Bible-Articles

New Birth

NEW BIRTH

John 3:1-7

In this account of a meeting between our Lord Jesus and Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews, we are given an insight into the real issues of life. Nicodemus was looking for the ultimate realities. He addressed Jesus as “Rabbi” or “Honourable Master”. He recognised in Jesus someone different, unique. The reason he gave was that no man can do these miracles except God was with him. What message did Jesus have for him?

Our Lord’s answer is plain. He had no interest in the political system of this world. He had come to usher in the Kingdom of God – the everlasting Kingdom. All those who, like Nicodemus, are seeking for the better life, the good life that has no ending, may find fulfilment in God’s Kingdom. However, there is one qualification for those seeking admission: they must be born again. These words open up a totally new concept of spiritual truth and form the substance of our discussion in this lesson.

TWO DOMINIONS

There are two dominions.

  1. The Kingdom of this world, ruled by Satan who is referred to as a “prince of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). The kingdoms of this world belong to the realm of darkness and shall be destroyed at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  2. The Kingdom of God is the kingdom of light, ruled by Jesus Christ. It is an everlasting Kingdom of justice and truth, love and joy and peace.

All of the people of the world belong to either the kingdom of Satan or the Kingdom of God. To those seeking admission to God’s Kingdom, there is just one requirement:

YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN.

It is absolutely essential. Our Lord says it three times (John 3:3,5,7). There can be no mistake or compromise.

What is the meaning of being born again?  Firstly, let us consider what it is not.

THE NEW BIRTH: WHAT IT IS NOT

From the story of Nicodemus we may draw certain conclusions. Nicodemus was a devout and deeply religious person. He was also a highly respected ruler of the Jews, but he was not born again. He attended worship services and prayed regularly in the synagogue. He kept the law and observed various traditions meticulously. But he was not born again.

TO BE BORN AGAIN IS NOT

  1. Joining a church
  2. Attending Sunday Worship Service faithfully
  3. Observing rules and regulations
  4. Doing good works
  5. Giving to charity or tithes and offerings to God
  6. Making resolutions
  7. Imitating Jesus
  8. Believing that there is a God
  9. Reading the Bible and praying
  10. Being humble and sincere
  11. Taking the Lord’s Supper
  12. Going through water baptism
  13. Preaching the gospel
  14. Going on mission trips
  15. Going into fulltime service
  16. Giving your lives in the defence of the Word of God or the testimony of Jesus Christ

All the above are good, but they do not constitute the essential steps to the NEW BIRTH. They do not make one “born again”.

THE NEW BIRTH:  WHAT IT IS

Nicodemus’ reply was quite insightful. He asked Christ a rhetorical question in John 3:4, “… How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” Nicodemus had been brought up that salvation was by good works; observe all the traditions of the fathers and you will go to heaven. This was what he was taught and what he was teaching at that time. When Jesus said to him that he must be born again he answered correctly in a cryptic manner. He has to deny and reject all the “good” works that he has done and start from scratch all over again as if he was born into this world for the first time.

In John 3 verses 5 and 6, our Lord makes it very clear what it means to be BORN AGAIN. It is a SPIRITUAL PROCESS. There are two steps to this NEW BIRTH:

  1. Born of water

Water speaks of cleansing dirt and impurities. In the physical sense, we think of washing our soiled hands or taking a bath at the end of the day. The water used here refers to the Word of God. Ephesians 5:26 describes the Word of God as water, “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.”

In the spiritual sense, washing refers to the cleansing of sins that have polluted one’s soul. The soul that has not been cleansed is foul and loathsome. It cannot enter God’s Kingdom. Every sin and impurity must be thoroughly purged and cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus and the Word of God before one can gain entry into God’s Kingdom. There are only two things in this world that can sanctify the believer. It is the blood of Christ and the Word of God.

Hebrews 13:12, “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.”

John 17:17, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (also Eph. 5:26)

  1. Born of the Spirit

The NEW BIRTH is a spiritual process. It is not a physical change. There is a mental and psychological change that comes with salvation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” But the Bible does not describe it as such. The Bible describes it as a spiritual RE-BIRTH. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in effecting a RADICAL CHANGE in one’s life. There is a transformation and not a renovation in a believer’s life!

It is a CHANGE of a person’s

  1. NATURE – refined, unselfish
  2. HEART – pure, indwelt by GOD’S SPIRIT
  3. WILL – subjected to GOD’S WILL
  4. OUTLOOK – HEAVEN-Oriented
  5. AMBITION – for extension of the Gospel
  6. DESIRES – to imitate and exalt CHRIST
  7. GOAL – GOD’S KINGDOM

WHO NEEDS TO BE BORN AGAIN?

All who see the sins in their lives and desire to enter God’s KINGDOM of everlasting joy and peace MUST BE BORN AGAIN. This world and its attractions will pass away. Our first birth is about three score years and ten and by reason of strength add another ten more years.  Like the morning dew that appears for a short while and by noon time it evaporates, so is our earthly sojourn. We go the way of all man and all life, we die.

But death is not the end of things. In fact, death is only the beginning of ETERNITY for our souls. Hebrews 9:27 says that there will be a certain judgment, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”

Where will you spend eternity after you die?  This is the BIG QUESTION.

GOD has prepared an everlasting Kingdom, a heavenly country. To live in that place, you need the NEW BIRTH or SECOND BIRTH. Those who die in their sin and do not have the new birth will be condemned to an eternity without GOD, to HELL and finally face the second death and eternity in the Lake of Fire.

Generally speaking, those who are born once die twice (physical death and the second death), and those who are born twice, die once (physical death, unless you are raptured).

Jesus Christ came into this world, born of a virgin. He lived a perfect life obeying all of God’s laws. He died for sinners such as you and me on Calvary. God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day after he died. He now sits at God’s right hand interceding for His children.

HOW CAN A PERSON BE BORN AGAIN?

Luke 9:23, “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

  1. Acknowledge that you are a sinner, lost, condemned, bound for Hell. God’s Word says it: There is none righteous, no not one. All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:10,23).
  2. Confess and Repent of all your sins and ask the Lord Jesus Christ to cleanse and forgive you. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Look to Jesus, lifted up on the cross and dying for you, bearing your sins.

  1. Accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Be willing to surrender your life to the Lord.  Pray the prayer of salvation. Pray from your heart to God, “I am a sinner deserving Hell. I want to give up every sin, all my bad habits, evil thoughts, and wicked ways. I acknowledge that Thy only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, died for me on Calvary. You raised Jesus Christ from the dead for my justification. I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. I give myself to You. I want to follow Jesus Christ and start a NEW LIFE in Him, in Jesus most precious and holy name I pray.  ”

If this is your sincere desire, GOD’S SPIRIT WILL save you to the uttermost. Like a mighty wind, the SPIRIT will blow through you and in an unseen, mysterious way, GOD will change you. The Bible promised every sincere repentant sinner that “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” (Romans 10:9-11)

THIS IS THE NEW BIRTH.

SOME OF THE BENEFITS OF THE NEW BIRTH

  1. Your sins are cleansed, forgiven.

“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”  (Hebrews 8:12)

  1. You become a NEW PERSON.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

  1. You become a child of God.

“… that we might receive the adoption of sons.” (Galatians 4:5) “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.” (Ephesians 1:5)

  1. You obtain an inheritance in God’s everlasting Kingdom (Ephesians 1:11).
  2. You have CHRIST as your Lord and Master.
  3. You have the abiding presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit as Comforter and Seal of ownership.
  4. You belong to a NEW FAMILY with NEW HOPE – the household of faith (Galatians 6:10; Ephesians 2:19).

CONCLUSION

To be born again is the most wonderful experience anyone can ever have. If you have not been born again, you really have nothing.  If you have been born again, you have everything.

YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN.

BIBLE KNOWLEDGE QUIZ 7: THE NEW BIRTH

Fill in the blanks (one letter for each space):

  1. The NEW BIRTH is not a __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
  2. Only those who have been born again can enter the Kingdom of__ __ __ .
  3. The NEW BIRTH means being born of __ __ __ __ __  and of the__ __ __ __ __ __ .

Explain what the answer means.  _________________________________

____________________________________________________________

  1. The FIRST BIRTH equips us to live on this __ __ __ __ __ .
  2. The believer’s real home is in __ __ __ __ __ __ .

Underline the correct answer:

  1. A person can enter the Kingdom of God
    • by doing good works (b) by keeping the laws of God (c) by being born again.
  2. The first step in the NEW BIRTH is
    • to make a resolution to be good (b) to acknowledge that I am a sinner

(c) to join a church                           (d) to be baptised.

  1. The NEW BIRTH is a
    • mental readjustment (b) spiritual rebirth      (c) brain washing.
  2. When a person is born again he becomes
    • afraid of the world (b) a child of God       (c) a neurotic.
  3. To be born again is
    • the most wonderful thing that can happen to anybody(b) quite unnecessary   (c) Satan’s trap.