in the heart of God. 00:34:53.760 --> 00:34:57.519 Love moved the father to send the son. 00:34:58.480 --> 00:35:03.760 Love moved God the Father to send the Son. 00:35:04.079 --> 00:35:05.519 Let me just reword that. 00:35:05.760 --> 00:35:14.559 If you're a Christian this morning, it's because love moved the Father to send his son to save you. 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:24.800 Think of a father who is witnessing his child at the beach getting caught by a rip current and is drowning. 00:35:25.119 --> 00:35:30.320 That father is going to move heaven and earth to get in that water and rescue his child. 00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:44.159 Before the foundations of the earth, God saw you drowning in sin, heading towards death and wrath, and he literally moved heaven and earth to send his son to rescue you from you. 00:35:45.039 --> 00:35:47.280 That is how much he loved you. 00:35:47.519 --> 00:36:03.599 So when doubt rises in your heart, I encourage you, do not look inward for your assurance of God's love, but look outward to the cross where love was displayed and defined and displayed to the whole cosmos that God loves you. 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:10.079 This is a sermon for another day, but I'm a believer that when Jesus hung on the cross, he died for a group of people specifically. 00:36:10.320 --> 00:36:13.440 He died for a group called the church, his bride. 00:36:13.599 --> 00:36:16.079 He had actual names, people in mind. 00:36:16.239 --> 00:36:23.440 He didn't just hang on the cross to just purchase salvation for everybody, for he didn't die for all humanity, all places, all times. 00:36:23.519 --> 00:36:28.719 That would make no sense because then why is anyone going to hell if Jesus paid the penalty for everybody's sins? 00:36:28.960 --> 00:36:42.880 I believe he paid the penalty for those whom he calls his bride, the church, who will then come to saving faith through the sovereign work of the Spirit who trust in Jesus for their salvation and put their faith in him as the object of their salvation. 00:36:43.199 --> 00:36:50.079 And when that happens, we see the evidence of regeneration, according to verses 19 through 21. 00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:54.639 Verse 19, he picks up, this is the judgment, the light has come into the world. 00:36:54.800 --> 00:37:03.840 And people he's referring to himself as the light, the light has come into the world, and people love darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. 00:37:04.159 --> 00:37:10.239 For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. 00:37:10.800 --> 00:37:16.239 But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light. 00:37:17.119 --> 00:37:19.280 New birth brings new life. 00:37:19.679 --> 00:37:24.239