Belief without a New Birth
John 3:1-7
Introduction: What difference does being born again make in a person’s life? Some as If I believe in God doesn’t that get me saved? Others may ask Why does it have to be a certain way? These and questions like them have been ask for thousands of years, this morning I want to address them and many more just like them. First let me begin by telling a little story. There were two courtiers of a certain king and they were arguing before the king about whether a man must be born a gentleman or can he be taught the art of a gentleman? After much debate, the king sent them away for one year with the challenge to find proof for their claim.
As the year quickly came to a close the courtier who argued that a gentleman could be trained or taught was sitting at an inn, with nothing to show for his work and the time was quickly coming to face the king. The courtier had ordered a cup of chocolate and as it was being delivered he sat up in astonishment. His chocolate was being delivered by a cat walking upright on its hind legs. Balanced on its front paws was a small tray with his chocolate. He quickly found the owner and paid a handsome price for the cat, his thought was “if this cat can be trained and dressed to be a waiter then certainly a man can be trained and dressed to be a gentleman.”
News of the cat leaked out and soon his competitor heard of the discovery. He too was very discouraged and empty handed. While walking along a city street he saw something interesting in a store window. This he thought would surely prove that a man had to be born a gentleman. He made his purchase and carefully kept it hidden until the day of presentation before the king.
The first courtier made his introduction and down the isle came the cat finely dressed and carrying a cup of chocolate for the king. Everyone was so excited and what a convincing example it was. Not so fast said his debater, he produced a box and upon opening the box five white mice came out of the box. The cat forgot all of his training and immediately pursued the mice.
The moral of the story is that you can train a cat to do anything but inside it is still a cat.
This is
exactly what was going on with Nicodemas, he was a very pious man. He was cultured, had a religious
education, moral training, wealth, influence and popularity, but man in sin is
still man in sin, a prey to the fallen instincts of sin which, given the
appropriate time, place, circumstances and opportunity, will override the
veneer of religion, culture, education and moral conscience. This is why Jesus
said “except a man be born again, he cannot see the
If
Baptism and the new birth were the same how do we explain the thief on his
cross? If they are the same how do we explain Paul’s indifference between the
two? 1 Cor. 4:15 “For though ye should
have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet have
ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I begat you through the
gospel.” How about 1 Cor. 1:14 “I thank God that I baptized none of you, save Crispus and Gaius;” Paul recognized baptism as an ordinance
which held significance after the new birth but it has no part of a new birth.
A new birth is not turning over a new leaf. It is not evolution; it is involution – the communication of a new life. It is also a revolution - a change of direction resulting from that communication. A new birth isn’t a development within the natural development of life; it isn’t something we grow into. It is something we are called into.
When
I say a spiritual quickening I am saying it isn’t an old nature that has been
altered, reformed or re-energized but a new birth from above. According to
Ephesians 2:1 from the first day of our natural birth we are spiritually dead
from a sin nature. The new birth imparts a new man and a new life, a life from
God so that from the first day of his new birth he is like a resurrected man
from the dead. He has passed out of death into life, Jesus said in John 5:24 “Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and
believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment,
but hath passed out of death into life.”
When
we are born again we take on Gods nature. We put on a new man that God has
created in holiness and righteousness. Eph. 4:22-24 “that ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man,
which waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit; and
that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which
after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.” From that
point until they are in the presence of God the born again posess
two natures Galatians 5:17 tells us “For the flesh lusteth
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary
the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would.”
The
new birth is a new governing power that comes into the regenerate man’s life
which enables him to experience a holy life. 2 Cor. 5:17 says “Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is
a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new.”
Not only does belief
have a nature but it has a…
The
need for a new birth is as far reaching as sin and the human race. John 3:3
from our text says “Except a
man [anybody] be born again, he cannot see the
The
word flesh is used often in our text today and it means sinful condition or our
sin nature. Jeremiah 13:23 tells us “Can
the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then
may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” Paul says in Romans 8:8
“So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” What I am trying to say
is that our sinful condition requires and demands salvation for eternal life,
period nothing else will do the job.
If the sinful condition of man didn’t convince you maybe the
holiness of God will? Hebrews 12:14 tells us “Follow peace with all men, and
holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” We cannot stand before the
Lord without holiness and the only way to get it is through the new birth, in
Ezra 9:15 we are told “O LORD God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we
remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee
in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this.” God’s
holiness demands a new birth.
With nature and necessity comes a…
Human
birth may explain our physical existence but it doesn’t even attempt to address
our spiritual existence. The means through which God chose to provide us a new
birth is three fold. It begins with…
Did
you know God is behind both our physical and spiritual births? James 1:18 tells
us “Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits
of his creatures.” And again in John 1:12-13 we read “But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
We are saved by grace through faith not of works lest any
man should boast. God came to earth through the man Jesus Christ, as His only
begotten son it was through His death, burial and resurrection that we have
access to a new birth and a new life through Jesus Christ. On a cross outside
There is a human element though. While we cannot provide for ourselves a new birth we do have the liberty to choose a new birth. Nicodemas was not forced into a new birth. In John 1:12-13 we read again those who received were born again. You have a choice between two worlds today, heaven or hell, eternal life or eternal death, what ever you call it there are only two choices and you can only have one of them eternally. What has been your choice?
In 1 Peter 1:25 we read “But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” Scripture teaches us that a new birth takes place when we read or hear the word of God. The Holy Spirit working through the word and in the heart of man, opens his heart, and if he receives the message he is born again. The result is an eternal relationship with God through His son Jesus Christ.
Conclusion: You can believe in God and Jesus and the Bible without being born again, but you can never really know God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit or the word of God without being born again. You cannot have eternal life without being born again, period; I don’t know how to put it any simpler. There are no prequalification’s for being born again, if your heart is being drawn to God you are being called to a new birth. Only you and God know this, no preacher can tell you, no emotion will guide you only your heart. What is your heart telling you today? Close as God leads…