Being Born Again

RIVERSIDE INDONESIAN FELLOWSHIP
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Being Born Again

Riverside Indonesian Fellowship
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2020 · 9 August 2020

John writes, “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 are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, 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? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spiritual life.”

“7 Do not marvel 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 cannot tell where it comes from and where it
goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?

Five times in this passage we have a reference to being born again, or born from above. The whole point is that something must happen to you that you don’t participate in. Jesus is saying that for anyone to enter the kingdom of God, eternal life, forgiveness of sins, that person must be born from above, born again. This is the doctrine of regeneration, central to understanding salvation.

Nowhere does Jesus tell him how to be born from above, how to be born again. And in verse 7 Jesus says to Nicodemus, “You must be born again,” but that is not a command, that is a statement of fact. God’s kingdom is only for people who have been given God’s life. You can’t live in His kingdom unless you are a partaker of the divine nature, unless you are a new creation.

And the analogy is birth. You did not participate in your own birth. You don’t have anything to do with that and that’s the reason our Lord used this analogy. As you play no role in your physical birth, you also play no role in your spiritual birth. That’s the point of the analogy. Jesus is saying the kingdom only opens to people who know it’s totally a divine miracle from God.

Now, this regeneration, the new birth, flows through three features. There is the sinner’s worry, we see that in Nicodemus. There is the Savior’s Word. And then finally, the Spirit’s work, and we’re going to look at all those features. So the kingdom of salvation, forgiveness of sin, eternal life, heaven, is open only for those who abandon all self-effort to attain it. It is all a work of God.

First, the sinner’s worry. “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 You have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these things that You do unless God is with him.’” Nicodemus is a Pharisee who tried to obey the Old Testament Law as well as all the rabbinic traditions.

They were the most devoted of all Jews. They wanted nothing to do with the common people. In fact, in the gospel of John we are told that they deemed the entire population apart from themselves to be cursed. They were whitewashed on the outside but full of dead men’s bones on the inside. They pretended to lead people to heaven but actually they multiplied sons of hell everywhere.

Nicodemus is described in Matthew 23 as one of those whom Jesus pronounced a series of damnations upon. Nicodemus says that he was zealous for the Law, that he was blameless before the Law, and that he kept every tradition and he followed the steps that the Pharisees required in every tiny detail. They were fastidious about their religion, but they were hypocrites.

That is Nicodemus. He is one of the top Pharisees. Verse 10 says he’s the teacher in Israel. He’s a master teacher. He’s a member of the Sanhedrin, according to John 7:50. He is a part of the Jewish council of seventy. That was the Supreme Court of Israel. He’s intelligent and successful. Traditions tell us that he was one of the three richest people in the city of Jerusalem.

His wisdom, his ability to do his business had made him successful and wealthy. He had it all. And, of course, from the Pharisees viewpoint, they loved money. In his heart he knew he was a hypocrite. Empty in his fear, doubt; anxiety tearing up his soul. Who does he go to? He’s the teacher. Then he comes across Jesus who is a teacher at a higher level than he is because Jesus did these miracles.

So he comes to Jesus and he says, “Look, we know You have come from God.” Finally here was a teacher above himself. And his heart cries out for reality. That was the statement on his lips. But Jesus knew what was in his heart. Jesus ignored what he said, Verse 3, “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Why does Jesus say that? That answer has nothing to do with what Nicodemus said in his introduction. The reason Jesus said that was because He knew what was worrying Nicodemus. How did He know that? Because He is omniscient. He knew what men thought. This is a Pharisee. He’s reached the apex of Judaism but he’s not in the kingdom and his heart is full of fear. All he knows is a works system.

And our Lord says to him, “Nobody enters the kingdom who’s not born again,” which is to say you’ve got to go all the way back and start all over. All accumulated religion, all accumulated morality, all accumulated human goodness adds up to absolutely zero with God. You need to be born again. You have to have a new nature, new life, new creation, not by the will of man, but by God.

We can see it in James 1, Ephesians 2, Titus 3, 1 Peter 1 and many more verses that point to the fact that salvation is a work of God. It is a divine miracle that comes down from heaven in which we do not participate. We did not participate in our election before the foundation of the world and we do not participate in our regeneration in time. That’s all a miracle of God.

Well, Nicodemus doesn’t have any idea what Jesus is talking about. He’s very confused. So in verse 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he’s old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” He knows Jesus just read his mind. This man lives in a world of analogies. He’s spent his entire life in theological discussion and dialogue.

He does understand what Jesus said. And he jumps right into the third person discussion and he says, “How can a man be born when he is old?” That proves that he totally understood what Jesus was saying. He understands the figurative language. The rabbis and teachers used it all the time. You’re speaking of something that’s impossible to me. No, Nicodemus doesn’t miss this.

Jesus doesn’t tell him how to be born again. Jesus is telling something that there are no how-to’s for. He understood it better than most evangelicals. Why do so many preachers tell people the steps they can take to be born again? He said, “I’ve spent my entire life trying to get into the kingdom, now the only way into the kingdom is by means of something that is out of my control.”

Here’s the heart of the gospel of grace. All he was ever taught was, you must earn it, you achieve it by effort doing ceremony, rituals, morality and human goodness. That’s why Jesus says, you’ve been caught up in the damning lie of Satan that you can earn your salvation. He is hearing for the first time that God has to do something in his soul that is a work of creation that comes down from above.

Down in verse 10 Jesus says to him, “Are you the teacher in Israel and do not understand these things?” It is inexcusable that Nicodemus doesn’t understand the new birth. But Jesus is going to help him, so He’s going to give him two hints. Hint number one comes in verse 5; hint number two comes in verse 6. This is how effective teachers work. They lead the student.

The Savior’s Word. Verse 5, “Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus just heard something he’s never heard in his life. Can You give me a clue to this? Jesus said, “I’ll give you a clue. Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Does that give you a clue, Nicodemus?

Nicodemus knew the Old Testament. Go to Ezekiel 36, which describes God’s saving work. Notice the “I wills.” Ezekiel 36:25-26, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.” The water and the Spirit is a reference to the creation, the regenerating work of God.

God is promising one day to do it not only in individual Jews and Gentiles, but for the whole nation of Israel. I will put a new heart in you, a new Spirit in you, remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will cause you to walk in My statutes. And then “you will be careful to observe My ordinances and you will,” verse 28, “be My people and I will be your God.”

Nicodemus would have known it well. As well as Ezekiel 37 where God looks at the future salvation of Israel and in verse 3 He says to Ezekiel, calling him ‘Son of Man’, “Can these bones live?” There’s a valley of dry bones illustrating Israel’s spiritual deadness. And He said, ‘Prophesy over the bones and say to them, “O dry bones, I will cause the Spirit, breath to enter you that you may live.”

Ayat 6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” You can’t get from flesh to Spirit. Jesus is basically indicting Nicodemus for is a failure to understand the Old Testament doctrine of sin. Nicodemus, how can you be the teacher of Israel and not know about New Covenant salvation by the washing of the Word and the giving of a new heart and a new spirit. That’s all a work of God.

Nicodemus would have been very familiar with Genesis 6, when God gives His reasons that He’s going to drown the entire world. Verse 3, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever because he also is flesh.” Verse 5, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Flesh produces that because that’s all it can produce.

In Romans 3 Paul is indicting the entire human race, Jew and Gentile, for their sin. And to prove his point, starting in Romans 3:10, Paul quotes a whole series of verses from the Old Testament going all the way to 18. Paul says, “Let me define sin. There is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God.” Every one of those is an Old Testament statement on sin.

So the Old Testament teaches that salvation is a sovereign act of God by grace that He does independent of any action on the part of man. This is the denunciation of all religion apart from the sovereign grace of God. This leads to the final point, the sinner’s worry and the Spirit’s work. End of verse 6, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” This is a work that only the Holy Spirit can do.

How does that work? Verse 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’s going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” This is another analogy that takes spiritual birth completely out of the hands of the sinner. What controls the wind? Nothing. It comes from above. This is the Holy Spirit’s work of irresistible grace.

Verse 9, “How can these things be?” Nicodemus can’t do anything. So what happened to Nicodemus? In John 19:38 Jesus is dead, “Joseph of Arimathea being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. Pilate granted permission. 39 Nicodemus who had first come to Him by night also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes.”

Now Nicodemus is bold and he comes and he took the body of Jesus. Nicodemus handling that same body that he had spent that night talking to in his own arms, binding the body of Jesus with linen wrappings and putting in the spices in between all the wrappings as the burial custom was, and along with his friend, Joseph, they laid Jesus in the garden in a new tomb which no one had ever been laid in.

What happened to Nicodemus? Well God gave Him spiritual life, gave him a new heart, a new soul, washed him and regenerated him. Tradition says that he was the only person who stood up at Jesus’ trial and defended Jesus. Tradition says he was baptized by Peter and John. Tradition says that his confession of the Lord Jesus was so bold that he was kicked out of the Sanhedrin and died in poverty.

He lost everything in this world, but gained everything in the world to come. What can you do? John 6:37, “Him that comes to Me I will not cast away.” You can plead with God to give you spiritual life; it’s His prerogative. And you can pray and He doesn’t reject an honest prayer. You can say with the publican in Luke 18, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Let us pray.



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