What is the New Birth?
John 3:1-5
Intro:
1. Jesus Cleanses the Temple.
a. In Jn 2:18 the Jewish leaders said that miracles would be necessary to prove that the Lord had authority over the Temple - the Kingdom of God to them.
b. In Jn 3:2 Nicodemus, a Pharisee & a member of the Sanhedrin, accepts that Jesus has that authority based on the miracles he has seen.
2. The Lord now explains who has the authority to enter, or even see, the Kingdom of God!
I. v3 - You Need to Be Reborn Spiritually
A. Lord Jesus used the word birth so that we would think about physical birth.
B. The word again (aνωθεν) means:
1. Again = you need to start another life with a different nature.
2. From above = your life must have a spiritual orientation this time.
C. v4 - Nicodemus correctly understood that a different life would have to develop, but he didn’t understand how it could happen. So the Lord proceeds to tell him.
II. v5 - This Birth Begins as a Result of the Holy Spirit
A. The physical birth process.
1. In the plant kingdom: you plant a seed - a plant eventually sprouts.
2. In the human kingdom: you have a physical union between a man & a woman - conception of a fetus results.
B. The spiritual birth process.
1. The father’s role in spiritual conception is played by the Holy Spirit using primarily the word of God.
2. The word of God, the gospel message, is planted in your heart & the Holy Spirit uses it to convict you.
a. Rom 10:17 - Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Faith comes by hearing the word of God.
b. I Cor 4:15 - Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. KJV - We are begotten (conceived) through the gospel.
c. Jam 1:18, 21 - He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. KJV - We are begotten (conceived) with the word . . . which is able to save your soul.
d. I Pet 1:22-25 - Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. You are born again by the word of God which was preached to you — the living & enduring Word of God.
C. How does this process work?
1. You come in contact with the word of God.
2. The Holy Spirit uses the seed of the word to convict you to surrender your life to God.
3. This spiritual gestation period varies with each person.
4. You then come to the time in your life when you have to make a decision - to be either born or stillborn!
III. v5 - This Birth is Completed in the Watery Womb of Christian Baptism
A. The mother’s role in spiritual birth is supplied by other believers - the church & the baptismal pool.
1. Gal 3:27 - all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. KJV - You put on Christ in baptism.
2. Eph 5:26 - cleansing her by the washing with water through the word. You are cleansed with the washing with water through the word.
3. Tit 3:5 - He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. KJV - You are saved by the washing of regeneration & the renewing of the Holy Spirit.
4. Act 2:38 - Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. When you are baptized, you receive the forgiveness of your sins & the gift of the Holy Spirit.
5. Act 22:16 - And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name. When you are baptized, you symbolically wash away your sins.
6. I Pet 3:21 - this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptism is a pledge or an appeal to God for a clear conscience.
7. Mk 16:15-16 - He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Faith & baptism provide salvation.
B. According to Rom 6 you symbolically die to the old life, bury the old corpse & are resurrected from the old dead self to walk in a new life!
1. You leave the old life, passing through this watery gate into a new one (II Cor 5:17).
2. You leave your old deeds & take on the image of Christ (Col 3:9-10).
IV. I Jn - What are the Results of This New Life?
A. 2:29 - You begin doing righteousness.
B. 3:9 & 5:18 - You will not continue in the sin oriented life (habit).
C. 4:7 - You will love one another.
D. 5:1 - You will hold to your Good Confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
E. 5:4 - You will overcome the world.
Having a spiritual birth means:
Commitment to a new Lord - Jesus, not Satan
Commitment to a new life - godly, not the worldly
Commitment to a new relationship - being a child to a loving Father,
not being conformed to society’s mold.
What birth do you have?
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